A SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS STUDY OF CONTRACTUALIZATION

A Thesis

Presented to

The Faculty of the Psychology Department

Ateneo de Manila University

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Science in Psychology

By

Fille Saint Merced Cainglet

Thea Elyssa Vega

Jerome Albert T. Zapata

2012
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank God, Deus semper maior, our God who is always so much more, for imparting us with skills,
endurance and passion for the pursuit of this research. The researchers see this opportunity as a
response to the call of those in need. Thy kingdom come and thy will be done. Ad Majorem Dei
Gloriam.

We thank Dr. Elizabeth Macapagal, our thesis adviser, for patiently and willingly guiding us all
throughout the process.

We thank Ma’am Joy Calleja, for sharing her expertise and insights and extending her help to us.

We thank the School of Social Sciences, Sanggunian ng Mag-aaral ng Ateneo de Manila for the Project
Grant and Ana Raymundo, School of Social Sciences Chair, for providing insights.

We thank Dr. Tina Montiel and Dr. Agustin Rodriguez for inspiring us with their works as it motivated
us to pursue this research.

We thank Mr. Renato “Ka Rene” Magtubo, the Chair of the Labor Party of the Philippines and
Mr. Gerry Rivera, PALEA President, Vice Chair of the Labor Party of the Philippines as they willingly
gave time, shared their experiences and insights regarding the process of contractualization.

We thank our families (Papa, Mama, and Trista Vega) for the additional insights and for helping us get
pertinent documents regarding labor laws and labor cases for the research.

We also thank Ate Beth Clemena for helping us contact our participants.

We thank the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Ateneo Center for Organizational Research and Development
(Ateneo CORD), TV 5 Balitanghali for providing us with avenues in featuring our work.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................1

Defintiion of worker ..................................................................................................................2

Events in the Philippines that Resulted in the Prevalence of Contractual Employees .............3

Marcos Era ...........................................................................................................................3

Herrera Law.........................................................................................................................4

Definition of Contractual Workers ...........................................................................................5

Review of Related Literature ....................................................................................................7

Different Types of Employment ........................................................................................8

Regular Employees ....................................................................................................8

Project Employees .....................................................................................................8

Seasonal Employees ..................................................................................................8

Casual Employees .....................................................................................................9

Varying Agents Involved in Contractualization .................................................................9

Private Firm’s Pursuit of Contractual Workers .......................................................10

Agencies that Employ Contractual Workers ...........................................................11

Contractual Workers Welfare in the Philippines .....................................................13

Some Labor Laws in 1987 Philippine Constitution .........................................................14

Court Cases Involving Contractual Workers ....................................................................15

Coca Cola Bottlers Phil Inc. vs. Dela Cruz ..............................................................15

 Philippine Airlines Inc. vs. Ligan .............................................................................16

Purefoods Corporation vs. National Labor Relations Commission .........................16

Social Representations ......................................................................................................17

The Dynamism of Social Representations ................................................................18

Social Representations and Inter-Group Relations ...................................................20

Types of Social Representations ...............................................................................23

Hegemonic Social Representation ...............................................................23

Emancipated Social Representations ...........................................................24

Polemic Social Representations ..................................................................24

Conceptual Framework ...................................................................................................26

Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................29

II. METHOD .............................................................................................................................30

Design......................................................................................................................................31

Participants ..............................................................................................................................32

Measures .................................................................................................................................34

Procedures ...............................................................................................................................35

Actual Procedure ...........................................................................................................36

Data Analysis ..........................................................................................................................37

III. RESULTS............................................................................................................................38
IV. DISCUSSION......................................................................................................................70

Synthesis of Findings .................................................................................................................70

Hegemonic Social Representations .....................................................................................71

Absence of Security of Tenure ......................................................................................71

Variable Worker Benefits ..............................................................................................74

Flawed Business Scheme .............................................................................................78

Variable Working Procedures .......................................................................................80

Confusion Regarding Employee Types .........................................................................82

Power Relations .............................................................................................................85

Emancipated Social Representations ....................................................................................89

Emancipated Social Representations between Employer and Worker ...........................89

Presence of Fly by Night Agencies Worsen Work Conditions ..................................89

Professional Relationship between employer and worker..........................................91

Emancipated Social Representations between Employer and Agency ...........................92

Economic Practicality ...............................................................................................92

Complex Process of Outsourcing ...............................................................................94

Loyalty of the Workers is Perceived to be Inclined Towards the Client ...................96

Avoiding Unions ........................................................................................................97

Polemic Social Representations ............................................................................................99

Polemic Social Representations by Contractual Workers ............................................100

Learned Helplessness ...............................................................................................100

Variability of Job Satisfaction and Motivation .........................................................102

Difference in Loyalty towards Employer and Agency.............................................104

 Polemic Social Representations on Contractualization by Contracting Agencies ..............107

Priority Towards the Client’s Welfare ......................................................................107

Polemic Social Representation on Contractualization by the Employer .............................108

Outsourcing as a means of Hiring Peripheral Workers .............................................108

Diversion of the Problem of Contractualization to Another Party ............................110

Implications of the Study ..........................................................................................................113

Reflexivity.................................................................................................................................118

Limitations and Recommendations...........................................................................................118

Conclusion: Social Representations of Contractualization .......................................................120

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................122

APENDDIXES.........................................................................................................................130

A. Interview Questions ....................................................................................................130

B. Consent Form ..............................................................................................................131

 Abstract

The study uses the framework of Social Representations in analyzing the process of

contractualization in the Philippines. The representations of the contractual workers,

contracting agencies and employers about contractualization were garnered. These were

analyzed thematically with the use of hegemonic, emancipated and polemic social

representation types. The hegemonic social representations are as follows: absence of security

of tenure, variable worker benefits, flawed business scheme, variable working procedures,

confusion regarding employee types, and power relations. The emancipated social

representations of the employer and the agency are: contractualization as a means for economic

practicality, complex processes of outsourcing, loyalty of the worker is towards the employer,

avoiding unions. Emancipated social representations between contractual workers and

employers are: presence of fly by night agencies worsen work conditions, professional

relationship between employer and worker. No emancipated social representations were found

for the worker and the agency. The employers’ polemic social representation regarding

contractualization are outsourcing as a means of hiring peripheral workers, diversion of the

problem of contractualization to another party. The contracting agency’s polemic social

representation regarding contractualization was the priority towards client’s welfare. Lastly,

the polemic representations of the workers were learned helplessness, variable job satisfaction

and motivation, difference in loyalty towards employer and agency. The themes which

surfaced per group were reminiscent of the contesting social stakes that thee different groups

have.
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Contractual work has been one of the most problematic schemes concerning labor

relations in the Philippines since the worker is deprived of certain rights and security

(Macaraya, 1997). The agents involved in the prevalence of contractual work or sub-

contracting are the private firm’s Human Resources department, the contracting agency and

the contractual employees themselves. Using the Social Representations theory, the research

aims to qualify the agents’ perspectives on their representation of contractualization, the

process of outsourcing employees through sub-contracting agencies where the employees lack

security of tenure. The research aims to study the various social representations on

contractualization of three existing trilateral employer-employee relationships with different

types of contractual employees such as maintenance, janitorial, and security.

There is a widening gap between the workers in the formal and informal sectors in the

Philippines. The former comprises of regular workers and has security of tenure. On the other

hand, the contractual workers are part of the informal sector where they do not have security of

tenure, are not qualified to be given benefits; and are not allowed for representation in their line

of work (Inocian & Lao, 2007).

The researchers, through a qualitative research method, want to explore the social

representations of the contracting agency, private firm (employer) and the contractual workers

themselves regarding the concept of contractualization. This research would also allow

clarification regarding the trilateral employer-employee relations relationship since status quo

suggests that there is a discrepancy or confusion in the understanding on who really employs
 2

the casual or contractual workers, the agency or the private firm. Through Social

Representations Theory, the intentions and priorities of the various agents will be seen with

regard to contractualization. At the same time, a better understanding can be deduced regarding

their own contexts.

Definition of Workers

The terms workers and laborers are to be used interchangeably in this paper. The terms

worker and laborer refer to an individual who is part of a particular field, activity or cause.

The individual, who works for a particular occupation, is one who does manual or industrial

labor (Collins, 2009). In the Philippines, majority of workers remain to be in the informal

sector in status quo. Prior to 2003, it was estimated that about 50 % of the country’s entire

labor force comes from the informal sector (Inocian & Lao, 2007). The workers who are

irregular or casual are part of the informal sector. These workers have casual or contractual

jobs wherein they do not receive security of tenure or benefits. Regular workers, on the other

hand, are part of the formal sector. Regular workers usually have their employee benefits and

security of tenure. However, the gap between the two sectors is widening. The workers from

the informal sector, even after a due period of time, enabling them to become eligible for

regularization, are often not given the chance and opportunity to receive proper benefits as

regularized employees, thus still not being included in the formal sector.

The informal sector’s role in the overall productive capacity and the viability of the

entire productive forces within the local economy has been critical (Inocian & Lao, 2007). The

workers in the informal sector contribute to the masses of cheap labor workforce. Employment

has always been a critical issue in the Philippines. Since there is already an obvious shortage of
 3

jobs in the country, some Filipinos resort to Overseas Contractual Work. National Statistics

Office (2010) states that there are 2 million Filipino Overseas Contractual Workers and

individuals who opt to stay in the country and find work, on the other hand, are somehow

underpaid and unrepresented. There is still inadequate protection for the workers and amenities

are quite insufficient even if there is urgency to the issue of labor relations (Inocian & Lao,

2007).

Neglected and taken for granted, the informal sector and the non-regular employees

are excluded from effective labor relation strategies and the enforcement of minimum labor

standards. The informal sector and non-regular employees are largely unorganized and thus not

fully represented in critical decision and policy making bodies in private and local

governments (Inocian & Lao, 2007).

The 1987 Labor Code of the Philippines aims to provide security for the formal and

informal workers. However, the Labor Code is still limited as most of its provisions are

focused on regular employees and overseas contractual employees. The casual employees have

been included in the Labor Code, but the code did not elaborate on their right to representation

and right to be regularized after due time. The Labor Code’s basic premise relies on the control

exercised by the employers, or those who seek service over the employee and the work or

service rendered by him or her (Macaraya, 1997). Commission – paid employees, also, were

not even included in the Labor Code.

Events in the Philippines that Resulted to Prevalence of Contractual Employees

Marcos’ Era. The attempt to revise the ‘import substitution’ began during the

Marcos Era in the implementation of the export-oriented strategy, according to the Litong et al.

study (2002; as cited in Inocian & Lao, 2007). This led to the extraordinary rise of the
 4

country’s GNP and GDP, which is largely attributed to the ballooning of external debt

throughout the decade of 1970s. Within the decade, unemployment and under-employment

trends played a major role in the health of the national economy.

Thus, any amount of economic development did not lead to the massive creation of job

opportunities. The country’s employment status remained stagnant, if not continually eroding.

Alonzo (1991; as cited in Inocian & Lao, 2007 ) pointed out that at that time of economic crisis

in the 1980’s, as heavily protected industries collapsed, workers laid off from their jobs sought

refuge in self-employment that could not offer the same security as their former jobs (Inocian

& Lao, 2007).

Herrera Law. In 1989, Republic Act 6715 was passed by then Senator Ernesto

Herrera. This was considered the first major revision of the Labor Code. Republic Act 6715

mainly focused on labor relations. RA 6715 allowed primacy of “free collective bargaining,

voluntary arbitration, mediation and conciliation” as modes of settling labor or industrial

disputes. It also aimed to promote free trade unionism as the instrument for the enhancement of

democracy and promotion of social justice and development, ensuring participation of workers

in decision and policy-making processes affecting their rights, duties and welfare. However,

RA 6715 just did a rehash of what is already present in that context. Instead, they lessened the

number of recognized unions to just one union per company. The representatives for the

collective bargaining were also set to a minimum and should only be coming from one union in

the company. Moreover, some regular workers who are not part of the recognized union in the

company would consequently not be given representation. Representation actually downgraded

due to RA 6715. Also, it did not give due importance to employment and labor standards and

welfare (Jimenez, 2004).

 5

Prior to the Herrera Law, the Philippines had a more vibrant union movement. The

labor movement was able to compel the government to legislate increases in the minimum

wage from time to time, on top of the increases unions were able to gain in collective

bargaining agreements. There was a significant decrease in the number of unionized workers,

meaning fewer workers had representation from the management. The fall in the number of

unionized workers and their ability to fight for wage increases and better working conditions

would necessarily result in worsening poverty for wage earners. Because of these acts, it was

more difficult for workers to strike (Salamat, 2010).

Salamat (2010) also states that there is a lengthy, complicated prerequisite in

registering unions. Irregular workers, then, are not given any form of representation. They are

not allowed to participate in collective bargaining as they are not allowed to form unions. As

stated earlier, only one union is permitted per company. The union in one company is then

limited to the membership of only regular workers. Many new unions have been denied

recognition because of their contractual nature of work. Companies deny employment to

unionized workers. To avoid this, the job contracting agency, becomes the employer. Through

Social Representations, the researchers explore the different social realities regarding

contractualization which are experienced by the various agents. The discrepancy regarding the

real employer of the contractual worker can be realized.

Definition of Contractual Workers. Flexibility of labor in corporate globalization

is deemed as a prerequisite in the workforce. Contractualization of labor in the Philippines

weakens the traditional power and concept of the unions (Macaraya, 1997). With the Philippine

membership to World Trade Organization, contractualization was used to attract the investor in

the form of a huge army of cheap, docile labor. A screening process at the Export Processing
 6

Zone Authority used local governments to screen applicants, making sure that there are no

employees that have prior experiences to unionizing. “Labor” seems to have lost its

independent potential force when it evolved into its passive name, “human capital” (Macaraya,

1997). Human capital consists of “improvements made in the labor embodied in human beings,

such as education or training to hone skills” (Byrns & Stone, 1981).

The different types of employees in the Philippines which are recognized in the Labor

Code (1987) are as follows: regular employees, term employees, project employees, seasonal

employees and casual employees. These varying types suggest different benefits and

privileges. Even if the Labor Code suggests that there is a basic right for all employees, casual

employees, still, are deprived of rights in actuality. They cannot be regularized even after a

year of working, not have security of tenure, and can just be terminated at the expense of the

firm (Inocian & Lao, 2007). The agency and firm’s context should also be taken into

consideration. There is a possibility that the needs of the workers are not being addressed since

there is no proper avenue for the agency and the firm to find out about their concerns.

With this bias and injustice to the efforts’ of workers, a historical lens was used to

unravel the progression of the rampancy of workers’ contractualization in the Philippines. The

root cause of workers’ contractualization was seen during the Marcos’ Era where the Herrera

Law (Republic Act 6715, 1989) greatly changed the Labor Code of the Philippines. Due to the

aggregate effects of these two Republic Acts, the demise of the Philippines’ Labor Relations

began. Contractual workers were not allowed to participate and be represented in collective

bargaining. At times, even regular workers are not given representation if the union they joined

is not duly recognized by the government. The addition of another entity, the contracting

agency, made the employer -employee relationship more difficult to comprehend since the
 7

private firm insists that the new party, the contracting agency, should be deemed responsible

for the welfare of the contractual employees and not the private firm. Then the faulty employer

- employee relationship between the firm and the employees began where the employees do

not know who they exactly work for. Thus, this present research aims to qualify the

representations of the various agents regarding their views on contractualization.

Review of Related Literature

Since the historical background on the emergence of contractual workers in the

Philippines was already discussed, the Review of Related Literature will focus on the agents in

the trilateral employment relations: the private firm, principal or employer, contractor or the

agency, and the contractual employees. There will also be a discussion of the three court cases

(Coca Cola Bottlers Phil Inc vs. Dela Cruz, Philippine Airlines Inc vs. Ligan and Purefoods

Corporation vs. National Labor Relations Commission) filed in the Supreme Court of the

Philippines regarding the abuses brought about by contractual work. Pertinent labor laws from

the Labor Code of the Philippines (1987) will also be discussed to have a better understanding

on the safeguards of workers’ welfare.

Consequently, there will be a discussion regarding the theory of Social

Representations proposed by Moscovici (1976) and how it allows a more holistic

understanding in tackling a particular issue. In this case, the issue refers to the various

representations of the private firm, the contracting agency and the contractual employees

regarding the concept of contractualization or contractual work. This aims to show the

discrepancies or the congruence in the expectations of the agents with one another.
 8

Different Types of Employment in the Philippines

There are various types of employees in the Philippines due to the differences

in the nature of work of the respective employee types.

Regular Employees are classified as such where in the employee has been engaged to

perform activities which are usually necessary or desirable in the usual business or trade of the

employer (Abad, 2006). Additionally, an employee is regular because of the nature of work

and length of service, not because of the mode or even the reason for hiring them (Prudential

Bank and Trust Co. vs. Reyes, 352, SCRA 3, 2001).

Term Employees refers to employees bound to a contract of employment for a definite

period terminated by its own terms at the end of such period (Brent School vs. Zamora, 181,

SCRA 702, 1990).

Project employees are distinguished from regular employees if they are assigned to

carry out a “specific scope or undertaking,” the duration of which were specified at the time the

employees were engaged for that project (ALU-TUCP vs. NLRC, 234 678, 1994).

Seasonal workers are those who are called to work from time to time according to the

occurrence of varying need during a season, and are laid off after completion of the required

phase of work (Abad, 2006).

Casual employees are employees who are neither regular, nor seasonal or fixed for a

specific project. Employment is casual when it is irregular, unpredictable, sporadic and brief in

nature, and outside the usual business of the employer (Caro vs. Rilloraza, 102 Phil. 70, 1957).

There are also “overstaying casual workers” where the workers have already been

working for more than 6 months in the organization but are still not regularized (Daenekindt &

Rosero, 2003).
 9

Given that there are various types of work, not all worker types are ensured of the same

privileges and benefits. Seemingly, the regular employee is the only employee type which is

legally ensured with tenure and benefits. On the other hand, the term, project and seasonal

employees can be considered regular employees during the duration of the nature of their work.

These workers are usually under the jobs, labor, and service contracting. The difference of the

term, project and seasonal employees with the regular workers is the absence of security of

tenure (Macaraya, 1997). Lastly, the worker type who receives the least protection and security

are the casual workers, home-workers, the commission- paid and contractual workers

(Macaraya, 1997). This is the reason why there is clamor for this working class to determine

why its rights have been undermined. Through Social Representations Theory, the

perspectives of the various agents regarding the implementation of worker rights in lieu with

contractual work can then be explored.

Varying Agents Involved in Contractualization. In our study, the participants are

the trilateral agents in employer relations are as follows: (a) the employer who is the principal;

(b) contractor or subcontractor; and (c) the employees. The Labor Code (1989) recognizes

triangular or trilateral employment relations as an employment arrangement that should be

regulated for the protection and benefit of the workers. Thus said the Supreme Court, “while it

is true that the parties to a contract employment arrangement that should be regulated for the

protection and benefit of the workers may establish any agreements, terms and conditions that

they may deem convenient, the same should not be contrary to law, morals, good customs,

public order or public policy. The relations between capital and labor are not merely

contractual, impressed as they are with so much public interest that the same should yield to

the common good” (Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Company vs. NLRC. 272, SCRA
 10

596, 1997). However, it is evident in status quo that there is discrepancy between what the law

states and its implementation. Non-regularized, contractual employees are not even allowed to

form unions and are not allowed to take part in collective bargaining. Since there is difficulty

in the translation of the laws regarding industrial-contractual relationships, we aim to qualify

the perspectives of the various agents involved in the prevalence of the unjust treatment of the

contractual, non-regular employees.

Private Firms’ Pursuit of Contractual Workers. The human resources department of

the private firm usually responds to the needs of the firm that are deemed of primary

importance: the perspective of the firm typically has the most influential stance in decision-

making. This kind of single perspective does little for our understanding of the employment

relationship. It lacks recognition of the importance of employment mutuality, of matching the

needs of the worker with the needs of the business. Employment entails an ‘authority relation’

(Williamson, 1985) where employees are subject to supervision within a ‘zone of acceptance’

(Simon, 1951).

The Labor Code of the Philippines prohibits the following acts of the principal

employer: (a) in addition to his assigned functions, requiring the contractual employees to

perform functions which are currently being performed by the regular employees of the

principal or of the contractor or subcontractor; (b) requiring him to sign, as precondition for

employment, an antedated resignation letter, a blank payroll, a waiver of labor standards

including minimum wages and social or welfare benefits, or a quitclaim releasing the

principal, contractor or subcontractor from any liability as to payment of future claims; and

(c) requiring him to sign a contract fixing the period of employment to a term shorter than the

term of the contract between the principal and the contractor or subcontractor, unless the
 11

latter contract is divisible into phases for which substantially different skills are required and

this is made known to the employee at the time of engagement (Labor Code, 1987).

As stated earlier, the Labor Laws did partake in ensuring the welfare of the employees.

Contracts of the employees should then have the same longevity of the contract of the agency.

However, the implementation of this does not take place. Even if the contracting agency is still

working with the private firm, some employees’ contracts are then terminated earlier. This

validates the lack of security of the contractual workers.

The HR systems of organizations try to look for laborers who qualify their job

descriptions and are competent enough to be hired. They try their best to match the potential

workers with their current job openings, sometimes without putting much consideration to the

personal growth of the employee. Also, depending on the job, the HR systems may sacrifice

the quality of the workers for their quantity, especially if the job positions needed to be filled

are blue-collared in nature. Through Social Representations Theory, we would then be able to

find out the representation of each agent in the participation in the process of

contractualization.

Agencies that Employ Contractual Workers. A firm may purchase work from a

contractor who typically enjoys a greater degree of autonomy in how the work is done, and

who invoices the firm on completion or in agreed stages (Peel & Boxer, 2005).

