"Senate approves ILO treaty on government workers' protection", 14 August 2017

The Senate…concurred in the ratification of an international treaty on the protection of government workers’ rights to organize and negotiate conditions of employment.

…Senators adopted International Labor Organization Convention 151, which also guarantees government employees’ right against anti-union discriminatory acts, right to collective bargaining, and right to be heard through dispute settlement.

Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the foreign relations committee, welcomed the chamber’s move, saying the Philippines is the first Asian country to ratify the Convention….

Legarda said 2.3 million Filipino public servants would reap the benefits of the international agreement….

Senate labor committee chair Joel Villanueva…said government employees, unlike their private counterparts, hardly had any rights to collective bargaining and negotiation before this.