President Rodrigo R. Duterte is leading the nation’s observance today of Labor Day in Davao City.
“We are honored that the President will grace our main Labor Day celebration,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said, as the President holds dialog with trade union leaders and workers at the People’s Park.
The President, together with labor officials, is meeting trade union leaders from the national and local federations to discuss and address labor and employment issues and concerns.
A Labor Day assembly follows the dialogue with about 10,000 workers in attendance. The event serves as an avenue for different labor and civil society organizations, as well as ordinary workers from the public, formal, informal, youth, women, and migrant sectors to come as one to commemorate the achievements of the labor movement and to continuously advocate for better working, economic, and social conditions.
A house and lot from the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) and 15 tricycle units from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) are also set to be raffled today.
Another highlight of this year’s Araw ng Paggawa is the simultaneous Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan (TNK) job and business fairs in 55 various sites throughout the country.
The activity replicates the Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan (TNK) initiative of the DOLE and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which aims to bring employment opportunities and entrepreneurship at the grassroots level, hence the localization of the job and business fairs.
There are a total of 1,138 participating employers composed of 8 government agencies, 889 local companies, and 241 overseas employers.
They are bringing with them a total of 201,811 employment opportunities.
Among the vacancies, 3,422 are in the government sector; while in the private sector 69,944 are the local jobs and 128,445 are the overseas jobs.
As part of the month-long commemoration, the DOLE has also scheduled other Labor Day activities from the end of April until the first two weeks of May.
On April 29, the DOLE regional offices and the attached agencies conducted DOLE Clinics where services, such as pre-employment assistance, labor standards enforcement, dispute resolution, and livelihood assistance were provided.
On May 6, a special livelihood forum will be held in Davao City in recognition of the contribution of workers in the informal economy. There will be a signing of a memorandum of understanding between DOLE and DTI for the sustainability of the livelihood projects.
On the second week of May, a special job fair, in coordination with the National Housing Authority (NHA), will be conducted for NHA relocatees in select areas in Bulacan.
The job fair sites are as follows:
May 8 – Pandi Residence 2; and Balagtas Heights, Brgy. Santol, Balagtas, Bulacan
May 9 – Towerville 6, Brgy. Gaya-Gaya, City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan; and St. Martha Estate Homes, Brgy. Batia, Bocaue, Bulacan
May 10 – Pandi Residence 1; and Pandi Village 2, Bulacan
The 2017 Araw ng Paggawa is observed with the theme ‘Matatag na Kabuhayan at Trabaho tungo sa Progresibong Pagbabago.’
