December 30, 2009
The Situation and Struggle of Workers in 2009
The global economic crisis has brought the Philippine economy to the brink of recession. At the onset of the global crisis late last year, the government of Gloria Arroyo initially took the stance that the local economy will be insulated. But despite being in denial and whistling in the dark, the signs are clear of an economy teetering in recession.
There are historic declines in manufacturing and trade. The seasonally adjusted agriculture, fishery and forestry sector contracted by 1.0 percent in the first quarter of 2009 after expanding by 0.9 per cent in the last quarter of 2008. Industry registered its lowest growth for the last twenty years as it sank by 6.6 percent from a 0.1 percent gain in the last quarter.
Even the services sector posted no growth for the first quarter of 2009 compared to 0.2 percent recorded the previous quarter. Investments in fixed capital formation in the first quarter of 2009 plunged to negative 5.7 percent from a growth of 3.0 percent in the same period last year. Investments in durable equipment dropped to negative 17.9 percent from a growth of 9.6 percent a year ago. Total exports dived deeper to negative 18.2 percent from negative 7.7 percent last year. Total imports valued at P530.9 billion pesos at current prices exceeded total exports valued at P528.6 billion pesos, resulting in a trade deficit of P2.3 billion pesos.
The global economic crisis and the slowdown in the local economy had a grave impact on the lives and livelihood of workers in the Philippines. Job losses, mainly in the export sector of the economy, are worsening the unemployment and underemployment rate.
The adult unemployment is more than 20%, the highest since 2005, according to the Social Weather Station survey last June. Some 40,000 workers were laid off since October last year according to the conservative data of the DOLE. At least 120,000 workers affected by layoffs, job-rotation and wage cuts according to the DOLE.
Big multinational firms based in the Philippines have shutdown in the space of one year. The prestigious Intel plant in Cavite closed in December 2008. The German-owned undergarments firms Triumph and Star Performance in Taguig closed this August, laying off 1,600 workers. The Canadian-owned electronics factory Celestica in Cebu also shutdown in August, displacing 900 workers. Meanwhile in September a Taiwanese-owned conglomerate of garments firms called Sports City that produces for world-famous brands Adidas and Reebok retrenched 1,000 workers in Cebu.
Employers are passing the burden of the crisis on the backs of the workers. Capitalists are using the global crisis as an excuse to demolish workers rights and undercut labor standards. Several high profile cases highlight the trend.
Up to 400 retrenched workers of Maitland-Smith Cebu, Inc. have filed cases of illegal retrenchment. Some 1,700 workers produce high-end home furniture and accessories in the Mactan Economic Zone in Lapu-Lapu, Cebu. Its mother company is Maitland-Smith, headquartered in High Point, North Carolina.
Over 200 laid off workers of Lear Automotive have filed cases. Located also in the Mactan Economic Zone, it is an American company that exports electronics parts for cars. The remaining 11,000 workers suffer from reduced workdays.
Some 15 retrenched workers have filed cases against Taiyo Yuden Philippines Inc. It is a Japanese subsidiary that produces spare parts for cellular phones in the Mactan Economic Zone. The remaining 8,000 workers are on reduced workdays.
The workers are refusing to pay the price of a crisis that is not of their own making. Labor unrest is brewing as capitalists attack jobs, wages and working conditions. Although the revival in workers struggle is uneven, the return to militant struggle is taking shape. At the forefront of the new struggles are the workers of Metro Cebu.
The first workers strike against mass layoffs erupted last February in a furniture export firm in Mandaue, an industrial town in Metro Cebu. Hundreds of workers of Giardini del Sole went on strike for two days and paralyzed operations of the company by physically preventing the passage of personnel and goods. Even though illegal, the government vacillated in enforcing the law because of worker militancy and public support.
In April the first ever rally was held inside the Mactan Economic Zone in its decades-long existence. Around 70 workers of Sauna World Inc., a Finnish-owned firm producing sauna and spa heaters for export, marched from their factory to the gates of the export zone.
Last June the first picket line was setup on the gates of the Mactan Economic Zone by the workers of Paul Yu Industrial Corp., one of the biggest factories in the zone that produces lamp shades for export. More than 300 workers went on a month-long work stoppage in protest at the suspension of seven leaders of their workers association. The bitter labor dispute marked the definitive end of the era of the zone as a haven for docile labor where employers can ride roughshod over workers rights and labor standards without provoking a militant response from the workers.
By September of this year the labor unrest had transformed into a revival of unionism at the Mactan Economic Zone. The export zone was so repressive that even the moderate TUCP was complaining against its no-union policy. The workers of Altamode Inc., which makes clothes for the American firm Abercrombie & Fitch, successfully formed a union though they lost the certification elections due to management interference in the workers’ exercise of the freedom to organize and the DOLE’s indifference to the unfair labor practice of the company. Yet unlike previous attempts at failed union building which always ended in the termination of union officers and members, in this case the unionists were able to regain work and thus the struggle continues.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Party-list group pickets Comelec against disqualification of Danny Lim
Press Release
December 28, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) joined other supporters of Danny Lim in a rally in front of the Comelec main office today. PM and other groups are protesting the Comelec’s disqualification of senatorial candidate Danny Lim.
“We ask the Comelec to reconsider its decision since it is simply not true that Danny Lim is a nuisance candidate. Gloria Arroyo is more of a nuisance candidate than Danny Lim if we base it on public opinion,” asserted Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of PM, one the groups that have openly endorsed and are supporting the rebel general’s electoral bid.
Members of PM trooped to the Intramuros, Manila office of the Comelec at 8 am for the rally. “Danny Lim is not a decoration in this election; he is instead a decorated officer. While Danny Lim is not a candidate of the elite, he is the leader of the elite group of the armed forces,” argued Miranda.
The labor group is appealing to the Comelec to give due recognition to Lim’s motion for reconsideration and reverse its decision “lest the poll body be charged of politically motivated decisions and being an apparatus of the GMA regime in suppressing its political enemies.”
Miranda added that “Danny Lim is not adopting to trapo politics that is why he ran as an independent, and he is being adopted the mass movement and the forces fighting for social change.”
PM was one of the several national groups that accompanied Lim when he filed his certificate of candidacy last November 27. The labor group also filed on the same day its manifestation to participate in the party-list elections.
December 28, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) joined other supporters of Danny Lim in a rally in front of the Comelec main office today. PM and other groups are protesting the Comelec’s disqualification of senatorial candidate Danny Lim.
“We ask the Comelec to reconsider its decision since it is simply not true that Danny Lim is a nuisance candidate. Gloria Arroyo is more of a nuisance candidate than Danny Lim if we base it on public opinion,” asserted Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of PM, one the groups that have openly endorsed and are supporting the rebel general’s electoral bid.
Members of PM trooped to the Intramuros, Manila office of the Comelec at 8 am for the rally. “Danny Lim is not a decoration in this election; he is instead a decorated officer. While Danny Lim is not a candidate of the elite, he is the leader of the elite group of the armed forces,” argued Miranda.
The labor group is appealing to the Comelec to give due recognition to Lim’s motion for reconsideration and reverse its decision “lest the poll body be charged of politically motivated decisions and being an apparatus of the GMA regime in suppressing its political enemies.”
Miranda added that “Danny Lim is not adopting to trapo politics that is why he ran as an independent, and he is being adopted the mass movement and the forces fighting for social change.”
PM was one of the several national groups that accompanied Lim when he filed his certificate of candidacy last November 27. The labor group also filed on the same day its manifestation to participate in the party-list elections.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Labor group protests Danny Lim’s disqualification
Press Release
December 17, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) declared its opposition to the Comelec’s disqualification of senatorial candidate Danny Lim. “We ask the Comelec to reconsider its decision since it is simply not true that Danny Lim is a nuisance candidate. Gloria Arroyo is more of a nuisance candidate than Danny Lim if we base it on public opinion,” asserted Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM, one the groups that have openly endorsed and are supporting the rebel general’s electoral bid.
The group revealed that it is considering launching mass actions to protest Lim’s disqualification. “Danny Lim is not a decoration in this election; he is instead a decorated officer. While Danny Lim is not a candidate of the elite, he is the leader of the elite group of the armed forces,” argued Magtubo.
The labor group is appealing to the Comelec to give due recognition to Lim’s motion for reconsideration and reverse its decision “lest the poll body be charged of politically motivated decisions and being an apparatus of the GMA regime in suppressing its political enemies.”
Magtubo added that “Danny Lim is not adopting to trapo politics that is why he ran as an independent, and he is being adopted the mass movement and the forces fighting for social change.”
PM was one of the several national groups that accompanied Lim when he filed his certificate of candidacy last November 27. The labor group also filed on the same day its manifestation to participate in the party-list elections.
December 17, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) declared its opposition to the Comelec’s disqualification of senatorial candidate Danny Lim. “We ask the Comelec to reconsider its decision since it is simply not true that Danny Lim is a nuisance candidate. Gloria Arroyo is more of a nuisance candidate than Danny Lim if we base it on public opinion,” asserted Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM, one the groups that have openly endorsed and are supporting the rebel general’s electoral bid.
The group revealed that it is considering launching mass actions to protest Lim’s disqualification. “Danny Lim is not a decoration in this election; he is instead a decorated officer. While Danny Lim is not a candidate of the elite, he is the leader of the elite group of the armed forces,” argued Magtubo.
The labor group is appealing to the Comelec to give due recognition to Lim’s motion for reconsideration and reverse its decision “lest the poll body be charged of politically motivated decisions and being an apparatus of the GMA regime in suppressing its political enemies.”
Magtubo added that “Danny Lim is not adopting to trapo politics that is why he ran as an independent, and he is being adopted the mass movement and the forces fighting for social change.”
PM was one of the several national groups that accompanied Lim when he filed his certificate of candidacy last November 27. The labor group also filed on the same day its manifestation to participate in the party-list elections.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Workers assert martial law in Maguindanao will not bring justice to massacre victims
Press Release
December 9, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa joined today’s multi-sectoral mobilization initiated by the newly-formed November 23 Movement to demand justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre and call for the lifting of Presidential Proclamation 1959 imposing martial law in the province. Calling the martial law imposed on Maguindanao as “a cure worse than the disease,” PM called on Congress to revoke the Presidential Proclamation 1959.
Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson said that “Martial law means giving full power to the military to rule over Maguindanao yet the AFP itself is suspect in coddling and colluding with the warlord clan of the Ampatuans. The large cache of buried military-issue weapons found near the property of the Ampatuans reveals their unholy alliance with AFP. How then can the military rule deliver justice to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre when it has a cozy relationship with the suspect Ampatuans?”
A contingent of workers and poor from PM trooped this morning to the assembly site in front of UST Espana and then marched to Mendiola. The PM contingent brought a makeshift backhoe made of carton with the message “We will not forget the women, journalists, media workers and other victims of the Maguindanao massacre.”
PM is asking voters to watch how the senators and representatives will act on the review of PP 1959. “The elections are coming to town in just a few months and so the solons should bear in mind that people are looking who will be naughty and nice. We appeal to the people not to vote for legislators who will affirm PP 1959,” Magtubo declared.
PM argues that sustaining PP 1959 will lead to more abuses. “Already the AFP vice chief of staff for operations is recommending an extension of martial law up to the elections supposedly to ensure peaceful and credible elections. This is classic example of military intelligence. It is precisely the military-controlled areas in Mindanao which are notorious for poll cheating and stories abound of wholesale fraud in military camps where election watchers are easily intimidated,” Magtubo asserted.
“In a bid to explain the incredible, ex-General Jovito Palparan has confessed to the fact that indeed the military was arming the Ampatuans on the sorry excuse that they were allies in the fight against Muslim rebels. Yet the Ampatuans are not just allies of the AFP against the MILF, they are collaborators of GMA in past fraudulent elections. There may be a hidden agenda in the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao,” he added.
December 9, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa joined today’s multi-sectoral mobilization initiated by the newly-formed November 23 Movement to demand justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre and call for the lifting of Presidential Proclamation 1959 imposing martial law in the province. Calling the martial law imposed on Maguindanao as “a cure worse than the disease,” PM called on Congress to revoke the Presidential Proclamation 1959.
Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson said that “Martial law means giving full power to the military to rule over Maguindanao yet the AFP itself is suspect in coddling and colluding with the warlord clan of the Ampatuans. The large cache of buried military-issue weapons found near the property of the Ampatuans reveals their unholy alliance with AFP. How then can the military rule deliver justice to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre when it has a cozy relationship with the suspect Ampatuans?”
A contingent of workers and poor from PM trooped this morning to the assembly site in front of UST Espana and then marched to Mendiola. The PM contingent brought a makeshift backhoe made of carton with the message “We will not forget the women, journalists, media workers and other victims of the Maguindanao massacre.”
PM is asking voters to watch how the senators and representatives will act on the review of PP 1959. “The elections are coming to town in just a few months and so the solons should bear in mind that people are looking who will be naughty and nice. We appeal to the people not to vote for legislators who will affirm PP 1959,” Magtubo declared.
PM argues that sustaining PP 1959 will lead to more abuses. “Already the AFP vice chief of staff for operations is recommending an extension of martial law up to the elections supposedly to ensure peaceful and credible elections. This is classic example of military intelligence. It is precisely the military-controlled areas in Mindanao which are notorious for poll cheating and stories abound of wholesale fraud in military camps where election watchers are easily intimidated,” Magtubo asserted.
“In a bid to explain the incredible, ex-General Jovito Palparan has confessed to the fact that indeed the military was arming the Ampatuans on the sorry excuse that they were allies in the fight against Muslim rebels. Yet the Ampatuans are not just allies of the AFP against the MILF, they are collaborators of GMA in past fraudulent elections. There may be a hidden agenda in the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao,” he added.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Labor party-list group calls on Congress to revoke PP 1959
Press Release
December 7, 2009
Calling the martial law imposed on Maguindanao as “a cure worse than the disease,” the labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on Congress to revoke the Presidential Proclamation 1959 in its joint session tomorrow.
Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson said that “Martial law means giving full power to the military to rule over Maguindanao yet the AFP itself is suspect in coddling and colluding with the warlord clan of the Ampatuans. The large cache of buried military-issue weapons found near the property of the Ampatuans reveals their unholy alliance with AFP. How then can the military rule deliver justice to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre when it has a cozy relationship with the suspect Ampatuans?”
The group is asking voters to watch how the senators and representatives will act on the review of PP 1959. “The elections are coming to town in just a few months and so the solons should bear in mind that people are looking who will be naughty and nice. We appeal to the people not to vote for legislators who will affirm PP 1959,” Magtubo declared.
PM argues that sustaining PP 1959 will lead to more abuses. “Already the AFP vice chief of staff for operations is recommending an extension of martial law up to the elections supposedly to ensure peaceful and credible elections. This is classic example of military intelligence. It is precisely the military-controlled areas in Mindanao which are notorious for poll cheating and stories abound of wholesale fraud in military camps where election watchers are easily intimidated,” Magtubo asserted.
“In a bid to explain the incredible, ex-General Jovito Palparan has confessed to the fact that indeed the military was arming the Ampatuans on the sorry excuse that they were allies in the fight against Muslim rebels. Yet the Ampatuans are not just allies of the AFP against the MILF, they are collaborators of GMA in past fraudulent elections. There may be a hidden agenda in the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao,” he added.
December 7, 2009
Calling the martial law imposed on Maguindanao as “a cure worse than the disease,” the labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on Congress to revoke the Presidential Proclamation 1959 in its joint session tomorrow.
Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson said that “Martial law means giving full power to the military to rule over Maguindanao yet the AFP itself is suspect in coddling and colluding with the warlord clan of the Ampatuans. The large cache of buried military-issue weapons found near the property of the Ampatuans reveals their unholy alliance with AFP. How then can the military rule deliver justice to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre when it has a cozy relationship with the suspect Ampatuans?”
The group is asking voters to watch how the senators and representatives will act on the review of PP 1959. “The elections are coming to town in just a few months and so the solons should bear in mind that people are looking who will be naughty and nice. We appeal to the people not to vote for legislators who will affirm PP 1959,” Magtubo declared.
PM argues that sustaining PP 1959 will lead to more abuses. “Already the AFP vice chief of staff for operations is recommending an extension of martial law up to the elections supposedly to ensure peaceful and credible elections. This is classic example of military intelligence. It is precisely the military-controlled areas in Mindanao which are notorious for poll cheating and stories abound of wholesale fraud in military camps where election watchers are easily intimidated,” Magtubo asserted.
“In a bid to explain the incredible, ex-General Jovito Palparan has confessed to the fact that indeed the military was arming the Ampatuans on the sorry excuse that they were allies in the fight against Muslim rebels. Yet the Ampatuans are not just allies of the AFP against the MILF, they are collaborators of GMA in past fraudulent elections. There may be a hidden agenda in the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao,” he added.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Labor party-list group warns Pampanga will be next Maguindanao if GMA becomes Speaker
Press Release
December 4, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) warned that Pampanga will be the next Maguindanao where political dynasties rule with impunity should President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wins a congressional seat in the second district of the province and later becomes Speaker of the House of Representatives.
"We ask the voters of the second district of Pampanga to be vigilant in choosing their next congressional representative. Moreover we call on the people to vote for militant party-list groups and proven anti-GMA congressional candidates so that Arroyo will not be able to control the next House of Representatives," explained Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson
The group said that the discovery of a cache of AFP-issued high powered firearms near the compound of the Ampatuans reveals how the administration-allied political dynasty has been able to rule by force with the full backing of the government including the army. "In Maguindanao, the AFP serves as the not-so-private army of the Ampatuans with the apparent blessing of Camp Aguinaldo and Malacanang. That is GMA's way of paying back her heavy debt of gratitude to the Ampatuans for her incredible landslide victory in Maguindanao in the fraudulent 2004 elections," Magtubo added.
The PM leader furthered that while anti-GMA congressional bets maybe trapos themselves, voting for them in so that GMA is thwarted in her bid to be the next House speaker will be a fair warning to all politicians. Magtubo insisted that "The voters must send a message that they have zero tolerance to impunity and that a decade of GMA in power is already too much. Thus a crucial step in blocking GMA’s backdoor entry into Malacanang as Prime Minister is to ensure she does not become House Speaker."
PM is also calling on voters to use the party-list ballot as an opportunity to place non-trapos in Congress who will not just oppose GMA's bid for speakership but also fight social change in the counrty. PM is running for the party-list elections on a platform of protecting workers welfare and reversing the pro-globalization policies. The group has already endorsed the senatorial candidacy of detained ex-general Danny Lim for being a "rebel with a cause."
December 4, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) warned that Pampanga will be the next Maguindanao where political dynasties rule with impunity should President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wins a congressional seat in the second district of the province and later becomes Speaker of the House of Representatives.
"We ask the voters of the second district of Pampanga to be vigilant in choosing their next congressional representative. Moreover we call on the people to vote for militant party-list groups and proven anti-GMA congressional candidates so that Arroyo will not be able to control the next House of Representatives," explained Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson
The group said that the discovery of a cache of AFP-issued high powered firearms near the compound of the Ampatuans reveals how the administration-allied political dynasty has been able to rule by force with the full backing of the government including the army. "In Maguindanao, the AFP serves as the not-so-private army of the Ampatuans with the apparent blessing of Camp Aguinaldo and Malacanang. That is GMA's way of paying back her heavy debt of gratitude to the Ampatuans for her incredible landslide victory in Maguindanao in the fraudulent 2004 elections," Magtubo added.
The PM leader furthered that while anti-GMA congressional bets maybe trapos themselves, voting for them in so that GMA is thwarted in her bid to be the next House speaker will be a fair warning to all politicians. Magtubo insisted that "The voters must send a message that they have zero tolerance to impunity and that a decade of GMA in power is already too much. Thus a crucial step in blocking GMA’s backdoor entry into Malacanang as Prime Minister is to ensure she does not become House Speaker."
PM is also calling on voters to use the party-list ballot as an opportunity to place non-trapos in Congress who will not just oppose GMA's bid for speakership but also fight social change in the counrty. PM is running for the party-list elections on a platform of protecting workers welfare and reversing the pro-globalization policies. The group has already endorsed the senatorial candidacy of detained ex-general Danny Lim for being a "rebel with a cause."
