Tulfo represents ASPAG in ILO confab in Geneva
SENATOR Raffy Tulfo represented the Asia Pacific Group (ASPAG) in the 111th session of the International Labor Conference in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16.
Tulfo, who is honored to deliver a statement on behalf of ASPAG, relayed the group’s support for the resolution of the recurrent discussion in the Committee on Labor Protection.
He said the ASPAG appreciates the efforts of other governments and groups to discuss the challenges and opportunities in promoting labor protection.
Tulfo said ASPAG supports the appropriate classification of workers and the need to address the persistent lack of protection from discrimination faced by people in specific occupations, sectors, and work arrangements.
“ASPAG believes that the core of decent work is inclusive, adequate, and effective labour protection. Inclusive labour protection takes into consideration the diversity of the world of work, the various forms of contractual arrangements, and the challenges and opportunities relating to the digital transformation of work such as teleworking or platform work, and other forms of informal work,” Tulfo said.
Tulfo pointed out that the Asia-Pacific region is home to over 4.6 billion people or more or less 60 percent of the world’s population, and more than sixty percent of the global labor force comes from ASPAG.
However, he noted that there is the highest levels of wealth inequality in the world, high levels of income inequality, and inequality of opportunities.
Tulfo added that the ASPAG believes that bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation between and among countries of origin, transit , and destination can guarantee migrant workers’ rights, wage protection, access to relevant labor protection information, access to justice, and access dispute settlement, among others.
“Our region also deploys 40 percent of the world’s migrant workers. The protection of these workers, especially those in vulnerable situations such as domestic workers, is crucial to us,” Tulfo said.
It can be noted that the International Labor Organization (ILO) accepted Tulfo’s proposed amendment to include migrant workers’ right to have “access to relevant labour protection informations” in the conclusions of the Committee on Labor Protection.
