28/09/2026
"๐๐ผ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐ผ๐๐ผ"
With World Tourism Day celebrated globally yesterday, September 27, 2026, the National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN) called for fairer benefits and job protection for tourism workers, stressing that ordinary workers define the industry yet remain neglected.
NUWHRAIN emphasized that behind every successful tourism establishment are workers who went above and beyond service standards. For the labor group, composed of unions from various hotel giants across the country, World Tourism Day is a reminder of the struggles that remain unfinished.
โBehind Philippine tourism are issues that remain relevant today. Hotels continue outsourcing contractual workers, with no guarantee of job security. An overwhelming majority of employees working in hotels are โagency-hired,โ even if they are actually doing the core services within the establishment. Workers performing necessary and desirable functions should have meaningful employment security, yet moves to legislate security of tenure have languished and been delayed.
The Security of Tenure and/or End of Endo Bills remain pending to this day. For tourism workers, the issue is particularly significant because hotels and restaurants depend on experienced workers who acquire skills through years of service. A tourism industry cannot build a stable, skilled workforce while employment insecurity remains a continuing concern,โ said Marco Gojol, Deputy Secretary General of NUWHRAIN.
The concerned union highlighted another malpractice in the hotel industry โ the exploitation of students or on-the-job trainees (OJTs). Ideally, they are supposed to only observe or assist other workers, yet in practice, they are being used to replace regular or even casual/agency hired workers. Despite fulfilling their duties, these OJT workers are unpaid as companies continue to take advantage of the students.
NUWHRAIN likewise demanded full implementation of Wage Order No. 27 in the National Capital Region, as corporate interests have derailed the Php 85 minimum wage increase.
โWhile the government has continued to issue regional wage adjustments, such increases have been stopped by private companies denying ordinary workers the right to fairer wages. Even if these adjustments were made, however, the minimum wage remains unlivable and incapable of addressing todayโs soaring costs of necessities. A statutory minimum wage is not the same thing as a wage that necessarily provides a worker and family with a decent standard of living. For tourism workers, the continuing challenge is to ensure that the growth of the tourism industry goes hand-in-hand with meaningful improvement in workers' economic lives,โ said Gojol.
Alarmingly, NUWHRAIN highlighted that the Service Charge Law of 2019 is being violated by many establishments. The law mandates the full and equal distribution of collected service charges among employees regardless of position, designation, or employment status, except for managerial positions, but several hotels ignore this and continue to give managers a share even though itโs unlawful.
โThere have been documented reports among service industry workers identifying delayed or unpaid service charges. The demand is for the law to be fully and properly implemented, and for workers to receive the full breadth of compensation mandated by the Service Charge law,โ continued Gojol.
NUWHRAIN stressed other pressing issues facing the industry, including the continuous need to protect workersโ right to bargain and protections for workers should establishments close, restructure, or experience major company changes. With World Tourism Day 2026โs theme being โDigital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism,โ NUWHRAIN pressed the need for greater bargaining with organized workers.
โWorkersโ voices must be part of redefining the industry. Unions must be at the table when hotels and tourism companies adopt new technologies, whatever those may be. Digital transformation must never be implemented without workersโ participation, consent, and collective bargaining. It is through this collective bargaining that we ensure any technological advancements are truly humane and worker-centered,โ said Gojol.