Contracting relationships are less stable and predictable, as there is generally no

commitment to a long-term attachment between the firm and the individual. Many contractual

relationships are also less predictable in terms of time and place. Contractors may not be sure

exactly when and where their services will be required, making long term planning difficult,

something that may impact negatively on other aspects of their lives.

 12

Contracting has the potential to offer flexibility to the worker as well as the firm.

Rather than being locked into keeping the hours designated by the employer, some contractors

are able to vary their hours of work in desirable ways. Kunda et al. (2002) found that control

over time was an important theme in contractors’ accounts of entering contracting (Peel &

Boxall, 2005).

Traditionally, subcontracting was confined mainly to activities incidental to the

operations of the business such as security, janitorial and maintenance service. In recent years

however, subcontracting has evolved into complex arrangements and has encroached into areas

of work regularly performed by regular employees such as the production process and related

activities (Macaraya, 1997).

The Labor Code (1987) states that to qualify as legitimate contractor, a contractor

or subcontractor must: (a) carry on a distinct and independent business and performs the job,

work or service on its own account and under its own responsibility, according to its own

manner and method, and free from the control and direction of the principal in all matters

connected with the performance of work except as to the results; (b) has substantial capital or

investment; and (c) the agreement between the principal and matters connected with the

performance of work except as to the results; (b) has substantial capital or investment; and (c)

the agreement between the principal and contractor assures the contractual employees

entitlement to all labor and occupational safety and health standards, free exercise of the right

to self-organization, security of tenure, and social and welfare benefits, safety and health

standards, free exercise tenure, and social and welfare benefits (Macaraya, 1997). Section C

states that the workers have a right to self-organization, however, the agency’s staff of
 13

contractual workers are not allowed to form own unions. Again, there is a discrepancy with the

ideals and the implementation of the law.

The hiring agency recruits potential laborers and workers that are qualified to work

for certain companies. They are basically a company that helps other companies outsource

manpower for their specific needs. In recruiting these laborers and looking for potential

employers, they get a certain commission. Their interest, most likely, may not be of the

laborers’, but of the amount of commission they will get. Through Social Representations, we

can realize the processes between the private firm and the contracting agency that take place in

contracting. We would then determine the displacement of the workers from the agency to the

private firm.

Contractual Workers’ Welfare in the Philippines. Contractual workers, on the other

hand, generally have more personal and short-term goals. They earn money for themselves and

for their families. They will, most probably, look for companies or agencies with higher and

more efficient hiring rates, with the highest pay, if still possible.

Also, the perception of Filipinos towards work might be different as compared to

workers from other countries. Filipinos might be more ambivalent and more patient towards

authority figures in their respective workplace. Even if there is oppression or undermining of

their rights as workers, only minimal effort can be noted from the workers since rallies are not

prevalent nowadays (Macaraya, 1997). If the workers participate in a rally, this would entail a

certain loss on their wages. Also, there is no assurance that their cause would then be yielded.

Thus, they accept whatever terms given to them since they have no other choice. Perhaps, this

can be due to learned helplessness. Social Representations could then qualify the situation of

the contractual workers.

 14

Some Labor Laws in the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Contracting and

subcontracting arrangements are expressly allowed by law and are subject to regulation for the

promotion of employment and the observance of the rights of workers to just and humane

conditions of work, security of tenure, self-organization and collective bargaining. Labor- only

contracting as defined herein shall be prohibited.

“Note: Labor only contracting refers to the person supplying workers to employer

does not have substantial capital or investment in form of tools, equipments, machineries, work

premises. The workers recruited and placed by such person are performing activities which

are directly related to the principal business of the employer” (Salao, 2010).

Contractualization is allowed by law as long as it helps and goes hand-in-hand with

the growth of the workers with accord to their rights, condition, and security of tenure, self-

organization and collective bargaining.

Any employee, who has rendered at least one year of service, whether such a service

is continuous or broken, shall be considered a regular employee with respect to the activity in

which he is employed and his employment shall continue while such activity exists. After a

year of service, an employee is entitled to be regularized. (Abad, 2008).

The constitution affords full protection to labor when conflicting interests of labor

and capital collide (Fuentes, et al vs. NLRC, et al., 266 SCRA 24, 1997). State is bound under

the Constitution to afford full protection to labor and when conflicting interests of labor and

capital are to be weighed on the scales of social justice, the heavier influence of the latter

should be counterbalanced with the sympathy and compassion the law accords the less

privileged working man. This is only fair if the worker is to be given the opportunity and the

right to assert and defend his cause, not as a subordinate, but as part of management with
 15

which he can negotiate on even plane. Thus, labor is not a mere employee of capital but its

active and equal partner.

Laborers are not merely employees, but business partners as well. Their own

personal interests and welfare are critical not only to themselves, but to the company as well.

Social justice ceases to be an effective instrument for the “equalization of the social

and economic forces” by the State when it is used to shield wrongdoing (Jamer vs. NLRC, 278

SCRA 632, 1997). The cause of social justice is not served by upholding the interest of the

employees in disregard of the right of the company.

It should be made clear that when the law tilts the scale of justice in favor of labor,

it is but recognition of the inherent economic inequality between labor and management. The

intent is to balance the scale of justice; to put the two parties on relatively equal positions.

Justice is to be denied to none (Abad, 2006).

Court Cases Involving Contractual Work

It is very critical for all the parties involved with the process of contractualization

to formally know their limits, boundaries, privileges and benefits with regard to the law.

Knowing these legal concerns with regard to restriction and allowance, there is a great

possibility for conflict and misunderstanding between these parties to be avoided, possibly

even increasing the loyalty and retention rate of the workers not only to the companies, but to

the agencies as well. Knowing the law will make people know their rights, allowing them not

to be abused and to be treated equally as working citizens of the Philippines.

Coca Cola Bottlers Phil Inc vs. Dela Cruz, 2011. Coca-Cola Bottlers Phlippines , Inc.

vs. Dela Cruz. Coca-Cola workers raised the issue of not being given the proper privileges and

benefits of a regularized employee after working in the particular firm for due time. They
 16

questioned the stipulated fee that was being given to them, as, according to Coca-Cola, there is

an absence of the employer-employee relationship. Also, according to the company there is an

absence of jurisdiction regarding National Labor Relations Commission. Contracting and sub-

contracting are quite vague issues that do not have a strict and formula regulation process. This

may be a cause of misunderstanding and anomaly. Both the contracting agencies, and the

companies the laborers are in reality working for, are both held as the employers, thus making

regularization, security of tenure and other benefits very questionable and subjective.

Philippine Airlines Inc vs. Ligan, 2009. Workers of Philippine Airlines who were

hired with the assistance of contracting agencies complained of unequal rights as opposed to

regular workers. Also, there was a resurgence of this case in 2011 where the regular employees

from Philippine Airlines were terminated then aimed to be re-hired again through a new-hired

contracting agency. The regular workers then are to be re-hired as contractual workers with

their usual wages and benefits scrapped off to minimum wages again. This implies the

vagueness of the employee-employer relationship where re-occurrences take place due to

uncertain nature of the employees, of being part of the contracting agency or the actual

company given that their deserved benefits as regular workers/ employees were revoked

instantly. The said newly hired sub-contracting agencies of “Sky Logistics” and “Sky

Kitchen” which are to be the new employers of the workers are said to have been “dummy

corporations” as they do not have separate capital and resources from Philippine Airlines.

Purefoods Corporation vs. National Labor Relations Commission, 1997. Again, there

are instances where the laborer is regarded as an employee of the agency, not of the company,

thus, nullifying all benefits possible for the employee, coming from the company itself.
 17

Some Purefoods’ workers also questioned this as they filed a case against Purefoods,

asking for benefits of regularized employees, as according to them, they also did what the

regular employees did.

There is clearly anomaly between the relationships between the agencies, the workers

and the companies. The rights of the workers are not clearly stated, thus the presence of such

few cases with concern to this discrepancy. There are only few court cases regarding the

abuses in contractual work even if is very rampant. Perhaps, not all workers are capable of

providing resources necessary for pursuit of a lawyer’s services. Also, given that there are

various employer- employee relationships per transaction (with a contracting agency and a

private firm), a Social Representations method could then align the intentions of the various

agents that could provide a mutual relationship between all the agents involved.

Social Representations Theory

Social representations are systems of values, ideas and practices which enable

communication to take place among the members of a community by providing them with a

code for social exchange and a code for naming and classifying unambiguously the various

aspects of their world and their individual and group history (Moscovici, 1961). Certain studies

such as from Clemence, Devos and Doise, (2001); Philogene and Deaux, (2001); Wagner,

Duveen, Farr, Jovchelovitch, and, Lorenzi-Cioldi, Markova and Rose (1999) have all pointed

out that Social Representations as highly dependent on particular views and interpretations

regarding interactions in specific social contexts (de Guzman, 2011). Also, according to page

xiii of Moscovici’s 1973 article, Health and Illness: A Social Psychological Analysis, social

representation is a “system of values, ideas and practices” that, according to Stephens (2007)

bridges and facilitates communication and provides practicality (de Guzman, 2011). De
 18

Guzman also mentions that according to Sotirakopoulou and Breakwell (1992), Social

Representation not only encompasses ideas but also beliefs, values, practices, feelings, images,

attitudes, knowledge, understanding and explanations regarding a social construct. Social

Representations do influence our actions, particularly how we may explain our actions or the

actions of others, but they are also contained within and developed through our social actions

(Moscovici, 1988), or more properly our social practices (Marková, 2000). Hence we must

emphasize the point that representations not only influence people’s daily practices – but

constitute these practices (Howarth 2006).

The Dynamism of Social Representations

Bauer and Gaskell (2008) state that social representations are multi-faceted and

are able to show two things at the same time. First, it highlights the process of transformation

as ideas move in society. Second, it also provides an integrative theory of communication for

social psychology. Social representations allow a social – psychological framework of

knowledge used in studying psychosocial phenomena in contemporary societies (Wagner et al,

1999). In contemporary times, this would then be suggestive of a system and process of

discourse that would conglomerate the different groups which experience varying realities.

There are spontaneous expressions of multiple views about various social objects. Social

representations highlight shared knowledge that is produced and negotiated through social

interaction and discourse in the daily life of the people (Montiel, 2010).

Most issues are composed of subject-object relations which are not a matter of

individual information processing. Hence, it states that all issues are comprised of various

paradigms, subject matter or perspective. The unit of analysis of social representations is not

an isolated organism. Instead, a certain issue arises due to the effect of different paradigms on
 19

each other. With this theory, different representations on a certain issue could then provide

alignment or clarity of intentions that could lead to the fueling of collective action in a given

party (Montiel, 2010). Practical engagement then results from these various perspectives.

Different representations can also constitute an inter-group context which can be less

conflicting once a certain paradigm is aware of another party’s beliefs or representations

(Moscovici, 1998).

In this case, the research study’s object for examination is the process of

contractualization as perceived by the various agents (the contractual employees, the company

or employer and the contracting agency) involved in their prevalence. This would allow

gaining and garnering insight about a certain group’s social-psychological processes and group

relationships between patterns of thinking (Montiel, 2010).

Howarth (2006) points out that knowledge is never disinterested: it is always

actively constructed by social agents who speak from different positions and who have

different ‘social stakes’ (Mugny & Carugati, 1989) in maintaining and/or challenging the

hegemonic social representations that invade their realities. Different social groups have more

and less access to the (co)construction of social reality within the public sphere (Jovchelovitch,

1997) and so to the ramification and legitimization of knowledge systems, and therefore

experience different levels of social inclusion- exclusion (Howarth, 2001). In the study, the

different positions of the trilateral agents in the employer-employee relationship could

showcase the varying social representations in their concept of “contractualization”. Possibly,

through their social representations, the “social stakes” of these agents with varying social

positions could be clarified.

 20

Montiel (2010) states that Social Representations are dynamic as they evolve

continuously over time and space. Social Representations in a specific era would then be

reflective of the current political, economic and cultural state of a particular group in the

society. Social Representations Theory is particularly useful for it, since it is oriented towards

exploration of explanations that arise in the face of new events (Hewstone 1998; as cited in

Joffe, 2003). The social representations of contractualization in the current era would be then

reflective of the current processes in terms of labor and management relationships and

practices in contractual labor in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.

Social Representations and Inter-group Relations

Moscovici (1973) states that Social Representations could elucidate the links which

unite human psychology with contemporary social and cultural questions. With the summation

of the various realities and experiences of different groups, the bigger picture or the bigger

representation of reality would then be drawn upon. This would allow a better understanding of

the varying systems in status quo. And if there is a problem with current processes about a

specific issue, the perception of each group involved could then clarify each other’s context. It

was also mentioned by Moscovici (1972) that Social Representations can support or critique

social order or to consolidate and transform it.

Consequently, in Social Representations theory, two or more groups are frequently

studied in order to compare and contrast the similarities and difference of representations

between the varying groups. Studies on Social Representation illustrate the collective and

contrasting views of varied groups on a particular phenomenon. Moreover, qualitative methods

like interviews and focused group discussions are mainly used in gathering data (Carignan &
 21

Jovchelovitch, 1995). Aside from this some studies also utilize free word associations in order

to quantify data (Roland-Lévy, 2009). Furthermore, there are studies that compare more than

two groups. In a study conducted by Lévy and Berjo (2009) the authors investigated the social

representations of three social groups (students, people in the workforce, and retirees)

regarding the retirement in France. Comparison of the three samples allows the authors to

describe how social representations of retirement differ according to age and employment

status. In the study, the content of social representations of retirement was assessed through a

free association task with the stimulus word “retirement”. Following this task, valence of the

words cited was asked in order to assess attitudes toward retirement. A characterization task

was used to assess the core representation of retirement and the place of financial concerns.

The results of this study showed that the central elements in the study differ from one social

group to the other; it can be observed that there were three different social representations in

the three age groups.

Another study was conducted by Vaast (2007), regarding the Social Representations of

Information Systems security in healthcare. This study investigated the Social Representations

of Information Systems (IS) security of different communities working in a health care

organization. It also considers the questions on how the IS security is socially constructed and

how people makes sense of their context of work. This study illustrates the relevance of this

perspective by analyzing the differences and similarities in the way members of seven

occupational communities (physicians, nurses, IS professionals, social workers, clerks,

technicians, and managers) working in the same healthcare organization represent IS security.

Through analyzing the different groups, social representations can be useful in making sense of

the IS security from the point of view of the various communities. This study employed a
 22

qualitative approach through interviewing the various communities. Finally, the results of this

study showed that security and awareness programs should be customized to acknowledge that

members of various communities "know" different things about security and that they react

differently to various security initiatives. Therefore, social representations was used in this

study in order to find out the different point views of the various communities regarding the IS

security. It showed the how the various communities socially constructed and how people

understood the context of work of the IS security.

This shows that social representations can go beyond comparing two groups and it is

also possible to compare various groups. Although comparing several groups may add to the

complexity of the study, it is also useful in showing the different views of the varied groups. It

also shows that varying groups would typically result to having different or homogenous

representations regarding certain a context. In relation to the current study, three groups are

being compared (contractual workers, agency, and private firm) regarding their perspective on

contractualization in the Philippines. The varying perspectives may also show the problems or

concerns regarding the trending phenomenon of contractualization in the Philippines.

In summary, as according to Jovchelovitch (1995), social representations theory gives

significance to the shared, multiple and possibly contested nature of meanings and

understandings that can be given to a particular social object (de Guzman, 2011) which then

could lead to the collective representation per group that might differ in the understanding and

perception of the social object. Shared representations constitute the basis for communication

and the ability to function as a social body with shared ideological codes, a sense of identity

and social coherence. Social representations serve the dual purpose of making the unfamiliar

familiar, and constructing a group identity (Ben-asher, 2003).

 23

Types of Social Representations

Hegemonic Social Representations. Hegemonic representations are typically found in

homogeneous societies containing only one group or little inter-group conflict (Liu, 2011).

Hegemonic social representations sustain the dominant cultural order which is unchanging over

time and so are almost completely dominated by the central nucleus of ideas (Howarth, 2011).

Here it is more useful to examine the ways in which communicative practices operate

ideologically through the systematic manipulation of knowledge in the service of power and

the defense of unequal social relations (Howarth, 2011). These hegemonic representations are

shared by all group members (Moscovici, 1988). They help resolve conflicts and reconcile

subgroups (Liu, 2005). Hegemonic representations would then be able to showcase a generic

representation regarding contractualization that is shared by all the groups involved.

Symbolic representations can then be used to unite (as in hegemonic

representations) or divide (polemical representations).. The current study will be working on

hegemonic, emancipated, and polemic social representations. With polemic social

representations, the representations of the various agents of contractualization would be

analyzed. After which, hegemonic social representations would allow to concretize and

homogenize the various social representations and be interpreted given the framework that all

these representations are part of a particular society. Hegemonic Representations are shared to

some extent by all members of a society and signify the societal identity, allowing very few

degrees of freedom on the individual level (Ben-Asher, 2003).

 24

Emancipated Social Representations. Ben-Asher (2003) states that emancipated social

representations are distinctively constructed information by small sectors of society that are not

yet incompatible with hegemonic representations. These representations are said to be

constructed when members of society are exposed to different information and experience

which reflect the differences among the sub-groups. Liu (2002) also suggests that

emancipated social representations are smoothly interacting versions of representations in

different segments of society. Consequently, emancipated social representations are

considered the outgrowth of shared knowledge within subgroups (Brewer, 2001).

Polemic social representations. These social representations are formed by subgroups in the

course of a dispute or social conflict when societies as a whole or the social authorities do not

necessarily share them. They express rivalry or incongruity between representations (Ben-

Asher, 2003). A Moscovici (2000) state that polemic social representations are generated in the

course of social conflict, social controversy and society as a whole does not share them.

Polemical views are held by only some groups in society, while other groups hold opposing

views (Liu, 2011). Polemical representations are often indicative of conflict, and tend to be

found in more diverse societies (Liu et al., 1999). Polemic representations are contradictory or

mutually exclusive interpretations that usually arise in the context of social controversy

(Moscovici, 1988). These engender miscommunication and mistrust and may even lead to

antagonistic relationships (Liu, 2005). These representations then showcase the diverse

realities that the varying groups experience that do not coincide. Polemic representations are

the independent, unshared representations or perceptions of a certain group which are different

from the perception of the other groups involved. With the group’s polemic representations,
 25

their representations of a certain object would then project the group’s value-systems thus

forming its social identity (Liu, 2011).

Social and political consequences of different polemic representations and the

relationship between representation and the social order would enable knowledge to be

theorized as legitimate or illegitimate in inter-subjectively negotiated realities in terms of

sustaining or contesting particular relations of power (Foucault, 1980). This would demand the

recognition of the reproduction of power in the reification and legitimization of social

representations, as well as in the collaborative struggle for recognition and in possibilities for

resistance and transformation. This would expose the dialectics of coding and trans-coding,

consensus and dispute, cooperation and conflict, imposition and resistance at the heart of all

meaning, practice and communication. Without these tensions, representations would stagnate

(Howarth, 2006).

Breakwell (1993) states that powers differentials are only one such influence

which might be examined empirically. Inter-group power differentials will have an important

impact upon the development of social representations. The acceptance of alternative social

representations of a single event is likely to be greatly affected by the relative power of the two

groups generating them. Hierarchies do exist and this will become apparent in the

representations.

Rose et. al (1995), challenges the notion that consensus defined as 'agreement in

opinion' is at the heart of the theory of social representations. Moreover, the issue of power was

also discussed. In this study it was argued that `consensus' is always temporary and precarious

since social interaction and communication constantly threaten its stability. On the other hand,

the multiplicity of social representations, or of contradictory elements within a given

 26

representation of any one object needs to be emphasized, relativism must be avoided. A

relativist position denies the fact that social representations held by certain groups in a society

have greater authority than those of other groups. There is power to be found in the symbolic

field, in which very unequally equipped agents must compete to exert their influence. Nowhere

is this clearer than with respect to the location of social representations in institutional settings

which stabilize, control, and even segregate social groups and individuals.

In conclusion, Rose et. al. (2005) proposed that the notion of consensus exists in an

area of the representational field which is in permanent interaction with more mobile and

unstable elements. Moreover, it was suggested that this field is itself heterogeneous, contested

and diverse.

Conceptual Framework

Using the Social Representations Theory, we aim to examine the perspectives of the

HR system, the contracting agency and the blue collar contractual workers’ regarding the

process of contractualization. The research study aims to explore each other’s social

representations since there is no other avenue for representation or discourse in current labor

relation policies for contract workers. Collective bargaining process is non-existent for

contractual employees. The research aims to find the implications of the trade off and if there is

a possibility for mutually satisfying employer-employee relationship. Social representations,

then, allow clarification on different realities experienced by a certain group in the light of

another group’s own experiences (Bauer & Gaskell, 2008). We will determine if there are

hegemonic and polemic social representations of these agents regarding contractualization.

 27

Howarth (2006) critiqued the usage of Social Representations as this can be biased

especially when it focuses on the thoughts of only one actor in a particular issue. In this study,

however, more than one social representation will be used so the chances of having a biased

representation are unlikely. Instead, varying representations of the issue would be seen in form

of polemic social representations. Then given the polemic representations, other overlapping

representations from the various parties through hegemonic social representations could then

provide alignment of intentions from the different parties involved. Social representations

could then inform and contribute to our perception of reality, realize the congruence and

incongruence between the realities these various agents experience regarding

contractualization. Social representations become more dynamic and become inter-

subjectively agreed to be (Howarth, 2006). Polemic representations would be equivalent to

each representation of the party. Hegemonic representations would only be drawn after the

analysis of these representations, whether there is an underlying coherence and cohesion

among the three sectors (workers, HR management and the contracting agency).

