Philippines Workers Delegate Condemns PPPs in Care Economy at ILC

Speaking in plenary at the International Labour Conference, Nice Coronacion, the Philippines Workers Delegate, expressed strong objections to the inclusion of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the tentative outcome resolution on Decent Work and the Care Economy. While acknowledging the document's successes in asserting that care work is not a commodity and emphasizing the state's primary responsibility for care provision, Coronacion criticized PPPs for potentially worsening conditions for care workers by prioritizing profit over people. She argued that PPPs undermine the document's positive provisions and vowed that workers and unions will continue to fight against the commodification of care work.

I thank you for this opportunity to once again address the body, and to our Committee for the extraordinary effort that went into drafting this document. We have successes, particularly in asserting that labour in the care economy is not a commodity, and that the State has a primary responsibility for care provision, funding, and regulation. 

However, I must register the Philippine Workers’ Delegation’s vehement objection to the insertion of PPPs in this document’s guiding principles. It is difficult for me to understand why employers and most governments could not accept such straightforward language as “care work is a right of all people.” Perhaps admitting this would make it impossible for them to justify their main agenda - the insertion of Item 25 which states, quote: 

“Public-private partnerships that leverage the strengths of both public and private sectors can help scale quality care services without overburdening either side, fostering a more sustainable care ecosystem.” 

Having this in the guiding principles contradicts our assertion that decent work in the care economy is the primary responsibility of states. It can – and will – worsen the experiences of many care workers around the world, including the migrant workers, domestic workers and comm health workers that we represent.

 The historical and practical record is clear. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have consistently fallen short of delivering on their promises of improving care services without overburdening either sector. From a human rights perspective, the commodification of care through PPPs often leads to the prioritization of profit over people, undermining the quality and accessibility of essential services.

 Paragraph 25 undermines all of the strong and positive provisions that we have agreed upon in this text.

 We remain adamant: we cannot accept any language on PPPs as it institutionalizes further privatization in the care economy. We emphasize that this is a disservice, especially to our migrant workers who stand to suffer from further abuse and rights violations. As such, we do not treat this matter as settled. Workers and unions will continue to struggle and push back against all efforts to commodify care work and undermine all of the rigid protections that we have fought hard to enshrine.