The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) lambasts the feudal and discriminatory job posting for service crew of Potato Corner that lists the following criteria and qualifications: ‘preferably female’; ‘have a good visual impact and pleasing personality’; ‘weight must be proportionate to height; and ‘have clear complexion, eyesight and good set of teeth’, among others.
“This long list on what a Potato Corner service crew should be is not only distasteful but deplorable as it rolls back gains in advancing gender equality and women employment. It unfortunately and infamously perpetuates the kind of sexual objectification in work that should be thrown to the dustbin of history. We demand that Potato Corner issue not only a public apology but to come up with a concrete course of action to demonstrate their firm commitment to diversity and inclusion as a win-win for both their management and their workers,” emphasized TUCP Vice President Luis Corral.
The Philippine Labor Code and various relevant laws, such as R.A. 9710, also known as the Magna Carta of Women, and R.A. 6725 that strengthens the prohibition on discrimination against women, forbid various forms of discrimination in hiring towards cultivating a fair and inclusive work culture. The Philippines also ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 111 on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (1958) which is one of the fundamental ILO conventions that requires member-states to prohibit all forms of discrimination in employment and to promote equal opportunities in work.
“We have our fair share of policies and laws, and we have international obligations to stand against discrimination. It is unfortunate that we have to keep on reminding our social partners in business that such discriminatory job postings not only violate public policy, but trespass basic standards of human decency and equality that are the bedrock of what should be a modern and modernizing decent Philippine society,” underscored Corral.
“With millions of our countrymen remaining unemployed and underemployed, subjecting service crew job applicants to beauty pageant-like criteria is not irrelevant but hints at the manifold risks faced by workers and applicants who may become vulnerable vulnerable to quid pro quo workplace sexual harassment—”kapit sa patalim”- situations. The culture of violence and harassment such discriminatory job postings breed impairs workers’ morale resulting in reduced productivity and profitability for enterprises,” explained Corral.
“We shall decisively end this scourge of gender insensitivity now more than ever before to holistically promote the welfare of job applicants, employees, and as well as employers, in line with our campaign for the immediate ratification of ILO Convention No.190 to end Gender-based Violence and Harassment, towards a modern and modernizing decent society where discrimination, violence, harassment, and abuse definitely have no place,” stated Corral.