If one particular agent’s rationale is dominant and without the presence of any avenue

for collaboration regarding the certain clamors on an issue, there would really be a party whose

interest would not be recognized without the alignment of intentions brought about by the

various social representations. Hence, the social representation regarding contractual work

from the various agents would then allow an unbiased and well-represented account on the

prevalence of contractual workers. This would allow alignment in the intentions and

realizations regarding the value judgment of each particular agent.

This framework would serve as bulwark against reductionism and reification of

public opinion. Social representation is a theory of the dynamics and differentiation of

 28

common senses, not least in relation to science as a source of knowledge. The theory is thus a

part of the diverse tradition of conceptualizing the relations between common sense and

science. “There is no public opinion without different representations” (Bauer & Gaskell,

2008; 349).

Figure 1 Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 shows the placement of the three agents - private firm, contractual worker, contractual

agency. Their individual circles would consist of their polemic social representations (pink,

yellow, green circles). This showcases each agent’s own paradigm, representative of its own

ideals. The purple interconnection in the middle would equate to emancipated social

representations, shared by two groups. Lastly, the over-arching circle (blue-green) is the

hegemonic representation, shared by the three agents. Through Social Representations, the
 29

various parties would then be able to determine the congruence and incongruence regarding

their concept of contractualization with all the other paradigms involved.

Statement of the Problem

What is the social representation of contractualization for the contracting agency,

contractual workers and the private firm or employer?

Are these representations hegemonic, emancipated or polemic?

 CHAPTER II

METHODOLOGY
The theory of Social Representations sets out to overcome the dichotomies between the

individual and society as well as between subjective and objective. There has been an effort to

adopt a consistent methodological approach given the diversity of voices and variety of

contexts. Farr (1993; as cited in Wagner, 2007) advocates the use of multiple methods for

Social Representations. Wagner (2007) lists quantitative and qualitative research

methodologies for Social Representations. Our current study used only a qualitative method.

The current study emulated the methodology of the Social Representations study of the

“Symbolic Construction of Public Spaces in Brazil by Jovchelovitch (1995) as Wagner (2007)

discussed its methodology. The Jovchelovitch (1995) study discussed Social Representations

during the ousting of the Brazilian President F. Collor Melo who was the first Brazilian

president to be expelled from office due to corruption charges. The study by Jovchelovitch

(1995) used narrative interviews and focus group methodologies among different Brazilian

participants from the government, citizens and media personnel. Each social group had a

minimum of four members each for the interview or focus group session. The data were then

analyzed through content analysis where a coding frame was used. The coding frame is the set

of categories or themes that arise from the transcription of the narratives and the focus group

discussions.

Wagner (2007) states that narrative interviews under social representations, in

contrast to other forms of in-depth interviewing, leaves the field completely open to the

interviewee, by simply asking subjects to tell the story of the event being studied (Bauer,1996;

as cited in Wagner, 2007). Narrative interviews draw on the conceptual value of story-telling

as one of the most fundamental forms of human communication (Barthers,1988; as cited in

 31

Wagner, 2007), and have been considered as a particularly useful method in the study of social

representations (Jovchelovitch, 1995b; Laszlo, 1997; Rose, 1996).

The research will use an exploratory, qualitative design, specifically semi-structured

narrative interviews regarding the representation on the object and the phenomenon of

contractualization.. These semi-structured interviews would then be able to determine the

representations of the various parties (the contractual worker, the contractual agency and the

private firm) regarding their views on the process of contractualization. Content analysis will

be done after the transcription of the narratives.

The current study used the focus group and interview methodology for the Pre-

Test in one employer-employee relationship consisting of the agency, employer or private firm,

and contractual workers. However, the focus group deemed ineffective since not all the

participants shared their representations in depth. There was only one person in the group who

participated. To minimize the unresponsiveness and possible tendency of participants to just

agree, without critical thinking and self-analysis, to the answers and responses of the other

participants, personal interviews were conducted for all the respective parties involved, in

accord to each of their employer-employee relationships.

Design

The research used a qualitative study, in form of semi-structured interviews for each

agent involved in the contractualization process. The researchers conducted semi-structured

interviews for the contractual employees, contractual agencies and the private firms. The

research, basically, is a qualitative study of current, existing trilateral relationships in various

working environments that hire contractual workers for maintenance, security and janitorial
 32

services through a contracting agency. The questions that were used are semi-structured,

allowing consistency at the start of the interview for all the three parties involved. The semi-

structured interview format allowed the interviewees to surface their own personal

representations, based on their own personal experiences in their respective fields regarding

contractualization. Also, to minimize the possibility of confounding, there was only be one

interviewer for all these three groups of people..

Through thematic analysis, certain value judgments and themes regarding each

agent’s views on contractual work surfaced after data gathering.

Participants

There were three kinds of respondents for the study. First, the blue collared contractual

employees who work for companies under a contracting agency were asked to engage in the

study. The researchers garnered participants who were blue-collared contractual workers,

specifically maintenance, janitorial and security contractual workers who are contracted by

agencies. These employees are part of a trilateral employer-employee relationship, the

relationship between the contracting agency and their employer (the firm). The researchers

specifically selected to inquire maintenance, janitorial and security contractual workers so as to

better represent the various worker types of sub-contracting schemes. Each type of contract

worker has its own corresponding contracting agency and employer. These different workers,

given the variation in their line of work, are possibly more representative of the population of

contractual workers.

Secondly, the contracting agencies who hired the contractual workers providing

maintenance, janitorial and security services were asked to participate in this study. The
 33

researchers obtained respondents from the contracting agency who are part of the

administrative and human resources program, directly involved with the contractual workers.

They were also asked to participate during a weekend so as not to disrupt regular working

hours. These people should ideally have worked at least a year in their respective jobs in order

to allow a more holistic and complete point of view regarding their working experience with

contractual workers.

Lastly, the researchers also engaged participants from the human resources department

or supervising committee of the companies which are currently hiring contractual employees

from contracting agencies. The human resources supervisor who directly hires the contractual

workers for maintenance, janitorial and security was contacted. They were contacted through a

formal letter informing them of the background and significance of the study. The researchers

were able to get regular employees of the HR department who were directly involved in the

processes regarding screening, selection and recruitment of employees. Although no initiatives

were given to them, tokens were handed out as to give appreciation to their allocation of time

to the researchers’ study.

Eight contractual workers, three maintenance workers, three janitorial workers and

two security contractual workers were asked to participate in interviews in order to have a

diverse, well-represented and unbiased representation regarding the issue of contractualization.

On the other hand, four participants, the supervisors of the interviewed workers from the

contracting agency, were also interviewed. Finally, four employees from the HR or

admistration department of the company or the employer were asked to participate in the study.

There were a total of sixteen participants in the study proper. This was done as the researchers

conducted two interviews, each from these two groups of participants, not only due to
 34

feasibility and practicality purposes but also to be able to better understand the competence and

structure of the institution based on their individual employees.

These participants were obtained using snowball and stratified purposive sampling. The

researchers then contacted the agency and the HR supervisor of the various contractual

employees’ participants. Snowball sampling was again incorporated since the contractual

workers also referred other contractual workers to be interviewed. Stratified purposive

sampling was used since four representatives’ (2 contractual workers, 1 contracting agency

representative and 1 HR supervisor) views on contractualization was needed for each trilateral

employer-employee relationship.

Measures

The interviews followed a semi-structured format. Introductory questions were asked

first from the respondents regarding their basic information and current status in the

organization (Appendix A). The primary question that was asked from the three agents was in

Filipino asking “Ano ang contractualization para sayo?” This question allowed the

participants to narrate or share their opinions and stories about contractualization.

Aside from this, follow-up questions were asked to confirm and clarify the responses

of the participant/s. The interview question for all three agents (HR supervisor of the private

firm or employer, contracting agency and contractual employee) sought to answer their

opinions regarding the concept of contractualization. The semi-structured type of interview

was able to manifest the certain issues, discourse and representations of opinions regarding

contractualization.
 35

Procedure

Pilot Test Phase

Before the actual procedure, a pretest was conducted as to study the clarity and

effectiveness of the interview and group discussion questions. The contractual workers from a

university gym, one employee from Contracting Agency A counterpart and one representative

from Employer A underwent a focused group discussion and interviews respectively since the

initial method consisted of Focus Group Discussions for the workers and interviews for the

other participants. The FGD and the interview of the private firm’s human resources’

representative were held in a conducive place for discussion, in a conference room in a

university gym. The interview with the contractual agency regular employee was held in Shaw,

in her office, last October 7, 2011.

The pre-test conducted last October 7, 2011 showed that focused group discussions

were not as effective and beneficial as the researchers predicted it would be. There were

chances that the contractual employee would just agree to the other participants instead of

voicing out his own opinions and concerns. In a way, there might have been some group think

involved in this method, disrupting the data. It would be best to have interviews even for the

workers, instead of focused group discussions.

As for the type of interview, the researchers determined that it would be best to keep

the interviews semi-structured as to open the free association of the participants regarding the

true issues and concerns they have regarding this topic, avoiding preempting of the researchers

on theorized possible issues.

 36

Actual Procedure

For the actual procedure, as mentioned earlier, the researchers conducted semi-

structured interviews, for the three types of contractual workers and for the regular employees

of the contracting agency and the representative of the private firm/company. The interviews

for the contractual agency and the private firms were conducted on a Saturday, since most

private offices and institutions do not have office during this day. They were invited during the

weekend in order to be more flexible regarding extensions of the possible duration of the

discussion. For the contractual workers, however, the researchers tried to schedule interviews

with regard to weekends or their respective day offs. In the event that these workers were not

free when the researchers are also free, interviews were done during morning, giving the

worker an opportunity to come in late for work, just in time for a half day work day. Rest

assured, ethical initiatives were given to these participants as they ran the chance of missing a

day of work for our investigation and methodical information obtainment, in order to

compensate for their working hours pay. The interviews were conducted in the respective

offices or work areas of the participants involved. The research briefly described each working

condition per interview.

The interview proper was guided by some questions (Appendix A) to start the

discussion, however, not limiting the researcher to only these questions. The interviews were

semi-structured as based on the researchers’ pre-test, structured interviews have the possibility

of constraining the openness of the participants. It was avoided that the answers be too

objective and specific, thus not being very helpful to a social representations study. Interviews

were conducted with a one specific researcher, as to avoid confounding of the results. An

audio-recording machine was placed between the researcher and the interviewee in to order to
 37

record the transcript of the discourse. Data was analyzed by grouping the answers into certain

themes which was further analyzed and questioned.

Data Analysis

After transcription, the results of the semi-structured interviews were organized

through thematic analysis in order to classify and divide the responses of each agent in

accordance to their specific surfaced themes. The thematic analysis was based on the polemic,

emancipated and hegemonic social representations of the parties involved separately, and also

across their counterpart parties. Through the usage of the thematic analysis, the researchers

were able to identify certain underlying themes regarding the different concepts of

contractualization from the contracting agencies, private firms and contractual workers through

their different views and perspectives. If the theme is mutually exclusive and distinct to one

social group, it is classified under Polemic Social Representations. Shared meanings of

contractualization from two groups were classified in Emancipated Social Representations.

Lastly, coherent and shared meanings across all groups were classified in Hegemonic Social

Representations. The themes present in the interviews are important in understanding the

factors that affect the social representations of each age.

 CHAPTER III

RESULTS

The results section is organized in three main parts - hegemonic social

representations, emancipated social representations and polemic social representations. The

researchers interviewed a total of four existing employer-employee relationships which include

the contractual workers, contracting agencies and the private firm (employer) regarding their

views on contractualization. There were a total of eight contractual workers (3 maintenance

workers, 3 janitorial workers, and 2 security guards), four contracting agencies and four private

firms. The semi-structured interviews were conducted by one interviewer all throughout. The

interviews allowed the researchers to know the working conditions of the participants through

the set questions (Appendix A) but also allowed more personal sharing of the participants

regarding contractualization for the unstructured part of the interview. All of the participants

were asked to explain their views on the process of contractualization, as the first research

question “Ano ang contractualization para sayo? / What is contractualization for you? ”

posed. This led to the surfacing of the themes and further insight regarding the different

social representations of contractualization. The data were aggregated and analyzed per

corresponding group. Themes drawn out were cited under its corresponding social

representation type. The themes were then divided in terms of its hegemonic, emancipated or

polemic nature as the second research question “Are these social representations hegemonic

emancipated or polemic?” posed. Furthermore, excerpts from the interviews will be cited for

validation of the themes and its corresponding social representation type.

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As stated by Moscovici (1988) hegemonic themes are sentiments that are shared

by all the groups (employer, agency and workers) involved. Themes which were found in all

the groups were considered a hegemonic social representation. Emancipated representations

according to Liu (2005) are shared representations between sub-groups in society. Themes

which were shared by two groups were included in the emancipated social representations.

Finally, polemic representations also by Moscovici (2000) are sentiments which are distinct to

a particular group. Themes which were found in only one group were included as a polemic

social representation.

Hegemonic Social Representations on Contractualization

There are four hegemonic themes shared by the three agents regarding

contractualization which are the following: absence of security of tenure, variable worker

benefits, flawed business scheme, variable working procedures, confusion of employee types

and power relations.

Absence of Security of Tenure. The absence of security of tenure in the process of

contractualization is a hegemonic theme among the contracting agency, workers and private

firm. Security of tenure refers to the permanence of jobs which are experienced by regular

employees (Macaraya, 1997).

Sentiments from the contractual workers are as follows “Kailangan pagbutihin mo

yung trabaho, para di ka maalis, di ka magkakaroon ng buliyaso, kasi ‘pag nagkaroon ka ng

pagkakamali, huhusgahan ka nila kung tatanggalin ka o hindi.”

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“Kapag hindi na kami nagustuhan, pwede na kami palitan agad. Kaya gusto namin maayos

ang paggawa ng trabaho para di paalisin. Syempre, kasi agency.”

Some sentiments from the employers regarding the absence of security tenure are as

follows : “kasi sa agency, pag di nag-abide, pwede kaagad sila palitan, iyon talaga status nila

e.”

“So in the event, lets say for example yung mga unit owners nag decide sila together with the

boards approval. Pwede namin iterminate yung contract ng janitorial.”

Some sentiments from the contracting agency are as follows: “Kapag nagkaroon ng

personal minsan na galit yung client sayo, naiinis sayo. Tapos okay naman yung trabaho mo

hindi ka na nila rerenew.”

“Contractualization, for me lang kung baga, may limited time lang sila dun sa isang project

then after that kailangan naman nilang undergo ng panibagong o mag-apply sa iba nanamang

client.”

“So mag worry ka after 3 months, san na ako magtratrabaho? Gusto pa ba nila ako? Iyon lang

yung mga contractual base.”

The contractual workers believe that in their line of work, any small mistake would be

tantamount to their removal from work. At the same time, any form of dislike even without

grounding or evidence by the employer would be sufficient for their removal from their jobs.
 41

The employers which hire the contracting agencies to provide peripheral workers

know that the nature of the contractual workers’ jobs is easily terminable if their performance

does not succumb to their standards.

The contracting agencies also know that these workers can be removed from office due

to personal grudges of the employers. At the same time, the workers can be given new

assignment when the demands permit. During the onset of the work of the contractual workers,

however, the agency shares that the contractual workers feel a sense of paranoia due to the

instability of whether their contracts get renewed or not.

The trilateral agents in the employer-employee relationship views contractualization as

a means of having non-permanent, unstable jobs for the contractual employees.

Variable worker benefits. The results suggest that the manner of receiving benefits for the

contractual workers is a case to case basis. Some workers receive these benefits; the others

do not, due to their respective employers and contracting agency’s business negotiations. The

variable worker benefits is also a hegemonic theme among the three agents regarding their

views on contractualization.

The sentiments of the workers are as follows : “Ahh pag regular maraming

benepisyo. Kapag contractual, wala masyado. Pag regular ka dito sa kumpanya di ba?

Maganda yung buhay kasi mga anak nila libre sa pag-aaral maraming benepisyo pag nasa

loob ka ng kumpanya.”

“Kinakaltas sa sweldo naming yung PhilHealth, SSS, pero ‘pag punta namin, di pala

hinuhulugan ng agency.”
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“ Noong nasa Agency B, kami may benepisyo kami. Yung sa health card, yung Maxicare,

binigay samin ng kumpanya mismo. Pero ngayon wala eh. Sa bagong ahensiya nilipat naming,

wala.”

“Pili ka ng contrata na papasukan mo mo -- yung may minimum wage, yung may benefits na

pag ibig, phil health,SSS. Yung ibang agency kasi wala talaga e. Di ka pa minimum wage, Wal

pang SSS.”

The sentiments of the employers are as follows : “Ah kasi yung problema diyan,

yung mga employee, naaagrabado kasi wala silang benefits, kasi di sila pwede maging

regular e. Most of the time, abusado yung ibang agency.”

“At wala rin sila nung tinatawag na right para magdemand ng regular labor kasi agency sila

e not unlike the regular employee na pwede ka magdemand ng benefits. Yung sa agency,

nakukuha lang niyan mga SSS,lang. Depende lang talaga. ”

The sentiments of the agencies are as follows : “Unlike sa regular may mga benefits

kagaya nung may incentive leave sila, then may mga, syempre kung medyo matagal na regular

na, may mga makukuha na siya like mga 13th month. Sa contractual, kung ano lang po yung

inoffer sakanila kung ano lang diniscuss sakanila, iyon lang yung ma-avail nila.”

Contractual workers are given benefits depending on the employer-employee

relationship. The workers usually receive PhilHealth and SSS. It usually stops there. PhilHealth

and SSS are not even benefits per se but are considered requirements when applying for work

in a private institution. However, there are also instances where the agency does not even

deposit to PhilHealth and SSS. The deposit for these also comes from the deducted part of the

workers’ wages.
 43

The employers are aware of the situation of the contractual workers where they only

receive SSS. They also state that they see the reasons on the aggravation of workers, since they

receive so little for the amount of work provided. However, the employers state, that the

contractual workers cannot demand for their benefits since they are not regular employees to

begin with. They are deprived of that right to demand.

The contracting agencies state that contractual workers do not have 13 month pay,

incentive leave. Whatever is being offered to them by the agency are the only ones that they

can avail. Even if they spend years in the same job, they are not subject to having benefits

which are experienced by regular employees.

Flawed business scheme. The flawed business scheme refers to the shared understanding of

the workers, employer and agency regarding the flawed business scheme of contractualization.

The contractualization scheme is considered flawed as the process is embedded with certain

discrepancies regarding the adherence to labor standards and ideal managerial processes.

The contractual workers mentioned that : “Syempre mas matatalino yung agency

kaya iyon hanggang 5 months ka lang pero kung sa batas dapat diba pwede ka na

magregular. Iyon sana yung gusto namin ilaban, na may pagkakataon maging regular.

Regular na lang sana kami. Dapat wala nang mga agency, kasi yung mga agency yumayaman.

Kalagayan namin humihirap. Nagkakasakit na nga kami.”

An example of what the employer said: “Personal perception ko sa mga workers?

Pagtiyatiyagaan mo kung ano yung meron. Sana bumuti yung buhay pero magtiyaga na lang

muna kaysa naman nakatambay ka lang sa bahay di ba? Personal kong opinyon iyon ha?”
 44

The representation of the agencies are as follows: “Kung magkakaroon ng mas

matagalang kontrata sa client, edi mas makakabuti sa amin at sa contractuals. Pero kung ano

lang meron ngayon, yun lang binibigay namin.”

The workers state that the structures that they are participating in have already been

decided by those above them or who they work for. They would want to fight for their cause

for the improvement of the contractualization scheme but there are no equal opportunities

offered to them.

The employers believe that the workers are just passively accepting of whatever terms

are given to them in their line of work. The workers are perceived to just be accepting of the

minimal benefits given to them as opposed to not having any in return.

The contracting agencies believe that a longer contract between the employer and the

agency would improve the contractualization scheme and aid in the workers’ welfare

themselves. However, they just adhere to the set standards by the employer or client in status

quo.

Variable working procedures. The gravity of the work is usually different per employer-

employee relationship. The work is dependent on the ideals and standards of the employer.

Consequently, there are negotiations taking place between the workers and the employer

through the contracting agency. “Variable working procedures”regarding contractualization is

also a hegemonic theme among the three agents.

The representation of the workers are as follows: “Sa contractualization din kasi,

nakadepende ka lang talaga sa agency, kung saan ka i-aassign. Di ka talaga pwede

magreklamo kasi diba pasalamat ka nga binibigyan ka ng trabaho. Mahirap lang kadalasan
 45

kung paiba iba ang lugar kung saan ka nagtatrabaho. Tapos dahil iba iba yung lugar, minsan,

iba iba rin yung mga rules ng mga kliyente. Parang ngayon, bawal umupo. 12 hour shift yun

ah. Sa agency namin, ok lang yun. Pero yung kliyente yung strikto, ano magagawa namin?

Sabi ng agency basta gawin yung gusto ng client diba.”

The representations of the employers are as follows: “ Iba iba yung core business

ng mga kumpanya eh, syempre, kung ano yung kailangan mo na empleyado na magsusuporta

sa core business mo, iyon yung kailangan mo. Sa agency na naming sinasabi yung

specifications namin.”

The representations of the agency are as follows: “Nagkakaroon ng mga seminar

tungkol sa client, tungkol sa kumpanya nila bago i-assign yung mga employees. Tapos

magkakaroon din ng briefing sa mga gusto mismo ng client, kung ilang oras yung shift,

halimbawa. Mas strikto yung ibang client sa iba pero shempre since client sila dapat sumunod

yung mga employees. Kung kailangan nakatayo buong shift, ganoon talaga.”