Monday, November 30, 2009
Labor party wants national debate on policies rather than costly pol ads dominate election fever
PRESS RELEASE
November 30, 2009
A national debate on policy matters is what could make this coming national and local elections more interesting and relevant than the usual play of expensive political ads dominating the national scene prior to the 2010 elections.
This was according to the labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), which today commemorated Bonifacio Day with marches and rallies calling for the reversal of anti-labor and anti-poor economic policies. The workers’ demonstrations in many parts of the country were also held on the eve of the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacies for national and local candidates.
PM chair Renato Magtubo, said that with the persistence and the deepening of the global economic crisis coupled with the rise of environmental problems, the need for new ideas and the review or throwing away of the usual solutions to age-old problems are the most relevant matters that the people would desire during the election season and beyond.
“Let this coming elections become a national debate. Those who favour the preservation of liberalization, deregulation and privatization program should come ready to defend these against those who advocate for the reversal of those policies. In this kind of a scenario candidates from the opposing camps may win or lose after the elections, but the voters win by gaining higher political consciousness,” said Magtubo.
The labor leader argued that the cinematic play of political ads may boost the image of a politician but if this remains personality-oriented, this will blunt the content of the whole electoral exercise.
Zapote-Mendiola march
PM led a contingent of some 600 workers and urban poor who marched from Zapote in Las Pinas all the way to the historic Mendiola Bridge. The marchers made a short stop over at the Baclaran Church to meet with other contingents from the southern, eastern and northern part of Metro Manila. They also held a short program and candle-lighting at the Department of Justice building to demand justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.
The PM contingent later merged with other labor groups under the KONTRA WTO at the Mehan Garden in a march towards Mendiola. The labor groups are calling for the reversal of liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies.
“These policies led to the country’s chronic state of underdevelopment, promoted the contractualization and casualization of labor, and created a huge army of unemployed, informal and impoverished people," concludes Magtubo.
PM has also been calling for a bailout package for the workers and the poor in the midst of the global economic crisis and a new housing program that addresses the urgent need for decent shelter of millions of homeless Filipinos.
November 30, 2009
A national debate on policy matters is what could make this coming national and local elections more interesting and relevant than the usual play of expensive political ads dominating the national scene prior to the 2010 elections.
This was according to the labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), which today commemorated Bonifacio Day with marches and rallies calling for the reversal of anti-labor and anti-poor economic policies. The workers’ demonstrations in many parts of the country were also held on the eve of the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacies for national and local candidates.
PM chair Renato Magtubo, said that with the persistence and the deepening of the global economic crisis coupled with the rise of environmental problems, the need for new ideas and the review or throwing away of the usual solutions to age-old problems are the most relevant matters that the people would desire during the election season and beyond.
“Let this coming elections become a national debate. Those who favour the preservation of liberalization, deregulation and privatization program should come ready to defend these against those who advocate for the reversal of those policies. In this kind of a scenario candidates from the opposing camps may win or lose after the elections, but the voters win by gaining higher political consciousness,” said Magtubo.
The labor leader argued that the cinematic play of political ads may boost the image of a politician but if this remains personality-oriented, this will blunt the content of the whole electoral exercise.
Zapote-Mendiola march
PM led a contingent of some 600 workers and urban poor who marched from Zapote in Las Pinas all the way to the historic Mendiola Bridge. The marchers made a short stop over at the Baclaran Church to meet with other contingents from the southern, eastern and northern part of Metro Manila. They also held a short program and candle-lighting at the Department of Justice building to demand justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.
The PM contingent later merged with other labor groups under the KONTRA WTO at the Mehan Garden in a march towards Mendiola. The labor groups are calling for the reversal of liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies.
“These policies led to the country’s chronic state of underdevelopment, promoted the contractualization and casualization of labor, and created a huge army of unemployed, informal and impoverished people," concludes Magtubo.
PM has also been calling for a bailout package for the workers and the poor in the midst of the global economic crisis and a new housing program that addresses the urgent need for decent shelter of millions of homeless Filipinos.
Labor party denies support for Ebdane
Press Release
November 28, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) denied supporting the presidential candidacy of Hermogene Ebdane as alleged by news in a tabloid.
“We do support an ex-general, but not Hermogenes Ebdane. We have endorsed Danny Lim who has track record of fighting for social change. We know Lim is a determined militant for reforms to benefit the people and the workers,” explained Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.
The group asserted that they have not released a statement nor has any PM leader declared support for Ebdane. PM insisted that other than the detained Danny Lim, they have not endorsed any candidate yet.
The group maintained that they do not know who is behind the distorted news but they are asking Ebdane to investigate whom in his campaign headquarters or PR group concocted the idea.
PM also clarified that they are open to endorsing candidates in the coming elections but they not made any decision yet to support a presidentiable. “What is definite is that PM will participate in the party-list elections so that the working class will have a voice and vanguard in parliament,” Magtubo remarked. Yesterday PM submitted to the Comelec its “manifestation to participate in the party-list elections” after Magtubo and other PM leaders accompanied Lim in filing his own “certificate of candidacy for senator.”
November 28, 2009
The labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) denied supporting the presidential candidacy of Hermogene Ebdane as alleged by news in a tabloid.
“We do support an ex-general, but not Hermogenes Ebdane. We have endorsed Danny Lim who has track record of fighting for social change. We know Lim is a determined militant for reforms to benefit the people and the workers,” explained Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.
The group asserted that they have not released a statement nor has any PM leader declared support for Ebdane. PM insisted that other than the detained Danny Lim, they have not endorsed any candidate yet.
The group maintained that they do not know who is behind the distorted news but they are asking Ebdane to investigate whom in his campaign headquarters or PR group concocted the idea.
PM also clarified that they are open to endorsing candidates in the coming elections but they not made any decision yet to support a presidentiable. “What is definite is that PM will participate in the party-list elections so that the working class will have a voice and vanguard in parliament,” Magtubo remarked. Yesterday PM submitted to the Comelec its “manifestation to participate in the party-list elections” after Magtubo and other PM leaders accompanied Lim in filing his own “certificate of candidacy for senator.”
Friday, November 27, 2009
PM files intent to run for party-list, endorses senate bid of Gen. Danny Lim
Press Release
November 27, 2009
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) formally files its intent to participate in the party-list elections before the Commission on Elections this morning in a bid to regain its place as the consistently independent working class voice in Congress.
According to PM Chair Renato Magtubo, his party’s proclaimed mission of defending workers’ rights and advancing their struggles for better living conditions and broader political rights, is both an “unfinished battle” and a “pressing agenda” amidst the persisting global economic crisis where so much in the world of work are at stake.
“Today’s crises call not for the usual prescription but a thorough overhaul of our economic fundamentals, and therefore the need for a new breed of representatives who will fearlessly pursue pro-poor policy changes,” said Magtubo.
The first union president to become a party-list representative, Magtubo and the PM served the 11th, 12th and 13th Congress with a record of tirelessly pushing for the enactment of the living wage and other bills on legislated wage increase, and the amendments to the Labor Code to strengthen workers’ fundamental rights to organize, collectively bargain and to strike.
Support for Lim
PM also used the occasion of its filing to announce its support to the senatorial bid of Brig. Gen. Danny Lim.
Magtubo and his followers joined Lim first in the latter’s filing of his Certificate of Candidacy before proceeding to the filing of PM’s manifestation to participate in the party-list election.
“Gen. Danny Lim deserves due recognition not only for being an outstanding officer of the armed forces but also for being an icon of incorruptible and principled fighters among our workingmen in uniform,” explained Magtubo.
The group said they will also campaign for other candidates who will come out with solid platforms for labor and the poor.
November 27, 2009
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) formally files its intent to participate in the party-list elections before the Commission on Elections this morning in a bid to regain its place as the consistently independent working class voice in Congress.
According to PM Chair Renato Magtubo, his party’s proclaimed mission of defending workers’ rights and advancing their struggles for better living conditions and broader political rights, is both an “unfinished battle” and a “pressing agenda” amidst the persisting global economic crisis where so much in the world of work are at stake.
“Today’s crises call not for the usual prescription but a thorough overhaul of our economic fundamentals, and therefore the need for a new breed of representatives who will fearlessly pursue pro-poor policy changes,” said Magtubo.
The first union president to become a party-list representative, Magtubo and the PM served the 11th, 12th and 13th Congress with a record of tirelessly pushing for the enactment of the living wage and other bills on legislated wage increase, and the amendments to the Labor Code to strengthen workers’ fundamental rights to organize, collectively bargain and to strike.
Support for Lim
PM also used the occasion of its filing to announce its support to the senatorial bid of Brig. Gen. Danny Lim.
Magtubo and his followers joined Lim first in the latter’s filing of his Certificate of Candidacy before proceeding to the filing of PM’s manifestation to participate in the party-list election.
“Gen. Danny Lim deserves due recognition not only for being an outstanding officer of the armed forces but also for being an icon of incorruptible and principled fighters among our workingmen in uniform,” explained Magtubo.
The group said they will also campaign for other candidates who will come out with solid platforms for labor and the poor.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Labor party welcomes suspension order against teacher recruiter
PRESS RELEASE
22 November 2009
The labor partylist group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) welcomes the issuance by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) of a preventive suspension against the recruitment agencies accused by local and US-based Filipino teachers of defrauding and exploiting them.
In an order dated November 19, 2009, the POEA by motu propio suspended the operation of PARS International Placement Agency and Universal Placement International, recruitment agencies which had been the subject of several complaints by many teachers both here and in the US. The suspension order is for POEA Cases No. RV 09-10-2258 / DAE 09-10-1873/ RV 09-11-2373 / DAE 09-11-1932 lodged by several teachers against the two agencies.
The two agencies have been accused of over-charging their clients of placement and other fees and contract violations, among others.
The Quezon City-based PARS is owned by Emilio V. Villarba while the Los Angeles based UPI is owned by a certain Lourdes Navarro. These two entities, according to the case profile prepared by Louisiana-based Filipino teachers and the liaison officer of Partido ng Manggagawa in the US, are owned and operated by one family. Villarba and Navarro are siblings. The former is in charged with the recruitment in Philippines.
