The City Council has approved on the third and final reading the ordinance that will ensure workers protection in Davao City.
Entitled “An Ordinance Creating the City Workers Protection and Development Office of Davao City under the Office of the Mayor, Defining its Functions and Objectives, Allocating Funds Therefor and for Other Purposes,” which was proposed by Councilor Pamela Librado-Morata.
Librado-Morata said the ordinance affirmed the commitment of the city government of Davao to promote the rights of workers, encourage decent employment opportunities and enhance their social protection.
It is the purpose of the said ordinance to protect the rights of the labor force and ensure the well-being of all workers within its jurisdiction and provide them with proper information of their rights and access to protection of their welfare.
“This legislation applies to all workers, whether residents of Davao City or not, and all employers whose places of business is found within the territorial jurisdiction of the City Government and also those workers assigned outside the city but the main/head office is located in Davao City,” Librado-Morata said.
Workers mentioned in the ordinance include the handicapped, OFWs, women in the entertainment industry as minimum wage earner, contractual employee, barangay workers, construction workers, and BPO workers.
Among the pertinent provisions of the ordinance is organizing the Davao City Workers Council, supervising the Barangay Employment Service Desk, including the organization of a network of volunteer lawyers and paralegals to assist and provide free legal services for workers.
Among the tasks of the Barangay Employment Service Desk is to develop and maintain an up-to-date quantitative and qualitative barangay-level inventory and registry of the city’s labor resource and employers within their jurisdiction.
Librado-Morata, who is also the chairperson on Labor and Employment Opportunities, assured that the city will continue to support workers by upholding their rights and welfare, including provision of possible employment and support especially with the approval of the ordinance.