The workers believe that they are dependent on the agency in their given assignments.

The workers do not complain and just become thankful that they are given work. However, the

contractual workers also state that there is difficulty whenever they are constantly being re-

assigned to different clients since the rules of each client tend to vary greatly.

The employers have their own core competencies or focus in their line of work

that’s why they get peripheral workers instead for matters that are outside their core

competencies. The standards they impose, however, are still dependent on their own line of

work.
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The contracting agencies state that the contractual workers are being provided

different seminars regarding the client that they will be working for. Briefing also is necessary

to know the standards of the company. They believe that some clients are stricter than the

others and require more standards. However, this is inevitable since the client’s preferences

should be always followed.

Confusion regarding employee types. The trilateral agents all had different understandings on

what entails a “regular employee” and a “contractual employee”. There is a hegemonic

confusion among the three agents regarding the understandings of the different employee

types, as defined by the Labor Code. Due to the various employer-employee relationships in

contractualization, delineating the differences and similarities between a regular and

contractual employee is deemed difficult among the three agents. Certain agents refer to

themselves or to other groups as “regular employees” but in actuality, they are not subscribing

to the established definition of what a regular employee is by the Labor Code.

Some of the contractual workers said the following : “May iba’t ibang klase ng

contractual at regular. Depende yun, may kanya kanyang sistema ang mga kumpanya e.”

“Regular kami sa agency naman. May health care kami, sss, pag-ibig at philhealth.”

“Regular na raw kami. Pero hindi e, Bakit pag may konting pagkakamali lang, pwede na kami

ma-tsugi?”

Some of the employers said the following : “Yung peripheral workers shempre di yan

regular sa amin, kontrata namin with the agency is project-based lang. Pero siguro baka

regular sila sa agency nila. O kung ma-absorb sila, yun yung posibilidad na regular sila tapos

direct-hired na sila.”
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Some of the contracting agencies said the following : “Kung baga po kasi dito sa

agency C, kung yung isang tao naming ay nag end of contract na sa isang client, still yung tao

connected parin samin. Pero hindi siya regular, affiliated lang.”

“Oo regular naman yung mga employees sa amin pero on hold muna kung walang project.

Pwede sila maging reliever muna kung di pa na-aassign.”

“Minsan kasi naguguluhan yung empleyado kung regular ba siya, contractual o cooperative

lang.”

Some of the contractual workers state that being a regular or contractual employee

is dependent on the company and the agency. On the other hand, some contractual workers

perceive that they are regular employees in the agency already but not with the employer.

Lastly, some workers were told that they are already regular workers in their respective agency

but they also question why they are easily terminable from the jobs if they are said to be

regular. Due to the contractualization and its various employer-employee relationships, the

contractual workers have confusing views regarding various employee types and how to

classify themselves in. Even if their line of work is contractual in nature, some workers

perceive that they are regular employees. There is confusion being felt by the contractual

workers regarding the nature of their work.

The employers state that the peripheral workers are usually not regular with the

company, but they perceive that these peripheral workers are regular employees in their

respective agencies. The contracts of the employers with the agencies are usually project-based

so the peripheral workers cannot be regular employees in the company. However, there is a

possibility that the peripheral workers can be regularized if they are to be absorbed by the

company itself and end up direct hiring these workers. The employers are confused regarding
 48

the nature of the contractual employees that they hire as their terms are being defined by the

agency and not them.

One agency states that the workers they have are not regular and are just

affiliated with the agency once the worker’s contract with a client company ends. However,

another agency states that their workers are all regular but are just considered on hold when

there’s no project that can be assigned to them yet. They can just be “relievers” for the mean

time. Also, another contracting agency states that the workers somehow get confused

regarding their status because they can either be regular, contractual or part of a cooperative.

Through all the agencies, there is confusion regarding the status of the workers that they hire.

Power relations. The results suggest that the differentials in power regarding the

contractualization process are already conceded for by the trilateral agents involved. This

suggest the presence of a social structure, a hierarchy, where the all the various employer-

employee relationships participate in.

The representation of the workers are as follows : “Kasi hindi pwedeng iby-pass

yung agency. Kailangan paboran mo din. Kailangan sila muna kasi sila makakatulong kasi

pwede ka nilang tanggalin e kung di ka sumusunod.”

“Parang ngayon, bawal umupo. 12 hour shift yun ah. Sa agency namin, ok lang yun. Pero

yung kliyente yung strikto, ano magagawa namin? Sabi ng agency basta gawin yung gusto ng

client diba.”
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The representations of the employers are as follows: “Pumili rin dapat ng agency

na i-hhire. Yung iba kasi parang palakasan na lang ng loob, wala naman silang enough

capital pero sige lang sila ng sige. Masyadong masama na yun para sa kumpanya.”

“Minsan kasi grabe humingi yung mga empleyado kaya siguro contractual na sila, bawal na

mag-unyon. Kung humingi kasi, di rin kakayanin ng kumpanya e. Kaya nagkaroon ng

contracting agency para ma-regulate iyon.”

The representation of the contracting agencies are as follows: “Basta sinusunod

namin yung gusto ng client, sila nagbabayad eh. Kaya mayroon kami seminars at training.

Tapos kung nagreklamo man yung client tungkol sa worker, syempre kailangan naming sundin

na tanggalin agad. Sila nagbabayad e. Kaya sinasabi naming sa worker na maging pleasant at

ma-respeto at all times.”

“Yung mga regular kasi, pwede sila sa collective bargaining, makikita yung kita ng

kumpanya tapos bago sila magdesisyon sa increase. Ngayon wala na kasi masyado na

magulo yung mga naguunyon.”

The contractual workers state that they also respect and follow the agency’s

protocols since they are the intermediary agents that provide work for them. They can also be

terminated from their job if they do not follow the agency’s protocols. Also, the contractual

workers state that they have to respect the standards and rules of the employers even if these

are difficult. As stated, the contractual workers still have to tolerate the 12 hour shift where

they are not allowed to sit.

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The employers state that the workers should also be mindful about the agencies

that they are affiliated with. Other agencies are perceived by the employers to be unjust in their

business undertaking since the others do not even have enough capital. Consequently, the

workers are not being paid their salaries in due time. At the same time, the companies also

avoid these agencies because it would be more detrimental to work with agencies that do not

have a full capital yet. Also, the employers state that some of the workers tend to keep

requesting for bonuses from companies. But since the workers are contractual, they are not

allowed to unionize anymore. The employers believe that the workers’ requests sometimes go

overboard and cannot be provided for by the company since the company will lose profits.

The contracting agencies state that they just follow the protocols that are set by

the employers, their respective clients. If they have to terminate a worker due to the client’s

request, they have to do so since their capital as an agency comes from the clients. Also, the

contracting agencies state that since the contractual workers cannot participate in collective

bargaining, much of their decisions as an agency and the requests of their clients are usually

just followed by the contractual workers.

Emancipated Social Representations on Contractualization

The emancipated social representations themes can be seen within the social

representations of the workers and the employer, and between the contracting agency and the

employer. Between the social representations of the worker and the employer, two apparent

themes can be further analyzed, namely the presence of fly by night agencies, and the

professional relationship between the employer and the worker. On the other hand, between the

social representations of the contracting agency and the employer, four apparent themes can be
 51

further analyzed, namely economic practicality, the complex process of outsourcing, business

negotiations and the loyalty of the workers being perceived to be inclined towards the client.

Emancipated Social Representations between Employer and Worker.

Presence of fly by night agencies worsen work conditions. The employers and the

workers state that the contractualization scheme has “fly by night” contracting agencies, those

who are illegitimate sub-contracting providers who pay workers below minimum wage and

deprive them of benefits. These fly by night agencies defy accepted industry rate just to get

clients which in turn, cannot provide for their workers. According to the interviews, some

contractual agencies seemed to work and function “under the table” so to speak, tweaking and

modifying rules into their advantage because of the apparent different perceptions of

contractualization, undermining the rights of their employees. This is a shared representation

between the employer and the worker.

The representations and of the employers and the workers are as follows: “Basta alagaan,

basta wag ka fly by night na agency, kung ano ang para sa tao ibigay mo. Okay lang ang

contractualization. Kasi especially for fresh grads, pwede nga nilang stepping stone iyan eh.

Kasi di ba parang training ground parin nila iyon.”

“Siguro lack of funds din. Yun nakikita ko. Parang sa agency ngayon kasi, palakasan na lang

ng loob. Wala silang pondo pero magpapatakbo pa rin. Pag di sila nababayaran ng

kumpanya, yung nagssuffer, yung mga empleyado. Madaling gawin rason yun, na hindi pa sila
 52

binabayaran ng kliyente, pero minsan hindi naman kasi. Pero problema na nila yun e,

nagtrabaho na nga yung tao, pati ba naman yun puproblemahin pa nila?”

“Oo. Pagkatapos ng dati kong agency, di ba naalis yung dati kong agency dahil hindi ata

naghuhulog ng SSS?”

“Yun nga, wala pang 13th month kasi kesyo hindi pa raw nagbayad yung kliyente. Mga

ganun.

At minsan, tingin ng agency, mabababa. Minsan bastos na rin e.”

According to the interviewees, contractualization is not generally bad. In fact, it can be

used as a starting point into greater career options, especially for fresh graduates. However,

there are some agencies who abuse the people who sign under their agencies by not giving

them the proper benefits and what is due to them, gaining more profit themselves. Moreover,

some agencies are not really as professional and as prepared and organized as they say they

are, more often than not, not having enough funds to run and maintain their agency. Often,

when there is a lack or delay of funds, it is the workers who suffer. The burden is passed to

them when they are not paid properly, justly and on time. It is because the workers are still

under the agency’s power. There have been issues also that have been reasons as to accuse

some agencies to be operating “fly by night.” As previously mentioned, some of the rights of

the workers are really undermined. The agency, according to an interviewee, does not always

stay true to their word, blaming the client’s inefficiency to pay, thus making the workers’ 13th

month pay very delayed. Aside from this, the workers are disrespected and looked down upon.

There have been rumoured agencies that have been dissolved because of their not abidance to
 53

the law, namely, not giving their SSS contribution properly. Such problems are very much

evident in some contractual agencies.

Professional relationship between employer and worker. From the data gathered,

there seemed to be a recurring theme regarding the professional relationship between the

employer and the worker in the contractualization process. The worker and the employer share

professionalism in their work. Both of these parties respected the other as co-worker. The

contractual workers and the employers knew their limits and boundaries and where to place

themselves in the work area. They respected the facts and realities of contractualization and

behaved as such.

The representations of the workers and the employers are as follows: “...sa relasyon

namin ok naman. As long as ginagawa namin trabaho naming...”

“...oo naman, dito kami na-assign ng agency kaya dapat okay kami sa mga regular employees

dito...”

“Oo sumusunod lang kung ano yung mga patakaran. Kliyente kasi sila kaya dapat sumunod

kami.”

The rules and regulations are very clear to the employers and the workers. They both

respect each other as agents of contractualization. Moreover, the workers, aside from showing

professionalism to their clients, also show professionalism to their co-workers who are not

from the same agency, knowing their place in the contractualization structure and the risk of

them being easily sanctioned because of misconduct.

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Emancipated Social Representations between Employer and Agency

Economic practicality. Economic practicality is the value of being most practical and

reasonable in making business decisions, choosing the best strategies that would cater to the

needs of the greater majority, in this case, the welfare of the company, the business. This is a

shared representation between the employer and the contracting agency regarding

contractualization.

For example, the workers and the agency said :: “Nagkaroon ng contractual kasi

shempre umiiwas sa pagbibigay ng benefits yung mga malalaking kumpanya sa kanilang ibang

mga empleyado.”

“Nakakatipid ang mga mga kumpanya dahil dito sa outsourcing o sa pagkuha ng contractual

workers.Pag ikaw businessman, syempre gusto mo konti lang expenses mo sa human resources

o sa employees mo. Kaya nga nandito kaming mga agency.”

“Hindi nila pinapakita yung labor cost. Kunyari ako ang labor cost ko is ganito pala, syempre

sa HR kita naman na “wow ito pala ang price ko” tapos ito lang yung salary ko.”

“Basically, because ayaw nilang magbayad ng kung ano mang dapat na bayaran sa mga

regular. Kasi meron kasi like kapag regular ka at yung company medyo malaki, May

babayaran kang retirement, may babayaran kang ganito, may ganyan. Whereas kung

contractual yan. Pag nagkamali yan. Sige, madaling tanggalin. Kung pagkatapos ng contract

niya. Sige palit tayo ng bago. So wala nagiging problemang ganun. Iyon nga yung nagiging
 55

issue ngayon kung bakit ang dami ng contractual na mga trabahador. Even big

companies,huge corporation, even ang isang airline company.”

“Nagtitipid sila, kasi nga naman when it comes to benefits talaga malaki. Nagtitipid talaga

sila. Iyon lang ang bottom line nun. Ayaw nila mag bayad ng benefits.”

It is clearly stated in the interviews that the general perception of the employers and

even the contractual agencies themselves is that the biggest concern of the companies who are

supporting contractualization is basically to minimize their cost by cutting down on benefits

mainly. For them, contractualization is very practical as it, in a way, evades them from paying

a large amount of tax. Contractualization becomes a business, not only of money but of as

people as well. It can be said that the agency sometimes cuts down even on the salaries and

wages of the workers themselves as to further minimize the cost for both the employers and the

agencies, thus maximizing profit even more.

Complex process of outsourcing. Outsourcing can be a very complicated process as

there are many ways and strategies as to tweak it, previously mentioned, in order to achieve

greater profitability, especially in such a controversial issue such as contractualization. There

are a number of overlappings between the powers and responsibilities of the certain agents

involved here.

The representations of the workers and the employers are as follows: “So alam niyo

ang difference ng cooperative and agency? Sa cooperative kasi, di ba yung agency sa atin,

kunyari ako, 6 months contract lang ako para kunyari kay client D, nag work ako hindi ako

natanggap ng directly so ako bilang, yung dating nature kasi ng trabaho ko ganun nag
 56

proprovide kami ng tao yung nga yung -, nagprovide kami ng tao yun nga cliend D client

namin sila. Kailangan ni client D ng accounting assistant or ng clerk, papadala kami doon,

since hindi directly sakanila, yung benefits lang kasi ang labanan doon. So pag hindi ka

directly ng company so hindi sila yung magbabayad ng ano mo. Kunyari ikaw as a whole

parang binayaran na kita with - na ang budget mo for the 6 months ay 80, 000 yun na yung

budget mo for the ano parang after 6 months sure ka na yun na ang end ng contract mo. Not

katulad namin directly working with agency D directly ako na hire hindi ako nasa project. Pag

after ko ng 6 months regularization na iyon. I have the right na mag complain kasi iyon ang na

signan ko sa contract na syempre tayo expected natin regular na tayo. Puede may increase

tapos iyon pa yung leave natin with pay pa na and the yung secured ka na you have work,

hindi katulad ng yung iba, nakaranas ako ng ibang mga tao na, “di ba nakakatatlong

company ka na after graduation ano nangyari?” 6 months 6 months lang kasi so may mga

taong swerte, may mga taong yun lang talaga napupunta sakanila. Meron hindi rin na base sa

performance meron din iyon lang. Budget din kasi yung pinag-uusapan doon. May tinatawag

kasi silang labor cost per tao. Doon kunyari yung nga 80, 000 nandoon na yung 13th month

mo, SSS mo,Philhealth, Pag-ibig yung mga talagang kasama na dun sa benefits mo. Yun

naman kaya - and - yung kinontact namin sila yung nagproprovide samin nito. With

cooperative namin kasi ano sila hindi sila yung 6 months. Nagtrabaho din kasi ako sa

cooperative. Doon naman yung mga tao pag cooperative, di ba member tayong lahat, so for

as long as kailangan ni project ng tao nadun ka. Kunyari, pero hindi sila natatawag na

regular, member sila ng cooperative. Tapos ang maganda nun, katulad ni -, malaking

cooperative siya, lahat kayong member kung ano yung kinita nung buong company na yun,

may part ka. Pero hindi yung kasing same part part ng president ng ano, nung na hire ka as
 57

kung ano position mo. Tsaka hindi ka magwoworry na “6 months na mawawalan na ako, 3

months na” May pinaka worst pa kasi, fixed contract, 3 months lang iyon. So mag worry ka

after 3 months, san na ako magtratrabaho? Gusto pa ba nila ako? Yun lang yung mga

contractual base.”

“Nagakataon lang talaga na yung mga rank and file pababa yung mga technicians, hindi

namin na problemahin yan mag outsource, sila na humihingi nalang kami. Kunyari kailangan

ni namin ng tatlong technician they provide. Pero pag manager engineers dito iyan. Doon

nagkakaroon ng ganun na cost.”

Because of the complexity of the process of outsourcing, companies sometimes just

hire one agency (this one agency outsources from other agencies) in order to lessen the

complications and stress for the company. But because of this, the process of contractualization

and outsourcing becomes even more complicated, not for the company, but for the agency and

the workers, more specifically for the contractual workers wherein it often confuses them on

which agency they really belong.

Loyalty of the worker is perceived to be inclined towards the client. Sometimes it is put

into question whether who the workers become loyal to given this quite complex situation of

outsourcing and contractualization. However, after the interviews, it seems that the worker,

according to both the agency and the employers, becomes more loyal to the employer, the

client of the agency.

The representations of the workers and the employers are as follows: “Hindi natin maiiwasan

na minsan ang loyalty nila nasa client.”

“So in effect, pinapakita talaga namin na kami parin ang iyong employer, hindi yung client.”
 58

“Problema lang kapag tumagal na ang empleyado sa kumpanya, pakiramdam nila na akala

nila na empleyado na sila dun. Kunyari 15 yrs siya sa kumpanya, pakiramdam niya dun na

siya. Pero hindi, empleyado ka namin, ng agency. Kaya kailangan namin sila lagi

paalalahanan na ang Diars ang employer nila, hindi yung kumpanya. Kasi minsan mas

masama ang loob ng mga tumagal na sa iisang kumpanya lamang.”

“Nangyayari talaga iyan. Kasi may mga board iyan eh. Meron yung iba yung term,

“sumisipsip na kay board” kasi especially with the managers.”

“Yung iba kasi yung loyalty napupuntan na doon. Especially with -, akala nila tao na

sila noon, akala nila Agency D na pala sila so humihingi sila ng leave form sa amin, sa amin

sila nagtatanong ng 13th month nila which is dapat - kasi tao sila ni -. Noong una naguluhan

din ako sa situation na iyan eh. Kasi ikaw si -, ako si Agency D ikaw si tao. Kaya kunyari

mawalang kami ng tao, hindi namin problema iyon, kunyari tanggalin nila si - hindi namin

sakit ng ulo iyon, sakit ng ulo ni -. Kunyari - may matatanggal na tao dito ngayon so kailangan

niyong palitan silang bahala mag inform na maalis ka na dyan, tapos kailangan ng bago

ganun.”

According to the interviews, it is an issue among the contractual agencies on who the

workers are more loyal to. Because of the length of time that a worker stays in a certain

company, eventually, according to the contractual agencies and the employers, the worker

becomes more loyal to the client of their own agency instead to their own agency, even

sometimes forgetting that they are actually just contractual workers who are outsourced. Even

with this, the agency tries to set and establish measures into keeping their workers more loyal

to them and constantly remind them that the agency are their employers, not the client.
 59

Avoiding Unions. Obviously, being in a business, there are a lot of business negotiations, most

of which highlight the absence of some privileges which workers who are not contractual have.

These negotiations seem to undermine the workers. Instead of treating the workers as business

partners, they are, in a way, disregarded when making deals and decisions regarding the

company and the agency. One of the results of these alleged negotiations stem to the workers’

being banned to form labbor unions. Labor unions are the representations of the voice of the

workers to the board making decision of the company or the agency. With the presence of

unions, one can express and deliberate their opinions regarding the decrees, rules and

regulations, the execution of projects and the benefits of the company and their subordinates.

The representations of the workers and the employers are as follows: “I would say kasi, bakit

nag contractualization ang mga industries natin ngayon? To avoid unionism, to avoid giving

additional benefits to the employees. Pero bakit? Bakit kailangan mag resort ka into unionism.

So I guess, opinyon ko lang ha? kasalan din ng employees kung bakit nandun tayo sa

contractualization kasi pinasukan na yan ng KMU, union, alam niyo naman kung gano sila

kalaki maghingi ng adjustments ng benefits, na alam natin na hindi kakayanin ng company,

mga negosyante yan.”

“Yes, if you notice, example nalang yung sa yearly wage increase natin na inaaprove

ng wag board. Magkano hinihingi ng mga tao, nung laborers side? Magkano minimum?

Parang nasa 600.. Di ba pero ang hinihingi nila is how many? More? Thats too much. DI ba?

Maraming maluluging kumpanya. Eh kasi KMU yan eh. I’m sure pinapasukan na yan ng

komunista. Alam mo yun. Di ba? So talagang, di ba? Hindi siya realistic yung kanilang mga

ano. Before, lasi when I worked with -, that was my first work ,nakasabak sa CBA
 60

negotiations. Yung ginagawa namin dun, akin muna yung mga financial statements bago kami

mag demand ng increase. Para malaman din namin kaya ba din ito ng kumpanyan. So

hinihingi namin talaga yung financial statements. So pag pinakita samin iyon, pero I’m sure

doctor yun. Syempre, di naman sa inyo papakita yung direct, pero more or less its the same di

ba? Parang malapit na siya. So sana ganun yung mangyari. Pero sad to say hindi ganun ang

nangyayari.”

“Kasi itong Employer D, diba - may ari? Pag tumagal, magkakaroon na ng board of directors,

so yung mga unit owners na rin yung magpapasweldo sa amin. Kung ano napagusapan ng

board at ng Agency D, yun na yung masusunod.”