The suspension order came on the same day two more Louisiana-based Filipino teachers, Mairi Tanedo and Geralyn Bacus, filed their formal complaints against the agency at the POEA. Tanedo and Bacus were both deployed for a one year contract at the East Baton Rouge Parish School System in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Some 250 teachers were deployed through these placement agencies in Louisiana alone.
“We view this as partial victory for our teachers, but sweet victory no less. And this was made possible with the courage and solid determination by our teachers to exact justice from crooked but well-connected recruiters,” said PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda.
The labor party believes that with the sanctions imposed against the PARS and UPI, more of its victims would surely come forward to pursue their cases.
But according to Tanedo and Bacus, after having talks with some POEA officials, the suspension order can be easily lifted soon after the agencies submit their counter claims. They hope, however, that their separate complaints will cause another suspension. The two teachers said they are also waiting for the notarized copy of some 60 more complaints coming from the US, which they believe could finally nail down these two agencies.
The Partido ng Manggagawa and the Public Services Independent Confederation (PSLINK) are also preparing to lodge their own complaints.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) also had taken up the campaign for the Filipino teachers by filing separate cases against the UPI before the US Department of Labor for several violations of labor and non-immigrant program laws. (see attached AFT Filing)
Tanedo and Bacus, in coordination with PM and PSLINK, are now organizing the linkages between the US-based teachers and their families here as well as with other teachers who were not able to leave the country but were already defrauded by PARS.
They will hold a press conference together with other victims of PARS in Cebu sometime next week.
22 November 2009
The labor partylist group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) welcomes the issuance by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) of a preventive suspension against the recruitment agencies accused by local and US-based Filipino teachers of defrauding and exploiting them.
In an order dated November 19, 2009, the POEA by motu propio suspended the operation of PARS International Placement Agency and Universal Placement International, recruitment agencies which had been the subject of several complaints by many teachers both here and in the US. The suspension order is for POEA Cases No. RV 09-10-2258 / DAE 09-10-1873/ RV 09-11-2373 / DAE 09-11-1932 lodged by several teachers against the two agencies.
The two agencies have been accused of over-charging their clients of placement and other fees and contract violations, among others.
The Quezon City-based PARS is owned by Emilio V. Villarba while the Los Angeles based UPI is owned by a certain Lourdes Navarro. These two entities, according to the case profile prepared by Louisiana-based Filipino teachers and the liaison officer of Partido ng Manggagawa in the US, are owned and operated by one family. Villarba and Navarro are siblings. The former is in charged with the recruitment in Philippines.
The suspension order came on the same day two more Louisiana-based Filipino teachers, Mairi Tanedo and Geralyn Bacus, filed their formal complaints against the agency at the POEA. Tanedo and Bacus were both deployed for a one year contract at the East Baton Rouge Parish School System in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Some 250 teachers were deployed through these placement agencies in Louisiana alone.
“We view this as partial victory for our teachers, but sweet victory no less. And this was made possible with the courage and solid determination by our teachers to exact justice from crooked but well-connected recruiters,” said PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda.
The labor party believes that with the sanctions imposed against the PARS and UPI, more of its victims would surely come forward to pursue their cases.
But according to Tanedo and Bacus, after having talks with some POEA officials, the suspension order can be easily lifted soon after the agencies submit their counter claims. They hope, however, that their separate complaints will cause another suspension. The two teachers said they are also waiting for the notarized copy of some 60 more complaints coming from the US, which they believe could finally nail down these two agencies.
The Partido ng Manggagawa and the Public Services Independent Confederation (PSLINK) are also preparing to lodge their own complaints.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) also had taken up the campaign for the Filipino teachers by filing separate cases against the UPI before the US Department of Labor for several violations of labor and non-immigrant program laws. (see attached AFT Filing)
Tanedo and Bacus, in coordination with PM and PSLINK, are now organizing the linkages between the US-based teachers and their families here as well as with other teachers who were not able to leave the country but were already defrauded by PARS.
They will hold a press conference together with other victims of PARS in Cebu sometime next week.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
International labor advocates slam sweatshop labor in the Philippines
Press Release
November 18, 2009
Two international labor rights groups slammed the exploitation of sweatshop labor around the world including the Philippines. The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) released a report yesterday that listed two big American companies in its “Sweatshop Hall of Shame 2010” for using subcontractors based in the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in Lapu-Lapu City that violate fundamental labor rights and standards. Meanwhile the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) celebrated its 20th anniversary by launching a book that chronicles the rise of the anti-sweatshop movement. The CCC has recently worked with the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) in defending workers in several factories in the MEZ that produce for famous companies like Adidas and Abercrombie and Fitch.
Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson, said “We welcome the critical report of the ILRF and the excellent work of the CCC in support of the struggle of workers in the Philippines and around the world. If only our own Department of Labor and Employment was as vigilant as the ILRF and CCC then there would be less workers suffering from poverty wages and dire working conditions.”
The ILRF is a Washington DC-based advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide. The ILRF’s Hall of Shame inductees are companies that “are responsible for evading fair labor standards and often are slow to respond or provide no response at all to any attempts by the ILRF and workers to improve working conditions.”
ILRF called on American shoppers to “take the time to ask about labor standards at the factories that produce Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister clothing.” The demand stemmed from the labor dispute at Alta Mode Inc., an Abercrombie and Fitch contractor, where the union is accusing management of unfair labor practice and interference in the right to organize. The ILRF report states that “Workers have struggled for a union as an antidote to a production quota set beyond human capacity.”
Meanwhile the CCC has national campaigns in 12 European countries with a network of 250 organisations worldwide. The CCC inspired book titled "Clean Clothes" by Dutch writer and photographer Liesbeth Sluiter recounts that “all along the garment industry’s supply chains, workers, including children, are exploited through poverty wages, unpaid overtime and harsh anti-union measures.”
According to the ILRF report, at the Paul Yu factory, a supplier of the US home furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports, employees were unjustly suspended for forming a workers association and protesting against rampant contractualization. ILRF revealed that it communicated with Pier 1 Imports but the company refused to take any meaningful action. The report relates that “The workers of Paul Yu are a testament to how companies like Pier 1 Imports continuously fail to meet their own corporate social responsibility commitment.”
The copy of the ILRF report can be accessed at http://www.laborrights.org/sites/default/files/publications-and-resources/sweatshop_hall_shame_2010.pdf. Details of the CCC anniversary commemoration and book launching can be confirmed via wyger@cleanclothes.org. Below is a copy of the CCC press release.
Anti-sweatshop 'Clean Clothes Campaign' Marks 20 Years
New Book Charts Growth of Global Movement
Nov. 16, 2009 - The worldwide anti-sweatshop Clean Clothes Campaign marks 20 years this month, and coinciding with the anniversary a new book on the movement will be launched on November 18. "Clean Clothes" by Dutch writer and photographer Liesbeth Sluiter takes an independent look at how the campaign has grown from an ad-hoc feminist coalition in Holland to an international labour-rights activist network that put corporate accountability on the fashion industry's agenda.
The campaign, one of the most prominent anti-sweatshop organizations today, aims to improve the wages and conditions of workers in the global garment industry. Large retailers such as Tesco, Walmart and Carrefour lure shoppers in with prices that seem too good to be true. This book shows that they’re too good to be fair.
All along the industry’s supply chains, workers, including children, are exploited through poverty wages, unpaid overtime and harsh anti-union measures. The campaign urges those in charge of the garment industry’s supply lines to protect their workers and treat them fairly.
This dynamic account of direct engagement by concerned consumers is a must read for those that see globalisation differently and want their shopping choices to support the most vulnerable people involved in the clothing industry.
Liesbeth Sluiter is a Dutch freelance photographer and journalist, who has worked for over 25 years with a passionate focus on environment, gender and global development issues. She is the author of The Mekong Currency (1993), published in the UK, the Netherlands, and Japan, and has written numerous articles on development and environmental issues.
The CCC has national campaigns in 12 European countries with a network of 250 organisations worldwide, including development organisations, trade unions, women's organisations, human-rights defenders. In the Philippines the Partido ng Manggagawa works together with the CCC to defend labor rights and welfare in the export zones.
November 18, 2009
Two international labor rights groups slammed the exploitation of sweatshop labor around the world including the Philippines. The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) released a report yesterday that listed two big American companies in its “Sweatshop Hall of Shame 2010” for using subcontractors based in the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in Lapu-Lapu City that violate fundamental labor rights and standards. Meanwhile the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) celebrated its 20th anniversary by launching a book that chronicles the rise of the anti-sweatshop movement. The CCC has recently worked with the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) in defending workers in several factories in the MEZ that produce for famous companies like Adidas and Abercrombie and Fitch.
Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson, said “We welcome the critical report of the ILRF and the excellent work of the CCC in support of the struggle of workers in the Philippines and around the world. If only our own Department of Labor and Employment was as vigilant as the ILRF and CCC then there would be less workers suffering from poverty wages and dire working conditions.”
The ILRF is a Washington DC-based advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide. The ILRF’s Hall of Shame inductees are companies that “are responsible for evading fair labor standards and often are slow to respond or provide no response at all to any attempts by the ILRF and workers to improve working conditions.”
ILRF called on American shoppers to “take the time to ask about labor standards at the factories that produce Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister clothing.” The demand stemmed from the labor dispute at Alta Mode Inc., an Abercrombie and Fitch contractor, where the union is accusing management of unfair labor practice and interference in the right to organize. The ILRF report states that “Workers have struggled for a union as an antidote to a production quota set beyond human capacity.”
Meanwhile the CCC has national campaigns in 12 European countries with a network of 250 organisations worldwide. The CCC inspired book titled "Clean Clothes" by Dutch writer and photographer Liesbeth Sluiter recounts that “all along the garment industry’s supply chains, workers, including children, are exploited through poverty wages, unpaid overtime and harsh anti-union measures.”
According to the ILRF report, at the Paul Yu factory, a supplier of the US home furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports, employees were unjustly suspended for forming a workers association and protesting against rampant contractualization. ILRF revealed that it communicated with Pier 1 Imports but the company refused to take any meaningful action. The report relates that “The workers of Paul Yu are a testament to how companies like Pier 1 Imports continuously fail to meet their own corporate social responsibility commitment.”
