Casual, contingent, contractual, seasonal, temporary and non-regular employees – They all compose the informal sector of the labor workforce. They are all unsung heroes who have contributed to several businesses’ and industries’ progress and yet are taken for granted.

Untouched and Underappreciated. The scenario of our workers who belong to the informal sector of the labor workforce is tantamount to an unnoticed edifice that supports an entire construction.                

Amazingly, 20 million workers comprise the informal labor sector in the Philippines. Based on recent statistics, the formal labor sector which consists of regular employees is about 5 million. Of this, 2 million of which belongs to organized unions.

While our Constitution and the Labor Code protect the workers’ right to organization, full employment, and equality of employment opportunities, many business enterprises try to subvert these rights by the practice commonly known as contractualization. Under this practice, contractual workers will be hired to work for a fixed period of time as provided for in their contracts. To avoid the expense of providing them regular employment and all related benefits, companies just rehire these contractual workers after the end of their earlier contract or fixed period. As a result, employees in the informal labor sector are being deprived of their chance for progress; being hindered by the unpredictable nature of non-regular employment. Because this group is, in reality, four times bigger than the number of regular employees.

Continuing to isolate them and take them for granted, may lead to a great destruction of our nation’s labor workforce and consequently the downfall of our economy.               

These workers need to be supported by institutions or organizations whose primary objective is to safeguard their welfare and work hand in hand with to improve their working conditions.               

The light at the end of the tunnel for these “contractuals” is the emergence of workers cooperatives. Contrary to common notion, that cooperatives are instituted as part of the sinister tactics of employers to prevent employer and employee relationship, the objective of these workers cooperatives is to provide better working opportunities for the non-regular section of the nation’s labor force.                

A leading example of a worker cooperative is the Philippine Association of Self – Employed Workers Cooperatives (Co-opWorks!) Inc. There are nine primary members under Co-opWorks! These are the Asiapro Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Alternative Network Resource,  Fourth Dimension Multipurpose Cooperative, Jobpro Multi – Purpose Cooperative, People Serve Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Serbiz Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Tekton Entre-Workers Cooperative and the Yearnings Outsourcing Multi-Purpose Cooperative               

Being new, Co-op Works! Inc. realizes that there is much to be done with the concept of the self-employed worker-cooperative in order to be understood, accepted, and supported by different sectors of society such as labor, government institutions, industries, communities, and even the cooperative movement. But with open-mindedness, this concept will surely help the untouched sector of the labor force.

These workers do not need monuments to pay off and mark their worth. What they need is for HR practitioners and employers to develop and maintain a deeper perspective on their plight. They need a government that will fully protect their rights.

Touching the untouched is one of the Cooperative’s goals, making the marginalized workers exist with human dignity and giving them the chance to cultivate their God-given talents.

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(published in PMAP Magazine)