The employer and the agency negotiated and dealt with themselves, independently from

the workers. They seem to just address their own individual concerns, without consultation of

the workers, thinking of the welfare and the benefits of the workers who are actually the most

affected in these such scenarios. Contractualization removes the rights of workers to form labor

unions.

Polemic Social Representation On Contractualization

Polemic Social Representations by the Contractual Workers

Learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is term coined by Seligman (1975)

which pertains to perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation. The experience

and representation of the workers regarding contractualization is found to be a system which

they do not have power over, as the results suggest.

 61

“Bakit sila tinanggal sa trabaho? Kasi nagtetext lang! Isipin mo yun. Walang warning

warning. Pag nakita ka nagtetext, tanggal ka kaagad. Di rin tama yun pero shempre tanggap

na lang kami.”

“ Wala akong masabi. Okay naman e. Medyo kinakapos lang sa pinansyal. Minsan hindi sapat

e. Kasi yun nga, may pinag-aaral. Pero nakakaraos din.”

“Hindi e, kasi nakikita ko sa mga agency ngayon , yung ibang agency kasi kuha lang ng

kuha ng tao tapos kahit anong gawin mong sipag, wala na talagang itataas pa.”

“Kasi hanggang kontraktwal lang, kahit saan pa kami”

“Parang ano, mahirap na kalabanin ang kumpanya. Lalo na gobyerno pa. Talagang m

mahirap na lumipat sa isang kumpanya. Ganun na lahat.”

“Gaya ng sabi niya, minsan late ang sahod. Sa dami siguro ng complain pero di naman

nagbabago ang Agency C. Eh wala na rin kaming magagawa kesa naman wala akong trabaho,

ok na sa amin yun.”

“Maluwag na lang na tinatanggap kahit hindi. (Hahaha). Kailangan eh.”

“Di na rin kasi babalik na naman kami sa umpisa. Tapos training na naman. Kakaltas na

naman (sa sahod). Naranasan na namin yan kasi kaya ayaw na namin magsimula ulit.”

“Eh paano namin ilalaban kami lang naman, kapiraso lang kami. Yung ilalaban namin,

shempre pangkain na lang namin diba.”

 62

“ Paano rin kakausapin kung kulang ng pang-gastos sa sarili. Naiisip na lang namin na tama

na yung ganito. Ok na yung ganito. May SSS naman. Yun na lang inaasahan namin.”

The workers experience numerous impartialities in their occupation and they resort to

learned helplessness as a means of coping as they believe that they cannot do anything to alter

the situation that they are in.

Variable job satisfaction and motivation. The job satisfaction and motivation of

contractual employees vary greatly depending on its employer-employee relationship,

depending on the nature of the company they are working for. The contractual employees

might be assigned to do the same job across all clients; however, their experience becomes

more pivotal depending on the working environment brought about by the employer.

“Pero isipin mo na lang na kaya ka nandito ay para sa pamilya mo, sa mga anak mo, kasi

lumilipas naman yan, kunyari ngayon boring ang araw mo, bukas nasa mood ka na. lumilipas

din yan.”

“ Oo may gana. Syempre naisip namin na sa pamilya na lang namin, dun po kami naka-focus.

Kahit late yung sweldo, tuloy pa rin. Sige pa rin.”

“Masaya kasi rito, kaya ko pumunta dito kahit day off kasi masaya manood ng games.

Mababait mga tao rito.”

“Mabait sila dito e, parang kasama ka talaga, pag pasko, talagang binabati ka rin tapos

minsan may regalo ka rin. Minsan lang ganito sa trabaho ng contractual diba. Maswerte ako.”

“Strikto talaga yung kumpanya. Pero iniisip ko na lang na kailangan ito para sa pamilya ko
 63

rin.”
Job satisfaction and motivation of the workers vary greatly with regard to the employer-

employee relationship. Some workers say that their disappointment in work is just temporary

and comes as the usual highs and lows in life. The workers state that they still continue to

become motivated due to their family’s need of sustenance. On the other hand, some

contractual workers aim to strive harder due to the very nature of their occupation. They do not

want to have faults that could result to their termination from work since contractual workers

can just be terminated easily. .

Differences in loyalty towards employer and agency. The workers, generally, have

different loyalties with regard to their agency and employer. The agency assigns these

contractual workers to the different companies. However, the loyalty of the workers seem to

vary depending on their given employer-employee relationship.

“Siguro sa tagal-tagal ko na yung pagiging tapat ko bilang lady guard. Ginagampanan yung

bilang trabaho para dito sa mga bata. Priority namin sila kasi sila ang aming pinaka

customer, kliyente.”

“Pareho lang eh. Pantay lang.”

“Parehas, kailangan parehas kasi kumikita ka sa agency, kumpanya nagbabayad sa agency”

“Syempre sa Agency D, kung hindi dahil sa kanila, wala rin naman ako project e.”

“Agency C pa rin. Shempre yun yung nagbibigay sa amin ng trabaho. Matanggal man kami

dito,magkakaroon kami ng ibang trabaho dahil sa Agency C.”

Based on the interviews, some workers perceive their priority to be with the employer

since this is where they spend much of their time. Meanwhile, some workers believe that their
 64

loyalty is still with their affiliated agency since it is the one which provides their job

assignments. On the other hand, some workers are aware that their loyalty should be equal

between the agency and employer since they are affiliated with both groups.

Polemic Social Representation on Contractualization by the Contracting Agency

Priority towards client’s welfare. For all the decisions of the contracting agency, they

always keep in mind the welfare of their respective clients. The clients provide the capital and

salaries respectively for the agency and the workers. This is the reason why the contracting

agency does not negate the requests of the client.

“ Syempre, priority pa rin yung gusto ng client. Kasi kami, makakapagbigay lamang ng

trabaho kung may client. Yung client ang nagbabayad pa rin. Pinapasunod na lang yung mga

contractual workers. ”

The agency’s adherence to the request of the client takes place since funding and

monetary support comes from the client themselves. The workers are just made to adhere with

whatever negotiations have been taking place between the agency and the employer.

Polemic Social Representation on Contractualization by the Employer

Outsourcing as a means of hiring peripheral workers. Peripheral workers are

workers that have skills and abilities that do not coincide with the company’s core

competencies. This is the reason why companies outsource these workers because it is not in

their field of specialization.

 65

“Maybe ang kumpanya kasi is not into security agency na business. Ang security agency kasi

parang they have to make sure na ang mga security guards ay trained sa pagputok ng baril,

pag investigate, gather intelligence reports mga ganoon na klase. Kaya parang hindi business

iyan ng kumpanya na ito e, so parang kaya I understand naman na syempre i-outsource na nila

iyon kasi iyon kasi its their expertise.”

The employers hire peripheral workers because it is still needed for the company. The

companies just state the specific requirements that they have for these peripheral workers to a

contracting agency. The employers perceive that the core competencies of the contracting

agency are really based on providing manpower that’s why the avail of such services. Since the

employers provide the funding for a specific project, they believe that the agency should be

held liable and responsible to allocate the funds which would provide the salaries and benefits

of the manpower that the companies require.

Diversion of the problem of contractualization to another party .The three agents involved

concede regarding the problematic scheme of contractualization, as stated as a hegemonic

theme. However, the employers perceive that this problem is caused by another party and not

caused by them.

“... ay tungkol sa benefits, di ako nakikialam diyan. Agency sila e. Doon sila sa agency at

alam nila rules dun sa agency, aware na rin sila dun. No work no pay sila. Never sila

magiging permanente not unless iaabsolve sila ng kumpanya.”

 66

“ Ako ho dito monitoring, dapat may supervisor talaga sila na nandito na taga agency din.

pero wala naman minsan lamang pumupunta ung supervisor ng agency dito. Medyo detached

ako diyan dapat e. tatawag ako sa agency kung mabigat yung problema.

“Basta alagaan, basta wag ka fly by night na agency, kung ano ang para sa tao ibigay mo.

Okay lang ang contractualization.”

“Madaling gawin rason yun, na hindi pa sila binabayaran ng kliyente, pero minsan hindi

naman kasi. Pero problema na nila yun e, nagtrabaho na nga yung tao, pati ba naman yun

puproblemahin pa nila?”

There is apathy among the employers regarding the welfare of the contractual workers

because they believe that no form of responsibility is supposed to be allotted to them. The

employers perceive that the contracting agency should be responsible regarding the benefits of

the workers. The employers also state that they have to remain detached from these other

workers.
 67

Figure 1 : Venn Diagram of Hegemonic, Polemic, Emancipated Social Representations

between contracting agency, employer, contractual employee

The Venn diagram illustrates the hegemonic, polemic and emancipated social

representations of the three agents. In addition, each social representation consists of themes

related to contractualization. It can be observed that the biggest circle shows the hegemonic

social represents since it involves the shared or common views of contractualization by all

group members. The themes under the hegemonic social representations were absence of

security of tenure, variable worker benefits, flawed business scheme, variable working

procedures, power relations, confusion regarding employee types, and avenue for long term

improvement.
 68

On the other hand, polemic social representations are illustrated by the three circles

which consists the three agents (workers, contracting agency, and employer). Moreover, these

represent the different views of contractualization between the three groups. In the group of

workers (upper left circle), the themes that came up were learned helplessness, variable job

satisfaction, and motivation, differences in loyalty towards employer and agency. However,

the theme in the groups of contracting agency (upper left circle) is priority towards client’s

welfare. Meanwhile, the themes in the group of the employer are diversion of the problem of

contractualization to another party, outsourcing as a means of hiring peripheral workers.

Finally, within the three circle of the polemic social representation, an interconnected

relationship can be observed between the three agents namely emancipated social

representations. The groups that had similar views regarding contractualization are commonly

seen between the employers-workers, and employers-contracting agency. The themes that were

present between the employers-workers are presence of fly by night agencies worsen work

conditions, professional relationship between employer and worker.

Meanwhile the themes that were present between the employers and contracting

agencies are economic practicality, complex processes of outsourcing, loyalty of the worker is

perceived to be inclined towards the client, avoiding Unions. In general, the Venn diagram aids

in illustrating the different social representation and the themes that were involved in each

group. It also encompasses the entirety of the data gathered in the study.
 69

Figure 2 : Social Representations Flowchart

The image shows the different agents involved and the different levels of social

representation that they described. This is another interpretative flowchart that could allow

seeing the differences of the social stakes of the agents, based on their own representations on

contractualization. The flowchart starts with the polemic social representations which are the

distinct, contesting social representation per group. The second level involves the emancipated

social representations that merge representations which are shared by two groups. Lastly, the

third level is comprised of the hegemonic social representations which are shared by the three

groups involved. The progression of the different levels of the representations might clearly be

seen in this diagram.

 CHAPTER IV

DISCUSSION

The discussion section is organized with the synthesis of findings, main discussion

using the theoretical framework comprising of hegemonic, emancipated and polemic social

representations being related to the review of related literature and the researchers’ own

insights. The implications of the study, the limitations and recommendations of the study

follow thereafter.

Synthesis of Findings

The study aimed to explore the social representations regarding contractualization

through a qualitative method. There were 16 participants in the study with eight contractual

workers, four contracting agencies and four employers. After thematic analysis of the

aggregated interviews, the results suggested that the social representations were hegemonic,

emancipated and polemic in nature.

Hegemonic social representations refer to the shared understanding of the social object

by all the three agents involved. The results suggest that the hegemonic social representations

regarding contractualization are as follows: absence of security of tenure, variable worker

benefits, flawed business scheme, variable working procedures, confusion regarding employee

types, and power relations.

Emancipated social representations refer to the shared understanding of the social

object by two groups. In this case, the employer and the agency refer to contractualization as a

means for economic practicality, complex processes of outsourcing, loyalty of the worker is

towards the employer, avoiding unions. On the other hand, emancipated social representations
 71

regarding contractualization between the contractual workers and the employers are as follows

: presence of fly by night agencies worsen work conditions, professional relationship between

employer and worker. No emancipated social representations were found between the worker

and the agency.

Polemic social representations refer to the understanding of the social object which is

only distinct to one social group. The employers’ polemic social representation regarding

contractualization are outsourcing as a means of hiring peripheral workers, diversion of the

problem of contractualization to another party. The contracting agency’s polemic social

representation regarding contractualization was the priority towards client’s welfare. Lastly,

the polemic representations of the workers were learned helplessness, variable job satisfaction

and motivation, difference in loyalty towards employer and agency.

These themes show the congruence and incongruence regarding the experiences of the

various actors of the same social object which will be described in detail in this chapter.

Hegemonic Social Representations

As stated in chapter 1, hegemonic social representations sustain the dominant

cultural order which is unchanging over time and so are almost completely dominated by the

central nucleus of ideas (Howarth, 2011). This is the social representation which is shared by

all the groups involved (Moscovici, 1988).

In the study, six hegemonic themes were observed among the employer (or private

firm), contracting agency, and the contractual workers.

Absence of security of tenure. Contractualization, as stated by the results, showed that the

three agents involved perceive an absence of security of tenure in relation to contractualization.

Being a hegemonic social representation, this shows the congruence among all the three agents
 72

regarding their belief that when one is employed as a contractual worker, their status is already

limited and unstable.

The results of the study coincide with previous literature that discuss that the main

characteristic of contractualization is their lack of security of tenure as mentioned by Macaraya

(1997). In contrast to that, the Labor Code of the Philippines (1987) also states that security of

tenure or permanence in a specific job is a prerequisite for regular employees, therefore, it is

absent in contractual types of employees. This also coincides with research from Shapiro

(1974). This "employment at will" rule, to allow termination of the employee at any time,

designed to protect freedom of enterprise of the management, is being implemented despite its

harsh impact on employees. Also, Watson (1995; as cited in Bess, 1998) states that workers

with their particular motives, expectations and interests, attempts to make the best deal possible

with their employer, given his or her personal resources (skill, knowledge, physique, wealth,

etc.). The bargain involves a certain relationship (in part explicit but largely, owing to its

indeterminacy, implicit) between the employee inputs of effort, impairment and surrender of

autonomy and employer rewards of cash payment and fringe benefits, job satisfactions, social

rewards, security, power status, career potential. The inequitable bargain is essentially

unstable, especially as a result of the market context.

However, even if the perception regarding the absence of security in contractualization

is shared by all the agents involved in the study, it is notable that there is a great difference in

the tone in expression of the hegemonic social representation between those who actually

experience being the non-regular employee, the contractual workers themselves, as compared

to the contracting agency and the employer who are regular employees.
 73

Contractual workers who experience this limiting and unstable line of work show

feelings of discomfort and added motivation for betterment in job performance. A contractual

worker mentioned that: “Kailangan pagbutihin mo yung trabaho, para di ka maalis, di ka

magkakaroon ng buliyaso, kasi ‘pag nagkaroon ka ng pagkakamali, huhusgahan ka nila kung

tatanggalin ka o hindi” and “’Pag matanda na kami, sino pa kaya yung kukuha sa amin diba?

Maraming mas bata na nag-aapply ng trabaho.” show that there is a recurrent feeling of

discomfort regarding their situation especially with the idea of aging and unjust termination

being taken into consideration. The older workers are deemed weaker than those applicants

who are in their earlier years. The sustainability of the means of living of these contractual

workers is questionable and appears as a recurring implication of the perceived absence of

security of tenure in the process of contractualization.

The excerpt from a contracting agency: “Kapag nagkaroon ng personalan, minsan na

galit yung client sayo, naiinis sayo. Tapos okay naman yung trabaho mo hindi ka na nila

rerenew” suggests here is a possibility that the workers become terminated due to personal,

ungrounded grievances of an employer. This is the reason why these workers state that they

continuously strive well in their respective jobs so they would not be subject to unjust

termination. This can be considered a method of coping regarding their perceived absence of

security of tenure in contractualization. Given that there is limited power for the contractual

workers to change the status of the jobs that they are in, the contractual workers always make

their performance better as to cope and continue safe-keeping their jobs, as the results

suggested.

In contrast to the contractual workers’ feelings of discomfort and feelings of

motivation for better job performance due to the absence of security of tenure in their line of
 74

work, the employers’ and the contracting agencies’ perceptions show a tone of disregard and

adherence to the current structural order. The structure regarding employer-employee

relationship is already embedded in a market, business context (Bess, 1998). The excerpts from

the employer : “kasi sa agency, pag di nag-abide, pwede kaagad sila palitan, iyon talaga

status nila e” and from the agency’s : “Kapag nagkaroon ng personalan minsan na galit yung

client sayo, naiinis sayo. Tapos okay naman yung trabaho mo hindi ka na nila rerenew” show

that the employer and contracting agency have somehow been inculcated to the current

structural system in status quo and simply adheres to the order. They perceive that the status of

the contractual worker is really just the way it is. The hegemony is still maintained as the ideals

are not challenged by the three agents involved even if the ways of expressing this hegemony

are different.

With the hegemony on the absence or lack of security of tenure for contractual

workers, there is difficulty in addressing this problem. Shapiro (1974) suggests that judicial

resolution could aid in balancing the interest between the parties involved regarding

termination of an employee. He concedes that this task is difficult, yet appropriate to have a

balanced view on the issue at hand. However, we have to consider the given context in the

Philippines where there is limited avenues for the pursuit of judicial resolution due to the lack

of monetary funding from these employees. There is limited access to justice (United Nations

Development Program, 2004).

Variable worker benefits. Worker benefits, according to the Labor Code of the Philippines

(1987) refer to all of the employees’ right to have SSS, PhilHealth, 13th month pay or

retirement pay. However, the study suggests that the three agents have a shared understanding
 75

regarding the variance of worker benefits in the contractualization process, on how the workers

would always have indeterminate benefits.

It is notable that different companies really differ in terms of their benefit schemes

to attract in employees. But it should also be taken into consideration that the benefits of

regular workers are deemed different from contractual workers’ since these workers receive

less than or equal to the standard imposed by the Labor Code. Regular employees enjoy

benefits which are always greater than what is imposed by the Labor Code. The regular

benefits are considered integral for the laborers’ welfare. However, the contractual workers’

benefits, which are somehow below the base line benefits that the Labor Code prescribes, are

determined on a case to case basis, as the results of the study suggest.

In the study, the results suggest that the benefits being given to workers are really

dependent on the existing employer-employee relationship the workers are in. One contractual

worker proves this in “ Noong nasa Agency B, kami may benepisyo kami. Yung sa health

card, yung Maxicare, binigay samin ng kumpanya mismo. Pero ngayon wala eh. Sa bagong

ahensiya nilipat namin, wala.” Given that the nature of the contractual workers’ job is

unstable, they are bound to transfer from one employer-employee relationship to another.

Hence, they also experience various differences in terms of their benefits scheme. However,

given that these workers always vary from one employer-employee relationship to another, the

consistency of the benefits is also undetermined. The contracting agency and the employers

also share the following representation with regard to contractualization. The agency states that

: “ Sa contractual, kung ano lang po yung inoffer sakanila kung ano lang diniscuss sakanila,

iyon lang yung ma-avail nila.” The employer, also, states that : “Unlike the regular

employee na pwede ka magdeman ng benefits. Yung sa agency, yung mga contractual,

 76

nakukuha lang niyan mga SSS,lang. Depende lang talaga. The hegemony regarding the

limited and variable benefits for contractual workers in the process of contractualization is a

shared representation by the three agents. Being hegemonic, the agents involved still adhere

and perceive that contractual workers just remain having variable (but base line) benefits per

employer-employee relationship.

On the other hand, even if the hegemony does exist regarding variable contractual

workers’ benefits, the researchers notice that certain unethical instances are plausible with this

existing relationship. The results suggest that there are instances when the worker does not

receive certain benefits. A social representation of the worker states that even if the agency

consequently withdraws money from the workers’ current wages to avail of these benefits,

these do not get remitted to the corresponding insurance centers. This is stated by a worker :

“kinakaltas sa sweldo naming yung PhilHealth, SSS, pero ‘pag punta naming (sa pagkukunan

ng benefits), di pala hinuhulugan ng agency.” It is implied that there are limited means for the

workers in determining the status of their benefits. This entails a lose-lose situation as the

workers have lost certain amounts in their past wages to serve as intended payment of benefits

and secondly, there are no benefits in store for them in actuality when checked in the respective

insurance centers.

The National Wages and Productivity Commission state that the minimum wage is

determined per region in the Philippines. For the National Capital Region, the minimum wage

is at 426 pesos. In line with the contractual workers’ endeavors, a contracting agency, as stated

by certain contractual employees, does not give their respective minimum wage to their

employees on time and / or if they do, they subtract from the wages and intend to deposit for
 77

the workers’ benefits. However, in actuality, they do not remit it. This is another scheme that is

deemed unjust but without any provided avenue to check the validity of this claim.

Through the wide array of experiences of the contractual workers regarding various

benefit schemes across employer-employee relationships, it can be noted that seemingly there

is no provision for checks and balances regarding this system. Even if there is a set standard for

all the workers to have SSS, PhilHealth, 13th month pay and retirement pay, there is seemingly

no means of ensuring that these basic benefits will be found in every employer-employee

relationships.

The basic benefits for a regular employee are as follows: SSS refers to the Social

Security System, the insurance government – owned corporation that allows provisions of

loans, benefits for employees in the private sector. PhilHealth refers to the government

company in charge of health insurance. The 13th month pay refers to the extra wage being

given to workers especially since regularization entails one year in the profession. Lastly,

retirement pay refers to the provision of continuous benefits for employees who are not within

the working age already.

Instances like the one previously mentioned where the contractual workers’ wages

(being minimum wage, at that) were already being subtracted by the certain agency for the

maintenance of these benefits are actually not being utilized and remitted properly. The wages

of the workers were said to have been subtracted for nothing. And whether this representation

is valid or not, there is no means of checks and balances that could allow the validity in a

possible case of unfair and unjust treatment towards workers.

