Garment exporters oppose planned 4-day workweek (Sabong News)

Garments, textile and apparel exporters disagreed with the proposal by the country’s top macroeconomic manager Sec. Karl Kendrik Chua for a 4-day workweek to help business cut costs and insulate workers from rising fuel prices, stressing such policy will only jack up cost and a roadblock to productivity. Robert Young, president of Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP) and Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PHILEXPORT) trustee for textile, yarn and fabric sector, said he informed Chua of their objection to the planned shortened workweek. “This 4-day workweek will impact on our $1.5 billion 2022 export target,” Young said in a Viber message to the soci-economic planning secretary noting that “Our exports need a lot of catching up due to late production during the pandemic. Hope you will consider our plea.” Although the shortened workweek is a work arrangement between the management and labor, exporters said “We are certain that anything over the 4-day work will be considered overtime pay.” As such, Young said, “it will be a significant additional to production cost.” In addition, he said, the worker has the right to refuse work which is a disruption to shipping deadline. “Most of foreign buyers are now worried, as we have already committed shipping dates deadline,” he added. President Rodrigo R. Duterte is schedule to announce today, Monday, March 21, his decision on the proposed four-day workweek. “We just cannot comprehend that after our two-year ordeal of work disruption due to lockdowns, here comes another roadblock to productivity,” he said. Should government implement the shorter workweek, exporters suggested that export-oriented industries or the dollar earner firms be exempted because they help pay “our huge government debt”. “This 4-day work week is sending bad signal to the foreign investors and traders and that Philippine government is known now for poor economic policies,” added Young. It can be recalled that a similar four-day week was implemented in 2008 when fuel prices were also high, Chua told the President during a meeting Tuesday, March 15. The proposal requires workers to render 40 hours of work per week over four 10-hour days. Earlier, Young said they industry can easily hit its $1.5 billion exports target this year with orders on hand but with the Ukraine-Russia crisis, it will definitely be an uphill move to obtain the target for 2022 due to the trade sanctions of garment export suspension to Russia where the Philippines produces some products, such as Levis and Inditex. He said that despite the supply chain problem due to port congestion, “We have a track record to boast of that we were number two in the whole Asia and exportation of garments and apparel therefore, we are still being considered as an alternative for the garment production of these foreign buyers.” Citing records, Young said shipments of the Philippines on apparel, textile and garments reached $1.052 billion in 2021. Garments and apparel exports hit $758 million while textile at $294 million. He said there were actually $200 million worth of finished goods ready to be shipped by the end of 2021, but remained at the port due to the congestion. These goods only exited the port terminal facility last February. “FOBAP, six months ago, had a projection that it would be $1.2 billion (exports volume for 2021) so we hit it. We are very elated for the Philippine economy that the garments business improved as compared to previous year, you really saw an increase in percentage despite the pandemic,” he added. Young said bulk or 80 percent of these goods were shipped to the United States, while 20 percent to the European Union, Australia, Canada, and Asean countries.