Workers who wait years for court decisions on unpaid wages, benefits or reinstatement may lose the chance to recover what their families need, the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) said as it urged newly appointed Chief Justice Rodil V. Zalameda to prioritize faster labor justice.
FFW congratulated Zalameda on his appointment on Nov. 6 and called for reforms to make labor cases more accessible and resolve them without unnecessary delays.
“For a worker who has lost a job, every year of litigation means food, tuition, and medicine that the family must struggle to afford. Ang manggagawa, arawan ang sahod; sana ang hustisya, hindi dekada ang hintayan,” FFW National President Atty. Jose Sonny G. Matula said.
The federation urged the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals to review aging labor cases, strengthen monitoring of delays and address repetitive or plainly dilatory motions, while ensuring due process.
It also renewed its call for a proposed “Writ of Manggagawa,” which seeks the early resolution of cases involving workers exercising their right to organize.
FFW Board Member Vilma Garcia, president of the De La Salle Health Institute Employees Union, said winning a case is not enough if workers cannot receive the wages, benefits, reinstatement or separation pay awarded to them.
“Hindi sapat ang panalo sa papel. Workers must receive the wages, benefits, reinstatement, or separation pay finally awarded to them while these remedies can still make a meaningful difference in their lives,” Garcia said.
She added that families continue to shoulder transportation, food, education and medical expenses while cases remain unresolved.
FFW seeks action on wage order injunction
The federation also called on the Supreme Court to act urgently on the challenge to the injunction blocking Metro Manila Wage Order No. 27.
Jun Mendoza Ramirez, FFW national vice president and president of the Vishay Philippines Inc. Employees Union, said the injunction affects more than a million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.
“Bawat araw ng pagkaantala ay dagdag na pagkakait sa dagdag-sahod na inaasahan ng mga manggagawa at kanilang pamilya,” Ramirez said, urging the high court to resolve the matter.
FFW also called for clearer procedures and better coordination among Regional Trial Courts, labor arbiters, and the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in cases involving rehabilitation, insolvency, and liquidation, particularly those concerning jurisdiction, stay orders, and payment of labor claims.
Ramirez said workers should not have to spend years moving between legal forums while their unpaid wages and benefits remain unsettled.
Calls for reforms and consultations
The federation urged Zalameda to convene consultations with workers’ groups, employers, labor lawyers, the Department of Labor and Employment, the NLRC and practitioners handling rehabilitation and insolvency cases.
It proposed measurable targets to reduce case delays, clearer case-status information, better coordination across proceedings, and digital court services that workers with limited resources can access.
Matula said Zalameda’s decisions in cases such as Ascent Skills Human Resources Services v. Manuel and Keng Hua Paper Products v. Ainza give the federation reason to expect attention to workers’ circumstances and legal protections.
“We hope Chief Justice Zalameda will bring that attention to the administration of the entire judiciary. The constitutional promise of full protection to labor must be felt in both the fairness of decisions and the time it takes to obtain and enforce them,” Matula said.
“Speedy labor justice must become a reality that workers and their families can experience,” he added.
