INDUSTRIAL PEACE?

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

CAN the private firm’s preference for members of a particular religious sect be considered a form of discrimination in its employment of workers?

Yes, I raised this question in a media forum, where newsmakers and other news sources explain their sides on nagging issues confronting the nation.

Although I did not mention the religious sect, it was obvious I was referring to the Iglesia ni Cristo, the members of which are usually the preferred employees of several firms, notable of which is the SM chain of malls nationwide.

My question perked up Daniel Edralin, a prominent labor leader in the hotel industry, who acknowledged that the SM’s chain of malls has provided INC members with regular employment and income.

Edralin did not directly answer my question but he took pains to lay down the premises, as he dispassionately explained the circumstances for SM’s perceptible preference of INC members to comprise the main bulk of its workforce.

According to him, SM keeps on employing INC members because of their docile, uncomplaining attitude towards top management and terms of their employment. Influenced by their leaders, INC members believe it is against their religious doctrines to complain against their employers and even the terms of their employment.

This is a reason contractualization continues to thrive in private firms like SM, Edralin said, as he stressed the prevalence there of “endo,” or “end of contract,” where employees, although they do core functions, are contractual workers, whose employment is good for only five months.

Edralin said SM hires those INC members mainly for pragmatic purposes. This is to prevent SM workers to form unions or groups that would oppose contractualization, or the “endo system.”

Under the Labor Code, workers in a particular firm are required to hold elections through secret balloting to determine whether or not they want to form a labor union. It requires a simple majority, or 50 percent plus one of all cast votes to create a labor union, Edralin said.

Knowing that INC members would not vote to join labor unions because it is against their religious doctrines, SM has indeed taken a preference for SM members in the recruitment of its working staff, Edralin said.

It could be viewed as a form of discrimination, but the problem is that no particular workers have come out in the open to lodge a protest against SM before any legitimate forum, Edralin said.

In so many words, Edralin confirmed that such preference could be a form of discrimination, although he did not categorically said it was indeed illegal. In the absence of any jurisprudence on the issue, the conclusion of its illegality could not be drawn.

I am not particular about provision of the Labor Code particularly on the provisions that speak of constitutes discrimination in employment. 😳😳😳