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Flawed business scheme. The various agents have a shared understanding that

contractualization is a flawed business scheme. The three agents concede that the scheme of

contractualization is not exactly beneficial and that it could still further be improved. The

excerpt “Sana may pagkakataon kami maging regular diba kasi diba sabi naman ng batas

yun.” and “Kung magkakaroon ng mas matagalang kontrata sa client, edi mas makakabuti sa

amin at sa contractuals. Pero kungano lang meron ngayon, yun lang binibigay namin.”

The statements show that there is conformity with status quo for mere sustenance. Even

if the contractualization scheme is somehow unsustainable, there is continuity in the system

just so there are still jobs being given to the workers. The workers hope to become regular

employees and that the agencies hope that the clients would allow longer contract with them.

The perceived possible long term improvement on contractualization can be explained with

Social Comparisons theory (Festinger,1954) where the agents believe that there is a possibility

of betterment in the current scheme due to the presence of other employer-employee

relationships which have better ideals than the contractualization scheme. The comparison

arises from the drive within individuals to look to outside images in order to evaluate their own

opinions and abilities. These images may be a reference to physical reality or in comparison to

other people ( Festinger, 1954). Given that the various agents have a perception or has seen

better employer employee relationships, this serves as a basis for social comparison especially

with the prevalence of regular employees who experience benefits beyond the base line and

security of tenure as set out by the Labor Code.

Efforts for the betterment of the scheme of contractualization is being addressed in

status quo. The Philippine star issued an article entitled “Contract workers to get full perks”.

Jaymalin (2011) states that contractual workers can already receive security of tenure and other
 79

benefits that are provided to other regular workers. The government is proposing to implement

a new policy that would provide better working conditions and protection for contractual

workers. Rosalinda Baldoz, the Labor Secretary, stated that the Department of Labor and

Employment (DOLE) would enforce a new regulation for companies engaged in contracting

and sub-contracting. The new regulation would entail benefits such as 13th month pay,

overtime pay, retirement pay, SSS, Pag-Ibig and Philhealth to the contractual employees. In

addition to that, contractual workers are also said to be given the right to self organize and

negotiate a collective bargaining agreement. Under the new Department Order 18 A, series of

2011, contractors or subcontractors are now required to submit proof of payment of remittance

to SSS, PhilHealth and BIR which are not present in previous regulation (Baldoz, 2011). Amid

the global phenomenon of contractualization, we will promote job generation, professionalize

contracting and subcontracting arrangements and weed out the fly-by-night contractors(Baldoz,

2011).

There were responses from certain worker movements about this proposal. Rivera

(2011; as cited in Aning, 2011) states that when the government requires the full benefits, right

to self-organize and collective bargaining to the contractual employees, then what difference

would they be from the regular employees? Why would companies then hire contractual

workers? The contracting agencies would then have to be abolished.

Thus, we see the difficulty in providing for a possible scheme that could aid in the

welfare of contractual workers but also allowing the prerogative of the management. In this

scenario, the problem seems structural, the mere presence of contracting agencies prove this as

they continually work even with the prominent unstable tenure of the workers. Social

structures refer to patterns of relatively permanent hierarchical relations among groups or

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collectivities in a social system (Parsons, 1961; as cited in Montiel, 2001). In this case, the

relationship between the employer, agency and the contractual workers adheres to a set of

practices which are invariant to change (Parsons, 1961;as cited in Montiel, 2001). There is still

hegemony in the perception of possible long term improvement on the current flawed

contractualization scheme. However, the methodologies for change in the contractualization

scheme are still not clear cut among the agents involved.

Variable working procedures. The results suggest that the gravity and the amount of work the

contractual workers are being given differ per employer-employee relationship.This is a shared

meaning by all the agents regarding contractualization, where contractual workers do have to

adapt to different working standards and procedures set out by different clients. As the results

suggest, with the varying natures of the company, the contracting agency instructs the

contractual workers through seminars and training sessions to adapt to the preferences and

standards of the company or client. Having variable working procedures is a hegemonic theme

across the three agents as they deem the context of each business negotiation in a particular

employer-employee relationship pivotal in determining the amount of work being given to the

contractual workers.

The results reveal the different patterns in working procedures. An employer

states that: “Iba yung core business ng mga kumpanya eh, syempre, kung ano yung kailangan

mo na empleyado na magsusuporta sa core business mo, iyon yung kailangan mo. Sa agency

na naming sinasabi yung specifications namin.” Traditional business patterns before

outsourcing or hiring of contractual workers was for the companies to directly hire these

peripheral workers they need. Peripheral workers’ specializations are usually different from the

skills and specializations of the particular company. As a business scheme that aims to promote
 81

core specialization, outsourcing became prevalent for the pursuit of these peripheral workers

(Macaraya, 1997). However, it is notable that even if these companies do outsource peripheral

workers from contracting agencies, there are still standards being imposed by the company to

the outsourced workers. The premise seemingly is the same with direct hiring of peripheral

workers by the companies since the standards of the company are also being instructed to the

workers in outsourcing. However, there is a mediator which is the contracting agency that

receives the project payment from the employer. The project payment is for providing the

workers to the company and the contracting agency is tasked to distribute this project payment

to the workers who are involved.

But since the negotiations just take place between the agency and the employer, the

workers are just distributed to whichever company that the agency has negotiations with. And

they have to continuously adapt to the different clients’ standards and preferences. This is

exemplified in the excerpt from the worker : “Sa contractualization din kasi, nakadepende ka

lang talaga sa agency, kung saan ka i-aassign. Di ka talaga pwede magreklamo kasi diba

pasalamat ka nga binibigyan ka ng trabaho. Mahirap lang kadalasan paiba iba ang lugar

kung saan ka nagtatrabaho. Tapos dahil iba iba yung lugar, minsan, iba iba rin yung mga

rules ng mga kliyente. Parang ngayon, bawal umupo. 12 hour shift yun ah. Sa agency namin,

ok lang yun. Pero yung kliyente yung strikto, ano magagawa namin? Sabi ng agency basta

gawin yung gusto ng client diba.”

There are also implications with regard to the constant changing of the workers’

work environments. First, the workers believe that they should not complain about the nature

of their work, of having various employers. They state that they are just thankful to have jobs

even if there is difficulty in adapting to different standards. Second, some working procedures
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can also be stricter than others. The experience of having a 12 hour shift where the worker is

not allowed to sit somehow takes a toll on the worker. Lastly, even if conditions like these

exist, they have no say with regard to the matter. There are no bargaining practices that allow

the contractual employee and employer to discuss the working procedures. The contractual

employee just continuously agrees to whatever is being set out for them. This hegemony is

reminiscent of the adherence with the social structure in terms of employer-employee

relationship.

Confusion regarding employee types. The employer, contracting agency and the contractual

employees have a hegemonic misunderstanding regarding the concepts of a “regular” and

“contractual” employee, as imposed by the Labor Code. Due to the numerous employer-

employee relationships in contractualization, delineating the differences and similarities

between a regular and contractual employee is deemed difficult among the three agents. Some

of the contractual workers said the following : “May iba’t ibang klase ng contractual at

regular. Depende yun, may kanya kanyang sistema ang mga kumpanya e.” “Regular kami sa

agency naman. May health care kami, sss, pag-ibig at philhealth.”“Regular na raw kami. Pero

hindi e, bakit pag may konting pagkakamali lang, pwede na kami ma-tsugi?” There is a

discrepancy between the workers’ understanding and the Labor Code’s definition of a regular

employee. As stated in Chapter 1, an employee is considered regular if he/she has been

working for a year, allowed self-organizing, given 13th month pay, retirement pay, SSS and

PhilHealth. Some of these contractual workers claimed that they are regular employees, they

still did not enjoy the full benefit scheme of what a regular employee does in accord to the

Labor Code. The results state that some contractual employees do not have benefits while

others only enjoy some parts of these benefits. There was no contractual employee who
 83

participated in the study that was given the full rights, in terms of the Labor Code, as a regular

employee.

To further this confusion regarding the various employee types, some of the

employers said the following: “Pero siguro baka regular sila (the contractual workers) sa

agency nila.” The employers show that there is a sense of apathy or lack of awareness with

regard to the peripheral workers that they are hiring. The company’s priority is perhaps

dependent on its own welfare, instrumentalizes the agency just to provide for manpower that

they would not be responsible for. There is unawareness regarding the welfare of the different

agents in the scheme or structure that they participate in. To be considered a regular employee

of the agency, then the contractual workers should be protected from any given demand by the

employer. Hence, if these contractual workers were then “regularized”, then they would not be

easily terminable from the profession. However, the company must have a different

understanding of what a regular employee is since the management still has prerogative on

whether to terminate an employee coming from an agency or not.

Lastly, some of the contracting agencies said: “Pero hindi siya regular, affiliated

lang” ,“Oo regular naman yung mga employees sa amin pero on hold muna kung walang

project”. “Minsan kasi naguguluhan yung empleyado kung regular ba siya, contractual o

cooperative lang.” There is confusion even within the same group regarding the various

employee types.

Another term, the cooperative, was brought up in the study. Cooperatives as stated by

Ridley-Duff (2009) are owned and democratically managed by its worker -owners. This

control may be exercised in a number of ways. A cooperative enterprise may mean a firm

where every worker-owner participates in a democratic method. A worker cooperative,

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therefore, has the characteristic that the majority of its workforce own shares, and the majority

of shares are owned by the workforce. Villegas (2011) states that RA 9520 refers to workers’

cooperative is “one organized by workers, including the self-employed, who are at the same

time the members and owners of the enterprise.” It is a social enterprise that is managed by the

members who offer labor as their services to different companies, institutions or entities.

These members are self-employed individuals who enter into commercial agreements with

corporations and institutions through the cooperative that they have duly formed and organized

(Villegas, 2011). Through a workers’ cooperative, the members are enabled to render work or

labor as the product, service or business thereof, and in return, not only do these individual

members earn from their own labor, but also benefit from the labor or work of the other

members. However, in the study, the researchers did not come across a worker’s cooperative

set- up where the employees are given shares from the company that they are working in. The

agency just reinstates that there is a possibility for a contracting agency to provide a

cooperative relationship instead of the usual contractual labor. Perhaps, this is a possible means

for establishing better benefit schemes for the workers. However, this is not duly prevalent in

the current research.

But nonetheless, there is still confusion with regard to the various contracting

agencies involved in the study. A contracting agency concedes that the workers could either be

contractual, part of a cooperative or regular. It should be noted that there should be no

confusion in terms of businesses that they are part of. As stated by the Labor Code (1987), the

employer should be well aware of the engagements of the business being put up wherein the

employees should also be aware of this engagement. To further this point, it can be noted that

another contracting agency states that their workers are just “affiliated” with the contracting
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agency and are not considered regular workers. This qualifies the unstable and unpredictable

nature of the profession that the contractual workers are in. Also, the views between the

employment type between the employer-employee relationships shows a discrepancy in

understanding even if is required by the law for both parties to be well aware of their

engagements. The term “affiliated” is somehow vague and could imply undefined relationships

between the employer – employee relationship. The hegemony for this undefined, not clear cut

defition in employer-employee relations strain working conditions. One would not be likely to

excel in a particular profession if he/she is unaware or confused regarding the full engagements

and undertakings being dealt with.

Power relations. The employer, contracting agency and contractual workers have

various power differentials as specific groups, but all coincide and participate in a particular

structure of contractualization, for work. The workers suggests that : “Kasi hindi pwedeng iby-

pass yung agency. Kailangan paboran mo din. Kailangan sila muna kasi sila makakatulong

kasi pwede ka nilang tanggalin e kung di ka sumusunod” and “Parang ngayon, bawal umupo.

12 hour shift yun ah. Sa agency namin, ok lang yun. Pero yung kliyente yung strikto, ano

magagawa namin? Sabi ng agency basta gawin yung gusto ng client diba.” The workers

continuously adhere to the preferences of the contracting agency and their respective employer.

There is participation in a current societal structure that inhibits all individual preferences and

continuously adheres to those which are imposed other entities. Limited questioning is seen

regarding certain behaviors and the usual processes in contractualization since the processes

are just embedded in their daily lives. This is the process of hegemony, on how the consensual

societal practice is deemed more important than of individual preferences. This is also verified

by the findings of Shapiro (1974) where the worker is deemed powerless to bring these matters
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into open negotiation, may justifiably consider them an implied part of the bargain especially

when an employer encourages understanding and acceptance of the given terms.

Contractualization is referred to as participation in a system with various agents involved that

influence each other. Contractualization is reflected as a power-related structure that the agents

participate in for making a living. Institutionalization of internal hierarchical control through

short- term contracts leads to an increase in the frequency and salience of power issue

(Shapiro, 1974). Sociological treatments of contract emphasize that exchange creates status and

power differences, one dimension of which is the organizational hierarchy. Asymmetries in

power reinforce asymmetries in exchange, where power is a function of the reliance or

dependency of one of the parties on the other. Thus, pressures to eliminate tenure and

substitute internal hierarchical control through contracts will very likely result in an increase in

hierarchical use of power and a reduction in collective and employee independence (Bess,

1998).

The employers, also, maintain this societal order. “Minsan kasi grabe humingi

yung mga empleyado kaya siguro contractual na sila, bawal na mag-unyon. Kung humingi

kasi, di rin kakayanin ng kumpanya e. Kaya nagkaroon ng contracting agency para ma-

regulate iyon.” The representations of the contracting agencies are as follows: “Basta

sinusunod naming yung gusto ng client, sila nagbabayad eh. Kaya sinasabi naming sa worker

na maging pleasant at ma-respeto at all times.” The employers and contracting agency are

also participating in this structure, as they impose their certain preferences. Employers do not

prefer regular workers as they entail participation in a union. Unions are empowered groups of

workers that participate in collective bargaining agreements with their respective employers.

However, this can be seen as a threat in the profits or the mere survival of the company,as the
 87

results of the study have suggested. On the other hand, the contracting agency is deemed as the

mediator or the regulator in the actions of the workers. The contracting agency believes that

their motivations for participating and adhering to the requests of the employer are for funding

and monetary advancement. The contracting agency always reminds the workers “to be

pleasant and respectful at all times”. The maintenance of this power relationship in the

contractualization process is pursued by all.

Given such adherence to the structure, great weight is given to the value of

finding a means for a living. This hegemonic power relationship is participated in by the

various agents for monetary purposes, to be able to provide a living for themselves and their

households. The participation of the agents could also be explained by Montiel (2011) when

she states that the mental facilities of purpose and cognition make it possible to disconnect

human action from the deterministic hold of oppressive and exploitative social structures.

These mental abilities place importance on one’s subjective facilities as distinct from the

objective structural conditions surrounding the action. There is a possible disconnection

between the awareness of the structural problem and the actions done regarding it. In this case,

the structure refers to the process of contractualization and the actions refer to the participation

of the agents involved, without awareness of political implications of these structures.

Daekenekindt (2003) states that regardless of what the working conditions are, contractual

workers still continue their jobs for the need to be able to sustain for themselves and families.

This is just the deemed rationalization of the actions, for mere sustenance of the individuals

involved. At the same time, the contracting agency and employer also participate just to earn

a living as well, to limit costs brought about by unions and promote the core specialization of

their jobs.
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Foucault (1980) states that the exercise of power as a mode of action upon the actions

of others. This is the relationship between two or more entities where the entities in the

relationships struggle and maneuver for position and advantages. In the study, there is

maintenance in this power relationship between the employer, contracting agency and the

contractual worker that results to the hegemony. The subjects involved also do not consciously

exercise power or give in to power. The set of behaviors are already enmeshed in a particular

structure (Foucault, 1982). Also, social structures are implemented through embedded power

systems (Montiel, 2001). However, whenever there is a power relationship, there is also a

possibility for resistance (Foucault, 1982). Social structure pertains to patterns of relatively

permanent hierarchical relations among groups or collectivities in a social system (Parsons,

1961). Social differentiation is not only heterogeneous but also unequal (Blau, 1977; as cited in

Christie & Montiel, 2001). This means that differences among collectivities in a structure are

not horizontal but vertical in nature (Galtung, 1978) with those on the top having the most

wealth and power. A structural perspective is sensitized to social power differentials between

groups. A third characteristic of social structure is its invariance or tendency to resist change,

even though there may be lower amplitude shorter-time-duration alterations in a social system

(Parsons, 1961). But for the study, there will be analysis only regarding the dynamics and

maintenance of this power relationship between the three agents which are working in

particular social structure.

Various hegemonic meanings have been attached towards the term contractualization.

The following are: absence of security of tenure, various worker benefits, various working

procedures, confusion regarding employee types and maintenance of power relations. The

hegemonic meanings are shared by the agents involved – the employer, contracting agency and
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the contractual employee. However, certain patterns have been seen where the representations

of the various groups regarding the hegemonic meanings vary in their tone. The perception on

the social object is the same, but the feelings and the tones of expression of these hegemonic

themes vary. Hegemonic social representations are shared among the three groups. This entails

the participation of the three groups in the contractualization. Hegemonic understandings do

not alter the status quo but actually describe the consensus the different groups partake in this

particular process.

Emancipated Social Representations

Previously mentioned in chapter 1, emancipated social representations is a discrepancy

of perception, view and understanding of certain issues in society by sub-groups (Ben-Asher,

2003). According to Brewer (2001), it results of shared knowledge between different groups in

society.

In the study, a total of six emancipated themes were observed, two themes emerged

between the worker and the employer, and four themes between the employer and the agency.

There were no emancipated themes between the workers and the agency.

Emancipated Social Representations between Employer and Worker

Presence of fly by night agencies worsen work conditions. The phrase “fly by night” generally

describes something illegal, unscrupulous, avoiding due processes and changing or tweaking

some things in order to gain personal benefit. As a theme, some agencies, according to the

employers and the workers, sometimes perform illegal or unfair operations in order to

maximize their profit and lessen their tasks and duties as the company who actually distributes

the wages to the contractual workers.

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Given the experiences and the hearsay from other companies and other workers, it can

be said that fly by night contractual agencies really exist. Chapter Three gives statements of

this theme with quotes such as “Siguro lack of funds din. Yun nakikita ko. Parang sa agency

ngayon kasi, palakasan na lang ng loob. Wala silang pondo pero magpapatakbo pa rin. Pag di

sila nababayaran ng kumpanya, yung nagssuffer, yung mga empleyado. Madaling gawin rason

yun, na hindi pa sila binabayaran ng kliyente, pero minsan hindi naman kasi. Pero problema

na nila yun e, nagtrabaho na nga yung tao, pati ba naman yun puproblemahin pa nila?” and

“Yun nga, wala pang 13th month kasi kesyo hindi pa raw nagbayad yung kliyente. Mga ganun.

At minsan, tingin ng agency, mabababa. Minsan bastos na rin e.”According to DOLE

secretary Baldoz (2011; as cited in Aning, 2011), there is a need to professionalize

contractualization and subcontractualization processes and removing fly-by-night contractors.

Knowing this, it is quite questionable why the workers still tolerate these things. As seen in

Chapter 1, there are some logical explanations why this may be so. According to the Labor

Code (1987), contractual workers sign certain documents which bind them to their company

and all their processes. The workers do not have a choice but to follow all the company’s

policies, be it fair or not. Also, because the workers’ voice is very limited because of such

labor union restrictions by laws such as the Herera Law (Salamat, 2010), they cannot object

regarding these anomalies. Also, it is very risky for these workers to even try to voice out these

things, as work, especially in the Philippines is very precious. Unemployment seems to be still

a pressing issue in the Philippines, making people compete for their jobs, thus giving more

power to the companies and agencies, possibly giving them opportunity to conduct operations

that are fly by night.

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Both the employers and the workers perceive that there are certain contractual agencies

that have the tendency of tweaking the rules and regulations, in a way, abusing the absence of

unions, the voice of the workers. Workers, who are most probably than not, very dependent on

their jobs for their livelihood, will not even dare to voice out their concerns, moreover, protest

against these agencies, as they know and believe that this is an unfortunate system and cycle

we are currently part of. As mentioned earlier, there is a certain power play in society,

especially in corporations. As the competition between companies becomes tougher, certain

“adjustments” are made in order for them not to fall back and eventually be eaten by the

presence of other companies.

Professional relationship between employer and worker

Between the employer and the worker, there is a professional relationship that is quite

evident throughout the social representations. It was clear that there was mutual respect and

business professionalism between these two agents. They both knew their individual

obligations, boundaries, and limitations. This is an even more pressing issue in

contractualization due to the being supposedly temporary of the workers. This theme, however,

cannot be associated with the agency and its relationship with its workers.

The professionalism between the employer and worker can be seen as both an

opportunity and a threat to the company, the workers and even the agency.

It can be seen as an opportunity as workers really do their duties, knowing that their

employers can easily replace them when they hear complaints of misconduct and

incompetency. This professionalism can help workers retain their job, keeping things non-

personal and objective, just following orders. “...oo naman, dito kami na-assign ng agency

kaya dapat okay kami sa mga regular employees dito...” and “Oo sumusunod lang kung ano
 92

yung mga patakaran. Kliyiente kasi sila kaya dapat sumunod kami.” are statements of this.

However, this professionalism can limit also limit the worker’s performance.

The professional relationship can be detrimental when the worker confines him/herself

into the objectification of companies, eventually, into the cycle of capitalism. The worker

might not strive for a better wage or a higher position, knowing that he/she has a slim chance

of going up the ranks. There will be this inclination to do things routinely, without trying to be

innovative and creative on their own respective outputs and deliverables. Also, the worker may

have the potential to limit himself to his occupation, disregarding the worker’s self worth. The

workers become to think and feel that in fact, they are just instruments who take part in profit-

making. They cannot see the bigger picture, instead the see themselves as resources that are

very much disposable at their employer’s will.

