Time to let go? Resign?

Protesting workers asked today Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to resign over the fire that killed 72 workers in the Kentex slippers factory in Valenzuela City.

Baldoz, along with local officials of Valenzuela and the Bureau of Fire Protection, is to blame for the loss of lives arising from the lack of safety standards in place at the factory which burned to the ground last week, the workers said.

The labor chief was lambasted by the workers over what they claimed as her initial defense of the owners of Kentex, to whom her department had issued a certificate of compliance with labor standards.

Since assuming her post in 2010, Baldoz has leaned towards the interest of big business, said the Philippine Star in a report, quoting the leaders of the protesting group.

"The issuance of DO 18-A ushered the legalization of sub-contracting, even if it is contrary to the Constitution and the Labor Code,” a labor leader said.

“This also cemented the cheap labor policy of the government that opened the flood gates to pervasive unfair labor practices as sweatshops mushroomed nationwide.” -end-

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