The copy of the ILRF report can be accessed at http://www.laborrights.org/sites/default/files/publications-and-resources/sweatshop_hall_shame_2010.pdf. Details of the CCC anniversary commemoration and book launching can be confirmed via wyger@cleanclothes.org. Below is a copy of the CCC press release.
Anti-sweatshop 'Clean Clothes Campaign' Marks 20 Years
New Book Charts Growth of Global Movement
Nov. 16, 2009 - The worldwide anti-sweatshop Clean Clothes Campaign marks 20 years this month, and coinciding with the anniversary a new book on the movement will be launched on November 18. "Clean Clothes" by Dutch writer and photographer Liesbeth Sluiter takes an independent look at how the campaign has grown from an ad-hoc feminist coalition in Holland to an international labour-rights activist network that put corporate accountability on the fashion industry's agenda.
The campaign, one of the most prominent anti-sweatshop organizations today, aims to improve the wages and conditions of workers in the global garment industry. Large retailers such as Tesco, Walmart and Carrefour lure shoppers in with prices that seem too good to be true. This book shows that they’re too good to be fair.
All along the industry’s supply chains, workers, including children, are exploited through poverty wages, unpaid overtime and harsh anti-union measures. The campaign urges those in charge of the garment industry’s supply lines to protect their workers and treat them fairly.
This dynamic account of direct engagement by concerned consumers is a must read for those that see globalisation differently and want their shopping choices to support the most vulnerable people involved in the clothing industry.
Liesbeth Sluiter is a Dutch freelance photographer and journalist, who has worked for over 25 years with a passionate focus on environment, gender and global development issues. She is the author of The Mekong Currency (1993), published in the UK, the Netherlands, and Japan, and has written numerous articles on development and environmental issues.
The CCC has national campaigns in 12 European countries with a network of 250 organisations worldwide, including development organisations, trade unions, women's organisations, human-rights defenders. In the Philippines the Partido ng Manggagawa works together with the CCC to defend labor rights and welfare in the export zones.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Labor party opposes tax on tiangge, political contributions
PRESS RELEASE
06 November 2009
Describing the scheme as anti-poor and oppressive, a labor partylist group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), denounces the plan by Malacañang to impose taxes on tiangge as well as on political contributions for political parties, including partylists.
According to PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda, the plan to impose taxes ontiangge operations is a sinister way of shifting the burden of failed revenue collection to the poor. This was after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) admitted huge shortfall in its revenue target this year and which eventually led to the resignation of BIR Chief Sixto Esquivias IV.
“Instead of making convincing explanations on why the BIR missed its targets, Malacañang is now convincing the tiangge operators to make up for its shortfall. It’s like telling a Baclaran vendor to make up for the members of the PCCI and foreign chambers of commerce,” said Miranda.
“This is besides the fact that their buy-and-sell products have already been subjected to VAT and other taxes,” added Miranda.
Miranda said the scheme is patently anti-poor and oppressive since those who are engaged in tiangge, especially the small ones, belong to the informal sector (own account workers or the self-employed) – a big part of the of the labor force who are without regular work. Ninety nine percent of these workers are engaged in small buy-and-sell business, transport, and personal services, among others. Own account workers account for 12.083 million of the country’s labor force of 35.509 million in the July Labor Force Survey. Aside from that, most of those who render help for own account workers belong to what are called ‘unpaid family workers’, which now count to 3.828 million.
“Clearly, this sector needs support from the State not new forms of oppression through taxation especially in the face of ripping calamities,” stressed Miranda.
Meanwhile, the labor party is also opposed to the 5% tax on political contributions, saying the government should never consider counting revenue out of political exercise.
Miranda pointed out that while election-related businesses such as supplies can be considered taxable incomes, contributions to sectoral parties, like the PM Partylist whose contributions mainly came from ordinary workers, is not.
“A worker’s income have already been taxed before it reaches his hands, why tax it again if he/she contributes part of it for his/her political party?,” protested the group.
PM said Mrs. Arroyo better focus on ensuring good election process rather than generating funds from her rival parties.
06 November 2009
Describing the scheme as anti-poor and oppressive, a labor partylist group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), denounces the plan by Malacañang to impose taxes on tiangge as well as on political contributions for political parties, including partylists.
According to PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda, the plan to impose taxes ontiangge operations is a sinister way of shifting the burden of failed revenue collection to the poor. This was after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) admitted huge shortfall in its revenue target this year and which eventually led to the resignation of BIR Chief Sixto Esquivias IV.
“Instead of making convincing explanations on why the BIR missed its targets, Malacañang is now convincing the tiangge operators to make up for its shortfall. It’s like telling a Baclaran vendor to make up for the members of the PCCI and foreign chambers of commerce,” said Miranda.
“This is besides the fact that their buy-and-sell products have already been subjected to VAT and other taxes,” added Miranda.
Miranda said the scheme is patently anti-poor and oppressive since those who are engaged in tiangge, especially the small ones, belong to the informal sector (own account workers or the self-employed) – a big part of the of the labor force who are without regular work. Ninety nine percent of these workers are engaged in small buy-and-sell business, transport, and personal services, among others. Own account workers account for 12.083 million of the country’s labor force of 35.509 million in the July Labor Force Survey. Aside from that, most of those who render help for own account workers belong to what are called ‘unpaid family workers’, which now count to 3.828 million.
“Clearly, this sector needs support from the State not new forms of oppression through taxation especially in the face of ripping calamities,” stressed Miranda.
Meanwhile, the labor party is also opposed to the 5% tax on political contributions, saying the government should never consider counting revenue out of political exercise.
Miranda pointed out that while election-related businesses such as supplies can be considered taxable incomes, contributions to sectoral parties, like the PM Partylist whose contributions mainly came from ordinary workers, is not.
“A worker’s income have already been taxed before it reaches his hands, why tax it again if he/she contributes part of it for his/her political party?,” protested the group.
PM said Mrs. Arroyo better focus on ensuring good election process rather than generating funds from her rival parties.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Labor party and urban poor groups demand massive funding for decent housing
PRESS RELEASE
29 October 2009
Carrying salvaged house wares to symbolize what remain of their lives after the onslaught of Ondoy and Pepeng, labor and urban poor groups led by labor partylist group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) trooped to the historic Mendiola bridge this morning demanding massive funding for decent housing and to protest the government’s planned forced relocation of poor settlers living in danger zones.
PM chair Renato Magtubo, said without allocating enough funds for building decent houses and safe habitat for the poor, talks about rehabilitation and reconstruction are mere dead words and housing problems cannot be substantially addressed.
The groups are asking the government to declare a moratorium on debt payments to free the funds intended to it for massive rehabilitation and reconstruction program. Citing the latest debt statistics from the Freedom from Debt Coalition, foreign debt service for 2010 amounts to P253.459-B and domestic debt service to about P492.716-B. Government puts the rehabilitation and reconstruction costs to only about P50-B.
Resisting what he described as ‘anti-poor’ prejudice being peddled by the government against the poor, Magtubo turned the table against the failed housing programs of the past and present governments, saying this was the main cause why millions of poor Filipinos are forced to subsist in houses made of light materials and stay in places prone to natural disasters such as floods and man-made disasters such as fires.
Magtubo said further that workers both in the formal and informal sectors whose incomes could not even meet even half of the current cost of living surely do not have the options to live in a less dangerous way, more so for the unemployed.
“Thus, the poor have long been ‘in danger’ living in this kind of miserable conditions,” stressed Magtubo.
Hence, instead of blaming the poor for waiting their deaths in unsafe and inhabitable places, “the government should help them rise with dignity by addressing the housing problem and not by pulling them down further with anti-poor prejudice and threats of government-sponsored forced relocations,” added Magtubo.
The labor leader explained that any relocation plans and new housing program should now be premised on the right to housing of all Filipinos and environmental concerns. “This means that housing units should be built of strong materials but affordable, and placed in areas that are not only safe but also sustainable,” added Magtubo.
The Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino echoed the same position, saying that the usual ‘balik-probinsya’ and the hit and miss, unfunded relocation programs do not solve the problems of the urban poor.
The group cited the case of informal settlers from Manila who were relocated in Marilao and Sta. Maria Bulacan, as well as in Rizal suffering the same miserable conditions as well as devastations from natural calamities such as Ondoy and Pepeng.
Meanwhile, in opposition to the general view that it is the millions of poor who pollute and destroy nature, both PM and AMP point to the bigger roles played by industry owners, mining companies, and land developers in exploiting natural resources and destroying our natural habitat.
29 October 2009
Carrying salvaged house wares to symbolize what remain of their lives after the onslaught of Ondoy and Pepeng, labor and urban poor groups led by labor partylist group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) trooped to the historic Mendiola bridge this morning demanding massive funding for decent housing and to protest the government’s planned forced relocation of poor settlers living in danger zones.
PM chair Renato Magtubo, said without allocating enough funds for building decent houses and safe habitat for the poor, talks about rehabilitation and reconstruction are mere dead words and housing problems cannot be substantially addressed.
The groups are asking the government to declare a moratorium on debt payments to free the funds intended to it for massive rehabilitation and reconstruction program. Citing the latest debt statistics from the Freedom from Debt Coalition, foreign debt service for 2010 amounts to P253.459-B and domestic debt service to about P492.716-B. Government puts the rehabilitation and reconstruction costs to only about P50-B.
Resisting what he described as ‘anti-poor’ prejudice being peddled by the government against the poor, Magtubo turned the table against the failed housing programs of the past and present governments, saying this was the main cause why millions of poor Filipinos are forced to subsist in houses made of light materials and stay in places prone to natural disasters such as floods and man-made disasters such as fires.
Magtubo said further that workers both in the formal and informal sectors whose incomes could not even meet even half of the current cost of living surely do not have the options to live in a less dangerous way, more so for the unemployed.
“Thus, the poor have long been ‘in danger’ living in this kind of miserable conditions,” stressed Magtubo.
Hence, instead of blaming the poor for waiting their deaths in unsafe and inhabitable places, “the government should help them rise with dignity by addressing the housing problem and not by pulling them down further with anti-poor prejudice and threats of government-sponsored forced relocations,” added Magtubo.