Professionalism is a very risky relationship, which if taken too personally and seriously,

may cause very dehumanizing, discouraging and alienating experiences to the workers. Also, it

creates a certain competition within the workers. Daekenekindt (2003) refers to the "toyotist

system" where the government is less a fiscalizer for social gains. The management does away

with security of tenure and brings the workers into a co-responsible position for the good

functioning of the workplace. The workers become competitors among themselves.

Emancipated Social Representations between Employer and Agency

Economic practicality. Especially in the Philippines, economic practicality seems to be a real

factor in micro and macro economics. Philippines, often called a third world country, seems to

struggle in improving economic status individually and collectively. Being a member of the

World Trade Organization, the Phlippines used contractualization in order to persuade

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investors by offering massive hiring at a cheap cost, in a way, establishing human capital

(Macaraya, 1997). This being said, it is very timely that economic practicality came out as a

represented theme between the employer and the agency. However, after analyzing the cost of

this economic practicality, it suddenly seems more negative, than it is positive. Jenkins (1984;

as cited in Daekenekindt, 2003) states that flexible labor , trend of employers, was done to save

on labor costs. Boniol and Santoalla (1999; as cited in Daekenekindt, 2003) state that the

International Labor Organization (1998) that the driving force of industry is to stay

competitive. This means, "searching for greater flexibility and lower labor costs" Although it

would be very much ideal to be economically practical and efficient, gaining the optimum

amount of profit possible, there also should be a balance regarding this. All the players in the

business should be given what is due to them, not only the people in the high ranks.

In relation to the theme of the presence of fly by night contractual agencies, it seems

that the things that are done in order to achieve this economic practicality are not as fair and

ideal as they are supposed to be. The workers suffer. They do not receive proper benefits, fair

wages. Very short-term employment contracts protect the organization from the vicissitudes of

market turbulence by limiting the organization's obligation to workers when market downturns

so reduce resource inputs that it becomes difficult to maintain steady organizational

employment levels (Bess, 1998). Consequently, expenses and the whole breakdown and

division of the agency’s revenues are not transparently shown to them.

With this theme present among the employers and the agencies, it seems that these two

agents really are undermining the rights of the workers. “Nagkaroon ng contractual kasi

shempre umiiwas sa pagbibigay ng benefits yung mga malalaking kumpanya sa kanilang ibang

mga empleyado.” and “Nakakatipid ang mga mga kumpanya dahil dito sa outsourcing o sa
 94

pagkuha ng contractual workers.Pag ikaw businessman, syempre gusto mo konti lang expenses

mo sa human resources o sa employees mo. Kaya nga nandito kaming mga agency.” are clear

indicators of this claim. Because the workers are not as powerful as these two, with economic

efficiency and practicality in mind, the workers are not given as much as they should be given.

Complex process of outsourcing. Contractualization is a very complicated process,

although it was not designed to be this way. Dewers (2005) several factors are at work

simultaneously that are likely to increase outsourcing: rapid technological change, increased

risk and the search for flexibility, greater emphasis on core corporate competencies, and

globalization. In this broader context, outsourcing is the result of a complex change in the cost

boundaries facing firms as they choose between inside and outside production.According to

Clot (2004; as cited in Gachunga, 2007) the basic idea about outsourcing is that if a firm does

not specialize in a certain function which it does not consider core, it will outsource the work

and therefore be able to offer better cost and quality. There are a lot of inconsistencies in the

definitions, rules and the laws regarding this, as previously mentioned in other themes.

However, it can be further complicated by the personal requests of other employers to the

agencies, as an example of Agency D’s case. Sometimes agencies hold deals with other

agencies in order for the client to have more convenience in finding different kinds of workers.

Instead of looking for separate agencies for specific workers, they just hire and pay one agency

who then scouts for such workers. This is a cause of confusion between the workers because

aside from the regular contractualization, sometimes the contractual agencies recruit and

outsource people through contractualization as well. The workers are become more confused as

to who their real employer is. There is also a mention of a certain kind of agency called

cooperatives. Cooperatives as stated by Ridley-Duff (2009) are owned and democratically

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managed by its worker -owners. This control may be exercised in a number of ways. A

cooperative enterprise may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in a

democratic method. A worker cooperative, therefore, has the characteristic that the majority of

its workforce own shares, and the majority of shares are owned by the workforce. Villegas

(2011) states that RA 9520 refers to workers’ cooperative is “one organized by workers,

including the self-employed, who are at the same time the members and owners of the

enterprise.” It is a social enterprise that is managed by the members who offer labor as their

services to different companies, institutions or entities. These members are self-employed

individuals who enter into commercial agreements with corporations and institutions through

the cooperative that they have duly formed and organized (Villegas, 2011). Through a workers’

cooperative, the members are enabled to render work or labor as the product, service or

business thereof, and in return, not only do these individual members earn from their own

labor, but also benefit from the labor or work of the other members.

The complex process of contractualization makes some workers forget to whom they

are actually working for. This might cause the abuse of workers, as their rights become vaguer

and the people they think they should address are not really the people concerned. The

outsourcing company sometimes outsources from another outsourcing company, making the

employees more confused as to regard of who they are actually working for. A statement of an

agency is proof of this. “Nagakataon lang talaga na yung mga rank and file pababa yung mga

technicians, hindi namin na problemahin yan mag outsource, sila na humihingi nalang kami.

Kunyari kailangan ni namin ng tatlong technician they provide. Pero pag manager engineers

dito iyan. Doon nagkakaroon ng ganun na cost.” Also, this confusion might be a reason for

lack of motivation and loyalty, which will be discussed as well as a major theme.
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Loyalty of the worker is perceived to be inclined towards the client. Because of the confusion

caused by the previous theme or the complexity of the process of contractualization, sometimes

the workers forget on who their actual employers are. They tend to be more loyal to the client

of their agency. Maybe a cause of this is the attachment developed between the two, especially

with contractual workers who have stayed long with the client. “Problema lang kapag tumagal

na ang empleyado sa kumpanya, pakiramdam nila na akala nila na empleyado na sila dun.

Kunyari 15 yrs siya sa kumpanya, pakiramdam niya dun na siya. Pero hindi, empleyado ka

namin, ng agency. Kaya kailangan namin sila lagi paalalahanan na ang Diars ang employer

nila, hindi yung kumpanya. Kasi minsan mas masama ang loob ng mga tumagal na sa iisang

kumpanya lamang.” This is an acknowledged problem by the agencies.“Hindi natin

maiiwasan na minsan ang loyalty nila nasa client.” The workers have very minor interaction

with the agency. Aside from their payday, the only time they meet is during seminars, which

are very seldom as well. The workers eventually forget their agencies this way, especially in

this case that the worker spends more time with the employers. The workers associate

themselves with the employer more, having more interaction with them. However, we must

keep into mind that this is the perception of the employers and the agencies, not of the workers,

as according to the workers, their loyalty is generally equal, knowing their boundaries and

limitations, being professional in their relationships with the client. Also, with this mindset, it

is every possible that the agencies become biased as to their relationships with their workers.

Alienation again becomes a possible outcome of this. The agencies may have the inclination to

treat their workers as instruments in order to attain profit, withouth thinking of the workers’

personal contexts, personalities and opinions. The agencies may be inclined to accept the fact
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that it is difficult to establish a humanistic and personal relationship with their workers given

so little opportunity to do so. In a way, together with learned helplessness, the perception of the

agencies of the workers having more loyalty to their employers can be very detrimental.

On the other hand, with this mindset, the employers may be given the tendency to abuse

their workers, knowing that the workers trust them more. Also previously mentioned, with the

complexity of the processes of contractualization, a company has the opportunity to modify

rules into their advantage.

Avoiding Unions. Unions, as previously mentioned, voice out the concerns of certain groups,

minority groups in particular. The presence of labor unions help establish a balance among all

the agencies present in a certain operation or business. The needs of the workers are taken into

consideration, proper benefits, proper treatment, and the like. The workers feel their being

partners in the said operations, and not feel that they are just instruments and tools in order to

achieve the company’s goals. Workers might even feel motivated, having higher confidence,

knowing that their requests and their suggestions are heard and being processed. However,

with the absence of unions, the workers become the minority, not in terms of quantity, but in

terms of their opinions and thoughts regarding topics discussed in the board. Some companies

are really avoiding this. “I would say kasi, bakit nag contractualization ang mga industries

natin ngayon? To avoid unionism, to avoid giving additional benefits to the employees. Pero

bakit? Bakit kailangan mag resort ka into unionism. So I guess, opinyon ko lang ha? kasalan

din ng employees kung bakit nandun tayo sa contractualization kasi pinasukan na yan ng

KMU, union, alam niyo naman kung gano sila kalaki maghingi ng adjustments ng benefits, na

alam natin na hindi kakayanin ng company, mga negosyante yan.” This may cause a less

conducive working atmosphere. Discrimination might also be an issue as other employees

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might disregard and belittle these employees knowing that they do not have any say in the

board. According to Salamat (2010), the process of forming unions is quite complicated for

regular workers. Only one union is permitted for a company, and that union should only

include regular workers. Irregular workers, on the other hand, are not given any chance of

representation. Collective bargaining and labor unions are strictly prohibited to them.

Numerous unions have been ignored and disregarded because of the presence of contractual

worker members.

According to the employers and the agency, workers tend to abuse their powers when

in unions. They ask for unreasonable wages and benefits that will financially hurt the company.

For these two agents, it is impractical to allow workers to have unions.

With this being said, there should be a balance between avoiding unions and abuse of

the workers with their established unions. It is very much unfair as not to give workers an

opportunity to just voice out themselves. Also, it is also unfair for the company and the agency

if the workers in a union keep on asking for increase in wages and benefits without really

taking into consideration the economic growth of the company as a whole.

The employer and the workers had similar views and perspectives regarding some

points on contractualization. The employers and the workers have the most interaction in this

triad of agents who are involved in the process of contractualization. Because of this physical,

frequent interaction, it is very possible that they have shaped and influenced one another in

certain perspectives and views regarding the system that they are in. Possibly sometimes,

unconsciously or consciously, they may have given bias statements, with their view of

contractualization, also unintentionally or intentionally influencing the thinking of the other

agent.
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With regard to the presence of emancipated themes between the employer and the

agency, in all practicality, their similar opinions might have been caused by both their strong

desire for profit. These two agents are parts of institutionalized structures that were created in

order to gain money and profit. These structures have been part of a system which uses humans

as a means to earn more money. Sadly, when treated objectively, it is not far from possibility to

isolate and alienate these people, using them as capital and nothing more.

It can be noticed that the agencies’ and the workers’ discussions were not able to let

surface a common theme. This was mainly because of their lack of interaction and their lack of

motive. As opposed to the two previous pairs of agents, there is seemingly no solid foundation

to tie up the worker and the agency’s relationship.

Emancipated themes generally showed the common perceptions and opinions regarding

contractualization with the presence the strength and the motivations of the relationships of the

agents.

Polemic Social Representations

Base on the results of the interviews, the polemic social representations of the various

agents showed the different perspectives regarding contractualization. The unshared

representation of contractualization clearly shows the discrepancies that exist between the three

agents and the issue that are present among the groups. Moreover, this confirms the theory of

social representations wherein the results confirm that certain issue arises due to the effect of

different paradigms on each other. With this theory, different representations on a certain issue

could then provide alignment or clarity of intentions that could lead to the fueling of collective

action in a given party (Montiel, 2010).

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In this study, a total six polemic themes were observed between the contractual

workers, agency, and employer. The contractual workers had three polemic themes particularly

learned helpless, variability of job satisfaction and motivation, and difference in loyalty

towards employer and agency were observed. On the other hand, only one theme for

contracting agencies were observed which is their priority towards their client’s welfare.

Finally, two polemic themes were also observed among the employers particularly the

diversion of the problem of contractualization to another party and outsourcing as a means of

hiring peripheral workers.

Polemic Social Representations by Contractual Workers

Learned helplessness. The results of this study indicated that the behavior and attitude of

contractual workers had allowed them to develop a sense of learned helplessness towards their

jobs. Learned helplessness in this case refers to a condition in which a person begins to believe

they have no control over situations as a result of exposure to failure experiences and negative

consequences (Seligman, 1975). In this case, contractual workers believed that their current

situation has no opportunity for any change because they have no control over it.

There can be several reasons that can be inferred from this kind of behavior and

attitude. The foremost reason would probably be base on the working conditions of the

contractual workers. The current welfare of contractual workers in the Philippines was

described earlier in the literature which included injustices in the system of contractualization.

These injustices are shown on the working conditions such as having delayed issuance of

salary, low income, unequal treatment of clients, and ambivalent contracting processes. The

working conditions contribute to the helpless behavior because it creates a negative experience

on the worker ability to control their current situation since contractual workers have no
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security of tenure. Hence, looking for a new job would be difficult and detrimental to their

livelihood. In addition, learned helplessness has developed a perception which reduces a

person’s willingness to search for employment (as well as the intensity and persistence of job

search activity) because they believe their own actions will have little or no effect on their

circumstances (Cole, 2009).

Moreover, the social status of the workers further create a sense of helpless behavior

due to the fact that most contractual workers socio-economic status in the Philippines are

below the poverty line. This means that workers struggle everyday to sustain their livelihoods

with their ample salaries that they earn every year. Base on the UNDP 2002 report, most of the

poor may be employed but they are mostly mired in jobs with low productivity and low pay.

Consequently the lack of labor rights for some categories of workers makes them particularly

vulnerable to poverty (especially workers within the informal sector) (Schelzig, 2005). This

suggests that socio-economic status of contractual workers can probably be one of the factors

that could be related in their helpless behavior. Their social status affects how they perceived

their control over higher power. It was stated by one of the workers that it was difficult to go

against the companies and they lack the number to protest their situation. “Parang ano,

mahirap na kalabanin ang kumpanya. Lalo na gobyerno pa. Talagang mahirap na lumipat sa

isang kumpanya. Ganun na lahat.” and “Eh paano namin ilalaban kami lang naman, kapiraso

lang kami. Yung ilalaban namin, shempre pangkain na lang namin diba.”

This type of injustices is related to the study of Macaraya (1997) that despite the oppression

and undermined rights of contractual workers, there are minimal efforts coming from the

workers to rally and fight for their rights. It can be observed that the workers already accepted

their unjust situations since they perceived that they don’t have control over it. Moreover,
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workers value their current job since it would be much more difficult for their lives if they had

none at all.

Variability of job satisfaction and motivation . Another theme that was observed was the

variability of job satisfaction and motivation among the workers. In this study, job satisfaction

refers to positive emotions an employee has toward his / her job Locke ( 1976; as cited in De

Cuyper and De Witter, 2009).However, it is has been observed that contractual workers have

lesser job satisfaction than regular employees since they do not receive any benefits and have

no security of tenure. Moreover, workers attitudes should be considered in relation to job

satisfaction. In addition, motivation can be defined as a force that serves three functions: It

energizes, or causes people to act; it directs behavior toward the attainment of specific goals;

and it sustains the effort expended in reaching those goals (Steers & Porter, 1991).

The variability of the job satisfaction and motivation of workers depends on employer-

employee relationships, working environment, and sustaining their families. The results

indicated that the relationship of the employer and worker may probably be a factor when it

comes to the job satisfaction of the workers. It was stated in the interviews that workers had

different perceptions on their jobs depending on their relationship with the employer. The

workers who had lenient employers were more satisfied with their jobs “Mabait sila dito e,

parang kasama ka talaga, pag pasko, talagang binabati ka rin tapos minsan may regalo ka rin.

Minsan lang ganito sa trabaho ng contractual diba. Maswerte ako.” However, workers with

stricter or unfavorable clients affected their job satisfaction since their relationship with their

employer is not desirable. This means that having a stable working environment and a healthy

employer-employee relationship affects the job satisfaction of workers. Moreover, Korman

(1970) argues that by valuing staff, improving communication and conveying expectations of
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success an organization can help improve performance by enhancing self-esteem. A firm that

hires staff with healthy human and psychological capital, and fosters a social environment that

maintains that capital along with expectations and incentives that encourage individual and

group motivation, will be more productive than a firm that hires staff with poorer human and

psychological capital, or fails to maintain a healthy work environment.

Furthermore, it can be observed that workers are motivated because they have the

responsibility to sustain their families. As mentioned earlier in the literature, contractual

workers earn just enough and struggle to sustain their families. “Strikto talaga yung kumpanya.

Pero iniisip ko na lang na kailangan ito para sa pamilya ko rin.” Therefore, contractual

workers are aware of the lack of assurance and security in their jobs. Consequently, workers

highly value their tenancy in their jobs because it is the only way that it can support their

family’s livelihood. This means that most workers are aware that if they lose their jobs it would

only worsen their struggling situation as they are already in poverty. As Cole (2009) argues

that there are potential consequences of unemployment which include “poverty and financial

hardship, reduced future work opportunities, reduced participation in mainstream community

life, and intergenerational welfare dependency.” Therefore, some workers tolerate their

undesirable situations for the sake of keeping a livelihood for their families. As one workers

state in his interview, they still continue on with their jobs despite their hardships at work

because it’s their obligation. “ Oo may gana. Syempre naisip namin na sa pamilya na lang

namin, dun po kami naka-focus. Kahit late yung sweldo, tuloy pa rin. Sige pa rin.” Another

workers said that the reason why he is still staying in his job because he thinks of his family

and the children that he has to raise. “Pero isipin mo na lang na kaya ka nandito ay para sa

pamilya mo, sa mga anak mo, kasi lumilipas naman yan, kunyari ngayon boring ang araw mo,
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bukas nasa mood ka na. Lumilipas din yan.” Based on these interviews, it can be observed

that workers are highly motivated because of their families. This kind of motivation may stem

from a Filipino value that gives importance to family. Concerns for family are manifested in

honor and respect given to parents and elders, in the care given to children, the generosity

towards kin in need, and in the great sacrifices one endures for the welfare of the family. This

sense of family results in a feeling of belonging and rootedness and in a basic sense of security

(Dy, 1994). Hence, despite the hardship that contractual workers face in their job, the welfare

of their family is highly valued.

Hence, it can be observed that workers job satisfaction varies greatly when it comes to

their relationship with their employer. However, most of the workers are motivated to continue

with their job because of their responsibility to sustain their families.

Difference in loyalty towards employer and agency. Finally, the difference in loyalty towards

employer was an evident theme among the contractual workers. It can be observed that

workers had different representations regarding their loyalty to their employer and contracting

agency. Some workers said that their loyalty belongs to their employer since they have been

working there for a long period of time. Meanwhile, other workers said that their loyalty must

belong to their agency because it’s the agency that offers them the job assignments and

manages their welfare. On the hand, some workers also said that their loyalty must be equal

with the employer and contracting agency.

One of the main reasons for these discrepancies can be seen in the employer-employee

relationship. As mentioned in the previous literature, contractual workers are assigned to

different project and deal with various working conditions. The employer-employee
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relationship is an important factor when it comes to the loyalty of workers since contractual

workers have no security of tenure since they can easily be replaced.

There are cases that contractual workers are more loyal to their agencies since they

believed that the agencies are responsible for their welfare in the job. Meanwhile, some

workers perceived their loyalty to be equal between the contracting agency and employer since

they both recognize their responsibilities as a employee of both agents.

However, some workers perceived that their loyalty may probably be more towards

their employer base the number of years they have been working on the same employer. As on

worker state “Siguro sa tagal-tagal ko na yung pagiging tapat ko bilang lady guard.

Ginagampanan yung bilang trabaho para dito sa mga bata. Priority namin sila kasi sila ang

aming pinaka customer, kliyente.” This means that the worker is actually committed to her job

for the reason of having a long-term relationship with the employer. Moreover, Porter et al.

(1974) discuss three major components of organizational commitment as being “a strong belief

in and acceptance of the organization’s goals, a willingness to exert considerable effort on

behalf of the organization, and a definite desire to maintain organizational membership.

Furthermore, Connelly (2007) extends Coyle-Shapiro and Morrow’s study of organizational

and client commitment among contracted employees. This study focuses on temporary workers

rather than long-term contracted employees. The findings of this study showed that perceived

organizational support (POS) from a client organization indeed relates to affective

organizational commitment towards the client. Furthermore, this study suggests that client POS

also relates to continuance commitment towards the client as well as affective and continuance

commitment towards the temporary agency. Finally, temporary workers’ desire to pursue

temporary work relates to affective commitment towards the temporary agency, but
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continuance commitment to the temporary agency is related to a preference for permanent

employment. The result of this study indicates that organizational support given by the client to

the contractual worker affects their affective organizational commitment. This means that

contractual workers are more loyal to the client organization than their contracting agency.

Therefore, employee loyalty is as important as customer loyalty since enterprises

entrust clients to employees and it is important to combine, integrate and interpret information

about employees to have a clear understanding of the need and expectations of employees. The

relationship between employer and employee should be based on mutual respect and

understanding, treating employees fairly and equally, no matter what their position may be.

Communication is an important step in promoting employee commitment. Managements’

expectations might not be similar to those of the employees, so mutual expectations should be

crystal clear to make sure all parties understand what is expected from them. When managers

gain respect and confidence from their team commitment is reinforced. So offering leadership

development programs to managers can perfect their skills in leadership and help them in

specific areas (Greenberg & Baron, 2003). In addition, appropriate rewards and benefits are

also important for employees. Financially, the salaries must be fair according to employees’

contribution. A way of aligning the business’ interest with those of the employee is introducing

profit-sharing plans that consist in creating plans in which employees receive bonuses

according to the company’s profits. Both employees and employer basically work for a

common goal for mutual profit (Sheikh, n.d).

