Philippines: NUWHRAIN wins government order to inspect working conditions of housekeepers

As a direct result of Global Housekeeping Campaign activities in the Philippines, the IUF-affiliated NUWHRAIN won a government administrative order for the inspection of hotels for non-compliance with national labour and health and safety regulations.  

Last year NUWHRAIN held a dialogue with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on the abusive working conditions faced by housekeepers in hotels throughout the country. In response DOLE issued an Administrative Order to conduct unannounced inspections of 10 hotels in Manila, including Discovery Suites, Raffles Makati and Holiday Inn Makati.  

This is the first time that a Special Assessment of Visit Establishments (SAVE) will be conducted in any industry in the Philippines. The compliance inspection will be conducted jointly by DOLE, the Bureau of Working Conditions, the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Centre and will focus on the abuse of precarious employment and the health and safety conditions of housekeepers. Employing casual workers through labour hire agencies in housekeeping jobs will come under scrutiny in the inspections since these jobs should only be done by permanent workers in accordance with the coverage of collective agreements.