The labor leader explained that any relocation plans and new housing program should now be premised on the right to housing of all Filipinos and environmental concerns. “This means that housing units should be built of strong materials but affordable, and placed in areas that are not only safe but also sustainable,” added Magtubo.
The Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino echoed the same position, saying that the usual ‘balik-probinsya’ and the hit and miss, unfunded relocation programs do not solve the problems of the urban poor.
The group cited the case of informal settlers from Manila who were relocated in Marilao and Sta. Maria Bulacan, as well as in Rizal suffering the same miserable conditions as well as devastations from natural calamities such as Ondoy and Pepeng.
Meanwhile, in opposition to the general view that it is the millions of poor who pollute and destroy nature, both PM and AMP point to the bigger roles played by industry owners, mining companies, and land developers in exploiting natural resources and destroying our natural habitat.
Manggagawa at maralitang biktima ng kalamidad nagprotesta sa Mendiola
Press Release
October 29, 2009
Dala ang mga sira-sirang damit at kasangkapan na sumisimbolo sa hagupit ng kalamidad, sinugod nang may-ilang daang biktima ng bagyong Ondoy, ang Mendiola para magprotesta laban sa anila’y mata-pobreng pagtrato sa kanila, palpak na programang pabahay ng pamahalaan, at banta ng pwersahang relokasyon.
Pinangunahan ang kilos-protesta ng mga miyembro ng Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) at Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) mula pa sa mga lalawigan ng Rizal, Laguna, at Bulacan. Nauna rito ay nagbanta ang pamahalaan na pwersahang aalisin ang mga maralita sa mga itinuturing na danger zone dahil ang mga iligal na istruktura umano ang bumabara sa mga natural na daluyan ng tubig na siyang dahilan ng malawak na pinsala ng mga pagbaha.
Nanawagan ang mga manggagawa at maralita sa pamahalaan na walang pwersahang demolisyon at relokasyon na dapat isagawa hangga’t walang malinaw at makataong paninirahan na maibibigay sa kanila ang pamahalaan.
Ayon kay Renato Magtubo, tagapangulo ng PM, sa halip na idagan ang mata-pobreng panunumbat sa mga maralita na silang mas malagim na biktima ng kalamidad, mas dapat ibangon di lamang ang nasalanta nilang kabuhayan kundi ang kanilang dignidad sa pamamagitan ng tamang pagtrato sa kanila at pagharap sa totoong problemang kanilang kinasadlakan.
Ang totoo umano, ani Magtubo, ay mas malaki ang kontribusyon ng mga industriya, mining companies, at land developers at kapabayaan ng kasalukuyan at dati pang mga pamahalaan sa pagkasira ng kalikasan.
Idinagdag pa ni Magtubo na lagi-laging nahahantong sa “danger zones” ang mga maralita dahil mismo sa klase ng lugar na kanilang kinalalagyan at klase ng materyales na gamit sa kanilang mga bahay. Kahit saan umanong lugar, walang laban sa hangin at baha, maging sa sunog ang mga barung-barong na gawa sa mga light materials. Ito aniya ang paliwanag kung bakit di itinuturing na nasa danger zone ang mga mansyon, malalaking gusali, at palasyo gaya ng Malacanang sa tabi ng mga ilog dahil ligtas ang mga ito kumpara sa mga barung-barong sa tabi ng mga estero.
Ayon naman kay Romeo Cabugnason, pinuno ng AMP, ang ultimong solusyon dito ay seryosong programa para sa desente at ligtas na pabahay, hindi ang paulit-ulit na ‘balik-probinsya’ program, o relokasyon sa mga undeveloped at inhabitable relocation areas gaya ng naging kaso sa Bulacan.
Naniniwala ang PM at AMP na walang mangyayari sa programang rehabilitasyon at rekonstruksyon hangga’t walang ilalaang malaking pondo para dito ang pamahalaan, laluna’t halos 30% ng pondo ng gubyerno ay napupunta lang sa pambayad ng utang.
Kaya nanawagan ang mga ito na itigil muna ang pagbabayad utang at para matugunan ang lahat ng kinakailangang pondo para sa rehabilitasyon at maisakatuparan ang isang bagong programa na tutugon sa malawak na problema ng kawalan ng desente, ligtas na pabahay at makataong pamumuhay.
October 29, 2009
Dala ang mga sira-sirang damit at kasangkapan na sumisimbolo sa hagupit ng kalamidad, sinugod nang may-ilang daang biktima ng bagyong Ondoy, ang Mendiola para magprotesta laban sa anila’y mata-pobreng pagtrato sa kanila, palpak na programang pabahay ng pamahalaan, at banta ng pwersahang relokasyon.
Pinangunahan ang kilos-protesta ng mga miyembro ng Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) at Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) mula pa sa mga lalawigan ng Rizal, Laguna, at Bulacan. Nauna rito ay nagbanta ang pamahalaan na pwersahang aalisin ang mga maralita sa mga itinuturing na danger zone dahil ang mga iligal na istruktura umano ang bumabara sa mga natural na daluyan ng tubig na siyang dahilan ng malawak na pinsala ng mga pagbaha.
Nanawagan ang mga manggagawa at maralita sa pamahalaan na walang pwersahang demolisyon at relokasyon na dapat isagawa hangga’t walang malinaw at makataong paninirahan na maibibigay sa kanila ang pamahalaan.
Ayon kay Renato Magtubo, tagapangulo ng PM, sa halip na idagan ang mata-pobreng panunumbat sa mga maralita na silang mas malagim na biktima ng kalamidad, mas dapat ibangon di lamang ang nasalanta nilang kabuhayan kundi ang kanilang dignidad sa pamamagitan ng tamang pagtrato sa kanila at pagharap sa totoong problemang kanilang kinasadlakan.
Ang totoo umano, ani Magtubo, ay mas malaki ang kontribusyon ng mga industriya, mining companies, at land developers at kapabayaan ng kasalukuyan at dati pang mga pamahalaan sa pagkasira ng kalikasan.
Idinagdag pa ni Magtubo na lagi-laging nahahantong sa “danger zones” ang mga maralita dahil mismo sa klase ng lugar na kanilang kinalalagyan at klase ng materyales na gamit sa kanilang mga bahay. Kahit saan umanong lugar, walang laban sa hangin at baha, maging sa sunog ang mga barung-barong na gawa sa mga light materials. Ito aniya ang paliwanag kung bakit di itinuturing na nasa danger zone ang mga mansyon, malalaking gusali, at palasyo gaya ng Malacanang sa tabi ng mga ilog dahil ligtas ang mga ito kumpara sa mga barung-barong sa tabi ng mga estero.
Ayon naman kay Romeo Cabugnason, pinuno ng AMP, ang ultimong solusyon dito ay seryosong programa para sa desente at ligtas na pabahay, hindi ang paulit-ulit na ‘balik-probinsya’ program, o relokasyon sa mga undeveloped at inhabitable relocation areas gaya ng naging kaso sa Bulacan.
Naniniwala ang PM at AMP na walang mangyayari sa programang rehabilitasyon at rekonstruksyon hangga’t walang ilalaang malaking pondo para dito ang pamahalaan, laluna’t halos 30% ng pondo ng gubyerno ay napupunta lang sa pambayad ng utang.
Kaya nanawagan ang mga ito na itigil muna ang pagbabayad utang at para matugunan ang lahat ng kinakailangang pondo para sa rehabilitasyon at maisakatuparan ang isang bagong programa na tutugon sa malawak na problema ng kawalan ng desente, ligtas na pabahay at makataong pamumuhay.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Lakeside residents of Binan seek LGU, National Government aid amid miserable state
PRESS RELEASE
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
Partido ng Manggagawa
26 October 2009
Residents residing at Barangays Malaban and San Antonio in Biñan Laguna will hold a rally this morning at this town’s Municipal Hall to seek aid from both the local and national government. The two barangays are just part of several barangays that are still under water since the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy that drove lake waters of Laguna De Bay to rise.
The local of Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) in Biñan said food and health conditions in the area are very bad because of lack of safe drinking water and lack of other basic supplies, among others. They also fear of forced relocation being planned by the national government without any assurance that such a plan would lead them to a better habitat.
AMP leaders Mercy Manzo and Elizabeth Mendoza describe their situation in the area as “helpless and miserable” as relief goods are still lacking in most parts of the area and many people have no more means of earning an income unlike before. Many people especially children are also getting sick because of lack of sanitation and safe drinking water.
“We don’t know how we can survive this kind of situation,” Manzo said, adding that without continuing relief operations and alternative places to live, the people around the lake face humanitarian crisis.
The group is asking the local government to formulate a short and long-term solution to this problem, including alternative places where affected residents can live safely. They are also asking for livelihood assistance to recover their means of livelihood that were devastated by Ondoy.
The AMP is also calling on the national government to give due attention to the poor people of Biñan and Laguna rather than blaming them for making themselves the victims of their own desperate situation. The government, specifically the Laguna Lake Development Authority had been blaming the poor settlers for clogging the natural waterways that aggravates flooding.
“There are bigger players to blame such as industry owners, mining companies and land developers who destroy our natural habitats. Why point all your fingers to us?,” complained the AMP leaders.
After the protest action in Laguna, the AMP and the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) will bring their issues to Malacanang in another rally to be held in Mendiola on Thursday, October 29.
The AMP and PM will demand a moratorium on debt payments and massive government funds saved from debt service be allotted for rehabilitation and reconstruction program. “Rehabilitation and reconstruction are dead words without the funds,” stressed the group.
The groups will also press for a new housing program that decisively addresses housing problems -- the main reason why poor settlers are forced to live and face their deaths in “danger zones”. Another demand is for a new, centralized and coordinated land use policy to prevent land developers and miners convert and destroy lands so that the poor can be accorded habitable and sustainable places to live.
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
Partido ng Manggagawa
26 October 2009
Residents residing at Barangays Malaban and San Antonio in Biñan Laguna will hold a rally this morning at this town’s Municipal Hall to seek aid from both the local and national government. The two barangays are just part of several barangays that are still under water since the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy that drove lake waters of Laguna De Bay to rise.
The local of Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) in Biñan said food and health conditions in the area are very bad because of lack of safe drinking water and lack of other basic supplies, among others. They also fear of forced relocation being planned by the national government without any assurance that such a plan would lead them to a better habitat.
