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Key Findings
Based on the results of the data gathered, the following important impressions can
be made:
1. Precarious working conditions remain prevalent among the respondents;
2. The consistency and degree of compliance with labor and OSH standards
varied greatly;
3. Worker's participation in the workplace and OSH-related decision-making
is abysmal and;
4. OSH standards violations were widespread, especially during the worst of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Precarious work
The lack of job security is a significant commonality among the study's participants.
Most of the respondents belong to the 31-59 age range, where the number of
biological males still dominate (55.9% male; 44.1% female). All respondents
reported belonging to households with at least three family members, and most
(23) had households with five or more members. Men were the primary
breadwinners among the survey participants. In terms of household expenses,
69.7% of the respondents regularly spend less than 16,000 PHP a month for food,
rent, utilities, and other needs.
A majority (16) of the respondents had been employed around the 1-5 year range,
with most falling under at least three years of service in their workplace. A sizable
portion (10) had been employed for more than ten years. Almost all respondents
worked manual jobs—factory work, maintenance personnel, or delivery drivers.
Job insecurity is predominant among the survey participants. Only eight claimed
to be regular workers, nine were contractual, and seven were agency and piecerate/"arawan" workers, respectively. Furthermore, only three workers were
regularized within 5-6 months. To emphasize a new, most non-regular
respondents stated that the work they performed was identical to the
responsibilities of regular workers and necessary and desirable for their
employers. The data thus confirms the widespread disregard of the labor standard
policies and neglect of the rights of the workers in sweatshop conditions.
This last finding is significant because Philippines laws stipulate that work that is
identical to that performed by regular employees, or those necessary and desirable