Public employees in the Philippines have decried the extended employment of job order and contract service workers in the government, saying that it prolonged the exploitation of contractual workers, reports PhilStar. Public Services Labour Independent Confederation (PSLINK) president Annie Geron said, “It’s no different from renewing an endo (end-of-contract) worker in the private sector for another six months or so. Extending the deadline in the engagement of individual contract of service and job order workers does not address the worsening contractualisation in the public sector.”

“They will continue to live in fear of losing their jobs and failing to support their families. They will continue to be paid subpar wages and excluded from mandatory benefits and social protection,” she added. Job order and contract service workers cannot exercise their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining as they are not considered government employees under existing laws, Geron noted. It is not the first time the deadline for the engagement of contractual workers has been extended.

President Marcos ally and member of the House of Representatives, Fidel Nograles, yesterday commended the President for extending the terms of 832,812 contractual workers in the government. He also expressed support for Marcos’ pronouncement of re-educating and training contractual workers with the help of higher learning institutions and enabling them to pass the civil service examination.

Meanwhile, the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) which is a confederation of public sector unions, is pushing for a substantial wage hike and an increase in the personnel economic relief allowance (PERA) of government workers.