AMP leaders Mercy Manzo and Elizabeth Mendoza describe their situation in the area as “helpless and miserable” as relief goods are still lacking in most parts of the area and many people have no more means of earning an income unlike before. Many people especially children are also getting sick because of lack of sanitation and safe drinking water.
“We don’t know how we can survive this kind of situation,” Manzo said, adding that without continuing relief operations and alternative places to live, the people around the lake face humanitarian crisis.
The group is asking the local government to formulate a short and long-term solution to this problem, including alternative places where affected residents can live safely. They are also asking for livelihood assistance to recover their means of livelihood that were devastated by Ondoy.
The AMP is also calling on the national government to give due attention to the poor people of Biñan and Laguna rather than blaming them for making themselves the victims of their own desperate situation. The government, specifically the Laguna Lake Development Authority had been blaming the poor settlers for clogging the natural waterways that aggravates flooding.
“There are bigger players to blame such as industry owners, mining companies and land developers who destroy our natural habitats. Why point all your fingers to us?,” complained the AMP leaders.
After the protest action in Laguna, the AMP and the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) will bring their issues to Malacanang in another rally to be held in Mendiola on Thursday, October 29.
The AMP and PM will demand a moratorium on debt payments and massive government funds saved from debt service be allotted for rehabilitation and reconstruction program. “Rehabilitation and reconstruction are dead words without the funds,” stressed the group.
The groups will also press for a new housing program that decisively addresses housing problems -- the main reason why poor settlers are forced to live and face their deaths in “danger zones”. Another demand is for a new, centralized and coordinated land use policy to prevent land developers and miners convert and destroy lands so that the poor can be accorded habitable and sustainable places to live.
PM challenges POEA, DOLE to act swiftly vs recruiter of teachers
Press Release
October 26, 2009
After the submission by more than 60 teachers of their statements detailing their miserable experiences with their recruiter, the party-list Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) is challenging the POEA and the DOLE to act swiftly on their case.
A representative of the migrant teachers who are based in the state of Louisiana who has been working closely with PM has brought home a portfolio containing the complaints. The declarations were submitted to Labor Secretary Marianito Roque. The same documents are part of the evidences in the cases filed by the American Federation of Teachers in behalf of the Filipino teachers against the recruiting agency.
The subjects of the teachers’ complaints are the US-based Universal Placement International (UPI) and its local partner PARS International Placement Agency. Both companies are owned by Lourdes “Lulu” Navarro who is based in the US, and her brother Emilio “Mel” Villarba is the one who runs the local operations.
“POEA has knowledge of the exploitative practices of PARS and UPI long before. Feedbacks from the victims were already coming out since last year; several individual cases were filed against PARS by teachers who paid but where never able to fly to the US earlier this year; further we have informed our embassy in the US about the hundreds of teachers that are being recruited in a manner that borders on human trafficking. So we are appalled that no swift action was undertaken to look seriously into this issue,” asserted Renato Magtubo, PM Chairperson.
Magtubo is reacting to news reports recently where POEA chief Jennifer Manalili said that they will look into the complaints against UPI, which is based in California.
“A central mandate of the POEA is the protection of migrant workers. We challenge the POEA to walk their talk and bring an immediate stop to these exploitative practices of recruitment agencies particularly of those involved in this case. It is not only the US-based UPI who is the perpetrator of this injustice but also PARS which acts as its front here in the Philippines,” Magtubo further said.
PM through its Liaison Officer in the US also reports that more teachers are now coming out to join the complaints filed against PARS and UPI. Some of them are not even employed until now despite paying the recruiters an average of $15,000 each.
"Again, we reiterate our call for the immediate delisting of PARS International Placement Agency. This recruiter is a scourge to the workers and should be stopped from victimizing more Filipinos. PM further demands that POEA institute mechanisms for transparency such as the online publication of the track record of placement agencies, their violations, complaints filed against them and actual feedback from workers placed,” added Magtubo.
In the POEA registry that is available online, PARS is located at Suite 407 J&F Divino Arcade, 961 Aurora Blvd. Cubao, QC.
October 26, 2009
After the submission by more than 60 teachers of their statements detailing their miserable experiences with their recruiter, the party-list Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) is challenging the POEA and the DOLE to act swiftly on their case.
A representative of the migrant teachers who are based in the state of Louisiana who has been working closely with PM has brought home a portfolio containing the complaints. The declarations were submitted to Labor Secretary Marianito Roque. The same documents are part of the evidences in the cases filed by the American Federation of Teachers in behalf of the Filipino teachers against the recruiting agency.
The subjects of the teachers’ complaints are the US-based Universal Placement International (UPI) and its local partner PARS International Placement Agency. Both companies are owned by Lourdes “Lulu” Navarro who is based in the US, and her brother Emilio “Mel” Villarba is the one who runs the local operations.
“POEA has knowledge of the exploitative practices of PARS and UPI long before. Feedbacks from the victims were already coming out since last year; several individual cases were filed against PARS by teachers who paid but where never able to fly to the US earlier this year; further we have informed our embassy in the US about the hundreds of teachers that are being recruited in a manner that borders on human trafficking. So we are appalled that no swift action was undertaken to look seriously into this issue,” asserted Renato Magtubo, PM Chairperson.
Magtubo is reacting to news reports recently where POEA chief Jennifer Manalili said that they will look into the complaints against UPI, which is based in California.
“A central mandate of the POEA is the protection of migrant workers. We challenge the POEA to walk their talk and bring an immediate stop to these exploitative practices of recruitment agencies particularly of those involved in this case. It is not only the US-based UPI who is the perpetrator of this injustice but also PARS which acts as its front here in the Philippines,” Magtubo further said.
PM through its Liaison Officer in the US also reports that more teachers are now coming out to join the complaints filed against PARS and UPI. Some of them are not even employed until now despite paying the recruiters an average of $15,000 each.
"Again, we reiterate our call for the immediate delisting of PARS International Placement Agency. This recruiter is a scourge to the workers and should be stopped from victimizing more Filipinos. PM further demands that POEA institute mechanisms for transparency such as the online publication of the track record of placement agencies, their violations, complaints filed against them and actual feedback from workers placed,” added Magtubo.
In the POEA registry that is available online, PARS is located at Suite 407 J&F Divino Arcade, 961 Aurora Blvd. Cubao, QC.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Message of Solidarity with the Pinoy Teachers of Louisiana
The Partido ng Manggagawa salutes the brave Filipino migrant teachers in Louisiana. In the name of the working class in the Philippines, we support you in your fight for justice against the illegal and oppressive policies of the recruiter Lulu Navarro. We pledge to help your cause and struggle in any way we can.
You have broken the stereotype of Filipino teachers as meek and submissive slaves who will endure inhuman treatment with hardly a peep. Instead you have stood for what you believe is right despite all the odds and against threats of persecution by Navarro and her minions.
You have proven once again that in unity there is strength and in action lies the possibility of victory. The support you have garnered from the Filipino-American community, the American Federation of Teachers and even the coverage that has been given your issue by the US mass media is testimony to you determination in struggle over the course of almost a year.
With the light at the end of the tunnel ever clearer now as far as achieving your goals of seeking justice, we encourage you to broaden the scope of your fight and raise it to the next level. We ask that add to your agenda the reform of overseas employment policy in order to stop the abuse of Filipino migrant workers. If professionals like teachers can become slave labor in a country like the US, no wonder OFW’s by the thousands suffer from abuse, discrimination and indignity across the globe.
Among the most important of these reforms would be to end the deregulation of the labor export industry and for Congress to amend the Migrant Workers Act in this regard. Illegal recruitment and OFW abuse thrives since government insists on promoting overseas employment while allowing private recruitment agencies to do the actual placement of workers.
It is also necessary that Philippine embassies and consulates make the protection of migrant workers its principal work. The government must forge labor agreements with receiving countries that will guarantee enforcement of labor standards, social protections and workers rights.
You are in the best position to advocate such reforms. In order for such a bigger fight to succeed, you must forge links with other Filipino migrant workers, expand further your alliances with the American labor movement and the Filipino-American community, even as you build ties with the working class movement in the Philippines.
You have broken the stereotype of Filipino teachers as meek and submissive slaves who will endure inhuman treatment with hardly a peep. Instead you have stood for what you believe is right despite all the odds and against threats of persecution by Navarro and her minions.
You have proven once again that in unity there is strength and in action lies the possibility of victory. The support you have garnered from the Filipino-American community, the American Federation of Teachers and even the coverage that has been given your issue by the US mass media is testimony to you determination in struggle over the course of almost a year.
With the light at the end of the tunnel ever clearer now as far as achieving your goals of seeking justice, we encourage you to broaden the scope of your fight and raise it to the next level. We ask that add to your agenda the reform of overseas employment policy in order to stop the abuse of Filipino migrant workers. If professionals like teachers can become slave labor in a country like the US, no wonder OFW’s by the thousands suffer from abuse, discrimination and indignity across the globe.
Among the most important of these reforms would be to end the deregulation of the labor export industry and for Congress to amend the Migrant Workers Act in this regard. Illegal recruitment and OFW abuse thrives since government insists on promoting overseas employment while allowing private recruitment agencies to do the actual placement of workers.
It is also necessary that Philippine embassies and consulates make the protection of migrant workers its principal work. The government must forge labor agreements with receiving countries that will guarantee enforcement of labor standards, social protections and workers rights.
You are in the best position to advocate such reforms. In order for such a bigger fight to succeed, you must forge links with other Filipino migrant workers, expand further your alliances with the American labor movement and the Filipino-American community, even as you build ties with the working class movement in the Philippines.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Cebu export zone workers picket DOLE, assail collusion with employers
Press Release
October 6, 2009
Workers of a garments factory in the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) today picketed the DOLE office in Cebu a day after a summary decision by labor officials on a controversial certification election. Around 100 workers from Alta Mode Inc. slammed the DOLE for colluding with employers in derailing workers rights to organize.
“Hardly one week has passed since the investigation by the International Labor Organization (ILO) into government’s enforcement of Convention 87 on the freedom of association but the DOLE is back to business as usual in conspiring with employers in hindering unionization. The med-arbiter’s summary decision without benefit of a hearing to canvass 27 disputed votes in the certification election completes management’s scheme to deny our labor rights,” stated Renante Pelino, president of the Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU).