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Polemic Social Representation on contractualization by the Contracting Agency

Priority towards client’s welfare. Based on the results, it can be observed that most

contracting agencies main concern would be meeting the standards of the clients and

maintaining their professional relationship. Basically, Peel and Boxall (2005) discuss the

process of contractualization wherein hiring an agency recruits potential workers for a

company. This company provides the project money to the contract agency and in returning,

the contracting agency receives commission for outsourcing their workers. This means that

agencies value their client’s welfare since this is the source of their revenue. It was clearly

stated in the interview how agencies accommodate the requirements of the clients “ Syempre,

priority pa rin yung gusto ng client. Kasi kami, makakapagbigay lamang ng trabaho kung may

client. Yung client ang nagbabayad pa rin. Pinapasunod na lang yung mga contractual

workers.”

The agency’s priority for the client’s welfare could be an effect the increasing global

competitive pressures. A capitalistic economy may probably be one of the reasons for agencies

prioritizing their clients’ welfare since agencies also desires to maximize their revenue and

minimize costs on the contractual workers. This initiative has frequently encouraged the

widespread use of ‘atypical’ forms of employment (e.g. part-time work, temporary contracts,

non-standard working hours) (Gregg & Wadsworth, 1995; 1996). In addition, Martinussen

(1997; as cited by Daekenekindt, 2003) states that through internationalization or

transnationalization of capital, there was much more profound reorganization of

manufacturing, trade and services within a globally encompassing system. Globally- oriented

corporations aim to organize entire production and sale worldwide.

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Aside from a capitalistic economy, contracting agencies also value their relationships

with the clients. In recent years, there has been a trend towards the negotiation of closer

contractual relationships between employers and employment agencies. However, little is

known about this change or its likely consequences. In theory, such relationships can benefit

employers by lowering fees and also reducing many of the hidden costs associated with the use

of agency staff by improving the effectiveness of placement matching (Hoque, 2008).

Polemic Social Representation on Contractualization by the Employer

Outsourcing as a means of hiring peripheral workers. The results of the interview indicated

that companies have their core competencies but still require peripheral competencies in order

to function as a whole. The core workforce is characterized by permanent, highly skilled

employees with internal career paths (Wood, 1989; Procter et al, 1994). As a result, ‘core’

employees tend to experience a higher degree of job security with resources provided for

training in firm-specific skills not readily bought in. On the other hand, Atkinson argues that

the peripheral workforce is associated with the organization’s development of numerical

flexibility. The key function or strategic aspect of this sector for the organization is the

undertaking of day-to-day activities which are important but not vital to the organization

(Deery, 2002). Furthermore, the work they do is “desirable and necessary” for the company’s

survival, but they never become regular employees even if they get rehired repeatedly under

new contracts (Salamat, 2006, p.1).Therefore, most companies outsource their workers in order

to accommodate their peripheral competencies and continue on focusing on their core

competencies.

Given this situation, outsourcing peripheral workers would be a strategic advantage for

most companies. In this study, outsourcing refers to the act of obtaining goods or services from
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individuals or organizations outside of a firm’s boundaries (Brown & Wilson, 2005).

Outsourcing has generated considerable interest among academics and practitioners. However,

much of this interest has been in the economics, rather than the sociology, of outsourcing. A

key source of this interest is that outsourcing is sometimes associated with the transfer of jobs

between firms and between nations (Sallaz, 2004). This inter-firm transfer of jobs sometimes

flows from high-wage firms with strong internal promotion systems to lower-wage firms with

less secure employment (Pfeffer & Baron 1988; Kalleberg et al. 1997, 2000), generating public

policy concerns about the effects of outsourcing on worker wages, benefits, and job security.

Similarly, the transfer of jobs between nations frequently moves from higher-wage developed

nation to lower-wage less-developed nations (Taylor & Bain 2005).

The reason for the increase of outsourcing peripheral workers over the years would be

globalization. Globalization has an effect on employment patterns worldwide. It has

contributed to a great deal of outsourcing which is one of the greatest organizational and

industry structure shifts that change the way business operates (Drucker, 1998; as cited in

Gachunga, 2007). Furthermore, according to Clot (2004; as cited in Gachunga, 2007 ) the

basic idea about outsourcing is that if a firm does not specialize in a certain function which it

does not consider core, it will outsource the work and therefore be able to offer better cost and

quality. Global outsourcing has altered the work in companies. Initially outsourcing was only

done for the peripheral services such as janitorial services, but now outsourcing has been

extended even to the core functions such as final product assembly, customer service, financial

services and technological services (Clot, 2004; as cited in Gachunga, 2007).

This means that peripheral workers serve an important function for the company to as a

means of administrative purposes but they are not essentially part of their core competencies.
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As stated in one of the interviews, companies outsource peripheral workers since it is not in

their line of work or part of their core competencies, “Maybe ang kumpanya kasi is not into

security agency na business. Ang security agency kasi parang they have to make sure na ang

mga security guards ay trained sa pagputok ng baril, pag investigate, gather intelligence

reports mga ganoon na klase. Kaya parang hindi business iyan ng kumpanya na ito e, so

parang kaya I understand naman na syempre i-outsource na nila iyon kasi iyon kasi its their

expertise.”

Hence, it is only practical for companies to outsource peripheral workers since these

type of jobs aids the company to achieve their core competencies. Moreover, there are several

internal and environmental forces that drive this movement toward partial process outsourcing,

including internal pressures toward efficiencies and cost reduction, the rise in the number of

specialist service providers that lead firms can leverage to spur innovation and increasing

environmental complexity and competitive pressure (Hoque, et. al, 2008).

Diversion of the problem of contractualization to another party. The results of the study

indicate that employers tend to divert their responsibilities for the workers to the agency. Most

employers believed that agencies are responsible for the workers and are not held liable for any

misconduct or problems regarding the workers. Moreover, the employer doesn’t mingle with

the policies of the agencies regarding their workers because companies have a separate set of

policies. As stated in the interview, employers are not fully aware of the policies that agency

implement to their workers specifically when it comes to the benefits of the workers. This is

exemplified in : “Medyo detached ako diyan dapat e. Tatawag ako sa agency kung mabigat

yung problema.” As the employers already provided for the project capital to their respective

contracting agency, they perceive that they are not held liable for any other transactions that
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might incur during the onset of work proper. If there is any problem regarding the scheme of

contractualization, it is the contracting agency’s dilemma. The employers believe that the

outsourcing scheme is still practical and problems that arise from the contractualization scheme

are caused by the agency and not the employer’s. “Basta alagaan, basta wag ka fly by night na

agency, kung ano ang para sa tao ibigay mo. Okay lang ang contractualization.” “Madaling

gawin rason yun, na hindi pa sila binabayaran ng kliyente, pero minsan hindi naman kasi.

Pero problema na nila yun e, nagtrabaho na nga yung tao, pati ba naman yun puproblemahin

pa nila?” “... ay tungkol sa benefits, di ako nakikialam diyan. Agency sila e. Dun sila sa

agency. At alam nila rules dun sa agency, aware na rin sila dun. No work no pay sila. Never

sila magiging permanente not unless iaabsolve sila ng kumpanya.” The probable reason for

this diversion of responsibilities could be seen the process of contractualization in itself.

Companies turn to agencies to accommodate their peripheral competencies. This requires the

agency to produce workers based on the company’s given standards. Thus, companies expect

contractual workers to perform their duties base on the standards of the company.

For this reason it has often been argued that the shift to non-standard employment

contracts has had adverse repercussions on job security and individual well-being. For

instance, it has been shown that individuals in the labor market now experience more unstable

working lives, with those in part-time and temporary jobs facing far shorted job durations and

greater job instability compared to those in full-time/permanent contracts (Gregg &

Wadsworth, 1995; 1996).

In summary, the different perceptions of contractual workers, contracting agencies and

employers certainly qualified the theory of social representations. It was evident that the three

agents differed in their representations of contractualization and it had significant contestations

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between the groups. The first polemic social representation discussed was between the

contractual workers wherein it consisted of three polemic themes. It was observed that

contractual workers had developed a sense of learned helplessness based on the injustices that

occurs in their working conditions and their socio-economic status which affects their

perception of control over their work.

This issue may probably be related with the polemic theme among the agency’s priority

towards their client’s welfare and the diversion of the problem of contractualization to another

party by the employer. It can be observed that workers feel that they are marginalized from the

contracting process since it’s the agencies and employers who manipulate and command the

game. Moreover, it can be inferred that it’s the agency’s priority towards the client’s welfare

that produces cheap labor which undermines the welfare of the contractual workers. Base on

the results, some agencies would strive to meet the demands of the clients to produce cheap

labor hence there is a tendency for agencies to cut the benefits and lower the wages of their

workers.

In addition, the polemic theme regarding the employer’s diversion of responsibility of

contractualization to another party can be related to the polemic theme of workers’ varying job

satisfaction and motivation and the difference in loyalty between the employer and agency.

Finally, the polemic theme regarding the process of outsourcing of employers as means of

hiring peripheral workers further demonstrate the lack of importance towards the jobs of the

contractual workers.

Therefore, polemic social representations illustrated the different views of the

contractual workers, contracting agencies, and employers and how the different interactions

among the three agents generated unshared representations of contractualization. It can be

 113

observed that there are different contestations between the three agents that highlighted the

issues in contractualization. In conclusion, the polemic social representations theory did not

only present the different representations of the three agents on contractualization but it also

emphasized the different contestations present between the agents.

Implications of the study

There have been limited researches done regarding contractual work here in the

Philippines, where a significant number of workers have engaged in such structures of

employment. Most of the previous researches have been found focusing on management,

economics and politics. Only few researches in the Philippines have focused on the dynamics

between the varying paradigms found in one trilateral relationship in contractualization. The

perceptions of the different parties involved are not delved unto and put into account with

regards to the laws, the legal cases , the structures of the companies, and even the economy.

The research represents the views of each party involved to allow unbiased results.

For Theory

The current research study could aid in the progression of the use of Social

Representations theory in the Philippines. The current framework is just starting its prevalence

in the Philippines. The current research aims to promote the use of this framework as it allows

better understanding of a certain social object through various point of views coming from

different social groups. This allows the understanding of a social object through a hermeneutic

where the various social groups interpret their own experiences but still remain in line with

their given contextual environments. Multiple perspectives are seen in interpreting a social
 114

object. This reminds us that social issues do not exist in a vacuum. Social representations can

support or critique social order to consolidate and transform it (Moscovici, 1972).

For Policy-making

The social object of this Social Representations study is contractualization, a business

scheme which does not allow the regularization of workers. Technically, the process of

legitimizing or institutionalizing a process for the non-regularization of workers is illegal

according to the Labor Code of the Philippines. However, its prevalence is still evidently seen

in the Philippines and in other countries. It is said to allow flexibility in labor that would allow

cheaper costs for managements (Macaraya, 1997).The researchers aim to expose this inequity

through the different experiences and perceptions of the different social groups -- contractual

workers, contracting agency and employer regarding this business scheme.

As contractual workers do not have the right for representation in their respective

agencies and employers, there is no avenue for checks and balances with regard to the

anomalies in the current system that they are in. The presences of fly-by-night agencies are

deemed difficult to counter especially since the workers do not have any medium to expose

these anomalies. Contractual workers could not unionize; hence, their representation is greatly

lessened. On the other hand, regular workers in Philippine factories have the privilege to

become represented through the respective labor arbiter of the region, according to the labor

code. These regular workers are given an avenue to voice out the anomalies or problems they

experience in their work place. However, the process of contractualization entails limited

checks and balances. There is no avenue for attaining justice even when there is clamor for it..

Structural revamping of the contractualization scheme is deemed necessary. Recent

developments have occurred as the DOLE secretary, Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, tries to
 115

address contractualization by implementing the Republic Act 9520 where contractual workers

would be given the right to unionize, security of tenure, 13th month pay, SSS, retirement pay,

PhilHealth. If such policy is implemented, then how would these contractual workers be

different from regular employees? Why would they still be labelled contractual workers when

the DOLE aims to make all employees regular through this Republic Act? RA 9520 seems to

fail reconsidering that the natures of these workers’ jobs are contractual. There is a

presupposition that employees cannot be regular especially since the employers and their

agencies have a time-bound contract.

Instead, the researchers believe that the structural problem with regard to the

processes involved in outsourcing and of legitimizing the non-regularization of labor should be

discussed more thoroughly by the Department of Labor and Employment. The current decision

based on RA 9520 where there would be regularization of all employees fails to consider the

mere nature of these contractual jobs. Contractual workers only maintain their specific

professions as long as the contract between the management and contracting agency exists. The

law would not be able to intervene in all the employer-employee relationships, unless they

generally ban all sub-contracting schemes. Analysis of micro-level trilateral employer-

employee relationships would generally allow the policy-makers to see the conditions of these

workers. Also, we have to take into consideration that the Philippines’ economic condition

where the country is greatly dependent on business process outsourcing (BPOs) as it was

considered part of the Millenium Development Goals by Arroyo last 2000. Instead of

completely eradicating the sub-contracting scheme (also as it seems not feasible), the

researchers believe that further investigation with regard to the dynamics of the trilateral

employer-employee relationship is necessary before implementing the RA 9520.

 116

The research suggests that the the current scheme of contractualization is beneficial, on

one hand, as it allows more workers to earn. However, when unjust transactions take place,

there is no proper avenue for checks and balances in the employer-employee relationships

since the workers are deprived of representation. The rampancy of “fly by night” agencies

further this cause. Perhaps law arbiters can extend their services to workers who are part of a

contracting agency so these workers are given representation when anomalies in the workplace

exist. Law arbiters are known to provide services for regular, factory workers while non-

regular employees do not have existing safeguards. An avenue for checks and balances would

then contribute for the betterment of the workers’ welfares, even just for a short time basis.

Also, the current scheme of contractualization also has undetermined standards for the

workers’ welfare. Perhaps setting clear-cut standards for employer-employee relationships or

sub-contracting schemes can be safe-guarded so the welfare of all workers, across all

employer-employee relationships have baseline safeguards. First, a minimum length of time

between employer-agency contracts could provide sustainability. These can lessen workers’

numerous transfers from one client to another. Second, employees could be given primary

warnings by the client first before immediate termination from their jobs. This can also be

explored on. Third, perhaps, there should be stricter policies in providing licenses for

contracting agencies. The presence of fly by night agencies have been a recurring theme in the

study and the government still has not been able to eradicate faulty management schemes.

Lastly, baseline standards for benefits could also be set where all workers across all employer-

employee relationships would be given basic benefits. Some workers do not receive benefits at

all. These are just some possibilities that can also be reconsidered before implementation of

RA 9520. The research aimed to assess the implementation of the current legal framework
 117

regarding labor rights and also determine possible workable representative measures for the

contractual employees since it is currently non-existent. The research provided a clearer view

on the prevalence and welfare of contractual work and employees, by interpreting the

representational views of the actors involved. The results of the study could hopefully

contribute to better policy-making strategies related to contractualization. The study aimed to

get the perspectives of the three agents involved. Hopefully, this would allow a more holistic

approach in terms of policy-making processes..

For Research

Inocian and Lao (2007) state that there is an urgent need to closely determine the

dynamics of the informal sector, where the contractual workers are part of. There is a need to

surface the various critical issues affecting the informal sector and analyze them in a social-

representational context since the prevalence of the contractual workers are brought about by

various actors. Social Representations Theory was used in order to give meaning towards

contractualization. The sub-contracting scheme was analyzed where the employer, contracting

agency and contractual workers were asked regarding their perceptions on the

contractualization of labor. The research would uphold awareness regarding the plight of the

workers in the Philippines and also provide insights on why certain business schemes in the

country are prevalent. Given that there are different interests at hand, the social representations

would allow the surfacing of the different interests that certain groups uphold. The reader is

then tasked to infer from these different interests of various groups and see if there is a certain

group being isolated in the current hermeneutic.

Hopefully, there would be more research that would want to cater to structural

problems in society that has undermined certain sectors. The study tried to understand the
 118

plight of the non- dominant parties involved in contractualization. This could raise awareness

about the prevalence of the contractual workers’ lack of rights and privileges. The research

aims to promote awareness to those who have the veil of ignorance in current societal

processes (Locke, 1972).

Reflexivity

This study allowed us to grasp the prevailing issues of contractualization in the

Philippines. Using the theory of social representations, we were able to identify the

perspectives of the contractual workers, contracting agencies, and employers. Probably the

most valuable experience that we gained from this study is that we were able to interact and

somehow see the different angles of the three agents. Moreover, we were able to immerse into

the working environments and observe the similarities and difference of three agents. Lastly,

the perspectives of the three agents acknowledged certain issues that are present in today’s

society. Given this information, it can benefit in understanding the causes and recommend

solutions for future studies.

Another point of reflection is regarding the prevailing social structures in the country. It

was observed that there was a prevalence of social hierarchy and those in power attempts to

maintain the status quo. Hence, certain injustices are committed usually by privilege

individuals in order to gain more power and by excluding the masses from any form of

opportunities. Moreover, it was observed that people were aware of this kind of inequality but

there was an aversive reaction when they started talking about the embedded injustice in the

social structures.
 119

Nevertheless, subjectivity during the study could not be completely avoided. We had a

strong disposition towards the workers since we were aware of their poor working conditions,

low wages, unequal rights and other injustices that they experience. However, we took

necessary precautions not to be biased towards the workers and allow an equal representation

for all parties.

Finally, this study awakened our consciousness regarding the process of

contractualization and the complexities that comes with it. Hence, a better understanding of the

issues involve in contractualization could paved the way in addressing solutions to the

problems.

Limitations and Recommendations

The research is about three existing trilateral employer-employee relationships with

various types of blue-collared contractual workers such as maintenance/ janitorial, security and

construction workers only in the Metro Manila area. The research excludes other types of

contractual workers outside sub-contracting and those who are not part of an employer-

employee relationship. Direct - hiring contractual workers and commission-paid workers were

also not included in the study. This was due to feasibility purposes in terms of data analysis.

In terms of validity, internally, the themes that were produced were quite valid as the

researchers separately generated their own themes first, before consolidating them into one

comprehensive set. After the consolidation, the themes again were deliberated upon. Because

of the interrater analysis, the validity of the themes can be decently trusted. However, the

researchers may have been inclined into producing certain themes because of their new-found

knowledge and research. It would have been better to ask other researchers regarding the

process of thematic analysis of this research.

 120

In relation to technicality, because of the differences of the interviewees in culture and

language, some words might have been misunderstood. The tones of the interviewees and their

body actions were also not expressed, not being able to give justice to what they really wanted

to express.

In terms of external validity, the study can still be improved on by investigating other

kinds of workers from different agencies. It cannot be said that the study was perfectly

comprehensive as the researchers were only able to able four contractual agencies, majority of

which were very much ideal agencies who only knew of the anomalies of numerous other fly

by night agencies.

Research and investigation regarding other laws of contractualization can also help this

study into clarification of the technicalities and the actualities of the processes of the

complexity of contractualization.

Conclusion : Social Representations of Contractualization

The theory of Social Representations was used in order to give light to social object

or issue of the process of contractualization in the Philippines. Contractual workers,

contracting agencies and employers were interviewed regarding their perceptions on the

contractualization process. There are three types of social representations which are

hegemonic, emancipated and polemic. Hegemonic social representations are shared

perceptions of the agents involved. In the study, there were six hegemonic social

representations which are absence of security of tenure, variable worker benefits, flawed

business scheme, variable working procedures, confusion regarding employee types, and

power relations.
 121

Emancipated social representations refer to perceptions shared by two groups involved.

The employer and the agency refer to contractualization as a means for economic practicality,

complex processes of outsourcing, loyalty of the worker is towards the employer, avoiding

unions. The emancipated social representations regarding contractualization between the

contractual workers and the employers are as follows: presence of fly by night agencies worsen

work conditions, professional relationship between employer and worker. No emancipated

social representations were found between the worker and the agency.

Polemic social representations refer to the perception of an issue which is distinct to

one social group. The employers’ polemic social representation regarding contractualization

are : outsourcing as a means of hiring peripheral workers, diversion of the problem of

contractualization to another party. The contracting agency’s polemic social representation

regarding contractualization was the priority towards client’s welfare. Lastly, the polemic

representations of the workers were learned helplessness, variable job satisfaction and

motivation, difference in loyalty towards employer and agency.

With these results, we see the differences of the roles of the agents in

contractualization. The variations of the perceptions showcase the micro-level dynamics of

contractualization in the Philippines. The experiences and representations of the participants in

a micro-level trilateral employer-employee relationship allowed the surfacing of issues which

come from the working condition and environment these various agents experience. The

representations of the agents would allow awareness and potential action regarding the

movements in a particular social structure which is very much undermined. The research also

allows garnering insight regarding prevalent social inequities embedded in the studied social

structure.
 122

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APPENDIX A

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Basic Information Questionnaire

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Occupation:
Civil Status
Religion:

Introductory questions
1. How long have you been in your occupation? / Gaano ka na katagal sa iyong trabaho?
__________________________________________________________________________
2. What are your duties and responsibilities in this organization? / Ano ang iyong mga
kailangan gawin at responsibilidad dito sa iyong trabaho?
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Are you able to interact with the employees that you recruit? / Nakakausap mo ba ang ibang
mga katrabaho?
__________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the process of contractualization for you? / Ano ang contractualization para sayo?
_________________________________________________________________________
 131

APPENDIX B

CONSENT FORM

I, _________________________________________________, understand the

mechanics of this interview and hereby allow the researchers to collect the needed data to fulfil
the requirements of the study. I fully understand that the data collected herein will be treated
with utmost confidentiality and will be collated and treated as a group, and no data will be
collected that will personally identify me as a participant to this study.

____________________ _______________________ _____________

Signature of participant Signature of Researcher Date