The protesting workers brought placards assailing “DOLE-capitalist conspiracy vs. workers rights.” Some placards also appealed to the multinational garments firm A&F which owns the brands Abercrombie and Fitch, and Hollister to respect labor rights in its supplier companies, among them Alta Mode Inc. Since the start of the year up to the Alta Mode shutdown last September 11, the workers were producing orders for A&F products.
AMWU representatives and its lawyer walked out of the canvassing yesterday after the med-arbiter Atty. Theresa Casino and the DOLE election officer Eliza Mojana dismissed the workers’ motion for reconsideration and pushed through with the counting of the 27 segregated ballots. AMWU criticized the decision to count the 27 segregated votes without hearing the side of the workers on why the disputed ballots should not be counted. “These 27 ballots were cast by supervisors and others that should be excluded since we filed a petition for elections with only regular rank-and-file workers as the bargaining unit. We do not oppose unionization, and in fact we will support it, by supervisors but by law they should organize unions separate from the rank-and-file,” Pelino explained.
In the hearing conducted by ILO more than a week ago, Renato Magtubo, chairperson of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), presented Alta Mode as “a graphic case of the violation of Convention 87” and proof of the “no union policy” in the export zones. According to Magtubo, AMWU’s experience reflects why not a single union has survived and gained status as a bargaining agent in the 30 years of the MEZ.
AMWU and PM, which is supporting the workers, vowed that the picket today is just the start of a series of protests against employer interference and DOLE’s collusion in workers freedom to organize. The workers chanted “Babalik kami, mas marami” as the picketed ended.
October 6, 2009
Workers of a garments factory in the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) today picketed the DOLE office in Cebu a day after a summary decision by labor officials on a controversial certification election. Around 100 workers from Alta Mode Inc. slammed the DOLE for colluding with employers in derailing workers rights to organize.
“Hardly one week has passed since the investigation by the International Labor Organization (ILO) into government’s enforcement of Convention 87 on the freedom of association but the DOLE is back to business as usual in conspiring with employers in hindering unionization. The med-arbiter’s summary decision without benefit of a hearing to canvass 27 disputed votes in the certification election completes management’s scheme to deny our labor rights,” stated Renante Pelino, president of the Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU).
The protesting workers brought placards assailing “DOLE-capitalist conspiracy vs. workers rights.” Some placards also appealed to the multinational garments firm A&F which owns the brands Abercrombie and Fitch, and Hollister to respect labor rights in its supplier companies, among them Alta Mode Inc. Since the start of the year up to the Alta Mode shutdown last September 11, the workers were producing orders for A&F products.
AMWU representatives and its lawyer walked out of the canvassing yesterday after the med-arbiter Atty. Theresa Casino and the DOLE election officer Eliza Mojana dismissed the workers’ motion for reconsideration and pushed through with the counting of the 27 segregated ballots. AMWU criticized the decision to count the 27 segregated votes without hearing the side of the workers on why the disputed ballots should not be counted. “These 27 ballots were cast by supervisors and others that should be excluded since we filed a petition for elections with only regular rank-and-file workers as the bargaining unit. We do not oppose unionization, and in fact we will support it, by supervisors but by law they should organize unions separate from the rank-and-file,” Pelino explained.
In the hearing conducted by ILO more than a week ago, Renato Magtubo, chairperson of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), presented Alta Mode as “a graphic case of the violation of Convention 87” and proof of the “no union policy” in the export zones. According to Magtubo, AMWU’s experience reflects why not a single union has survived and gained status as a bargaining agent in the 30 years of the MEZ.
AMWU and PM, which is supporting the workers, vowed that the picket today is just the start of a series of protests against employer interference and DOLE’s collusion in workers freedom to organize. The workers chanted “Babalik kami, mas marami” as the picketed ended.
Militant urban poor group opposes forced relocation
Press Release
October 5, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
The urtban poor group Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino opposes the governments’ forcible relocation that will affect thousand of families living in major water ways and Laguna Lake.
“The governments’ plan of forcible relocation will be a man made disaster that comes on top of the natural catastrophe brought about by tropical storm Ondoy. We hold on our basic right to decent shelter, thus we are calling on the government to create an inter-agency committee with representation from the affected families to ensure decent relocation as declared in the Urban Development and Housing Act,” Romy Cabugnason, AMP, Chairman, stated.
The government proposes to relocate families in Calauan, Laguna and San Miguel, Bulacan. Calauan, Laguna is also a resettlement area to families from PNR, and was already reported for lack of basic services such as water, power, health, education and means of livelihood.
Cabugnason added that, “We were never anti-development as this elite government wish to project, only that we know that we have the right for a decent shelter instead of forcible relocation in some area without employment and/or basic services. Decent shelter is a basic policy of the government that Secretary of Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr., should have known as he aspires to be head the state.”
“The Filipino unity is inspiring we know that we are not facing the tragedy of tropical storm Ondoy alone. But then, since we are from the danger zone the government should not put us in harm by putting us in the death zone,” Cabugnason ended.
October 5, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
The urtban poor group Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino opposes the governments’ forcible relocation that will affect thousand of families living in major water ways and Laguna Lake.
“The governments’ plan of forcible relocation will be a man made disaster that comes on top of the natural catastrophe brought about by tropical storm Ondoy. We hold on our basic right to decent shelter, thus we are calling on the government to create an inter-agency committee with representation from the affected families to ensure decent relocation as declared in the Urban Development and Housing Act,” Romy Cabugnason, AMP, Chairman, stated.
The government proposes to relocate families in Calauan, Laguna and San Miguel, Bulacan. Calauan, Laguna is also a resettlement area to families from PNR, and was already reported for lack of basic services such as water, power, health, education and means of livelihood.
Cabugnason added that, “We were never anti-development as this elite government wish to project, only that we know that we have the right for a decent shelter instead of forcible relocation in some area without employment and/or basic services. Decent shelter is a basic policy of the government that Secretary of Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr., should have known as he aspires to be head the state.”
“The Filipino unity is inspiring we know that we are not facing the tragedy of tropical storm Ondoy alone. But then, since we are from the danger zone the government should not put us in harm by putting us in the death zone,” Cabugnason ended.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Labor group asks recruitment agency of Pinoy teachers to be delisted
Press Release
October 4, 2009
The party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) to delist the local placement agency of the Filipino migrant teachers in Louisiana that have filed complaints of illegal recruitment, illegal fees and various labor violations against a US-based manpower firm. PM also welcomed the support of the American Federation of Teachers as it criticized the government’s slow action.
“PARS International Placement Agency is the local partner of the US-based Universal Placement International Inc. which is the subject of the teachers’ complaints. PARS International Placement Agency is listed in the POEA registry of recruitment agencies as good standing and with a license to operate from October 17, 2006 to October 17, 2010. We ask the POEA to motu proprio start the process of delisting PARS International Placement Agency if not it will have one more year to victimize OFW’s,” stated Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.
In the POEA registry that is available online, http://www.poea.gov.ph/cgi-bin/agList.asp?mode=all, PARS International Placement Agency has an address at Suite 407 J&F Divino Arcade, 961 Aurora Blvd. Cubao, QC with a certain Emilio Villarba as official representative. The Filipino migrant teachers allege though that PARS International Placement and Universal Placement Agency are both owned by Lourdes “Lulu” Navarro, the respondent of the case at the Louisiana Workplace Commission.
PM is pushing for reforms in the overseas employment policy in order to stop the abuse of Filipino migrant workers. It challenged the presidentiables to include such policy reforms in their platform. “If professionals like teachers can become slave labor in a country like the US, no wonder OFW’s by the thousands suffer from abuse, discrimination and indignity across the globe,” Magtubo insisted.
The party-list group is demanding an end to the deregulation of the labor export industry and asking Congress to amend the Migrant Workers Act in this regard. “Government is as much to blame for illegal recruitment and OFW abuse since it keeps on promoting overseas employment while allowing private recruitment agencies to do the actual placement of workers. The pusher should be a worse criminal than the user, as in the case of drugs,” Magtubo argued.
The group is also pushing that Philippine embassies and consulates make the protection of migrant workers its principal work. Magtubo said that “The government must forge labor agreements with receiving countries that will guarantee enforcement of labor standards, social protections and workers rights.”
October 4, 2009
The party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) to delist the local placement agency of the Filipino migrant teachers in Louisiana that have filed complaints of illegal recruitment, illegal fees and various labor violations against a US-based manpower firm. PM also welcomed the support of the American Federation of Teachers as it criticized the government’s slow action.
“PARS International Placement Agency is the local partner of the US-based Universal Placement International Inc. which is the subject of the teachers’ complaints. PARS International Placement Agency is listed in the POEA registry of recruitment agencies as good standing and with a license to operate from October 17, 2006 to October 17, 2010. We ask the POEA to motu proprio start the process of delisting PARS International Placement Agency if not it will have one more year to victimize OFW’s,” stated Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.
In the POEA registry that is available online, http://www.poea.gov.ph/cgi-bin/agList.asp?mode=all, PARS International Placement Agency has an address at Suite 407 J&F Divino Arcade, 961 Aurora Blvd. Cubao, QC with a certain Emilio Villarba as official representative. The Filipino migrant teachers allege though that PARS International Placement and Universal Placement Agency are both owned by Lourdes “Lulu” Navarro, the respondent of the case at the Louisiana Workplace Commission.
PM is pushing for reforms in the overseas employment policy in order to stop the abuse of Filipino migrant workers. It challenged the presidentiables to include such policy reforms in their platform. “If professionals like teachers can become slave labor in a country like the US, no wonder OFW’s by the thousands suffer from abuse, discrimination and indignity across the globe,” Magtubo insisted.
The party-list group is demanding an end to the deregulation of the labor export industry and asking Congress to amend the Migrant Workers Act in this regard. “Government is as much to blame for illegal recruitment and OFW abuse since it keeps on promoting overseas employment while allowing private recruitment agencies to do the actual placement of workers. The pusher should be a worse criminal than the user, as in the case of drugs,” Magtubo argued.
The group is also pushing that Philippine embassies and consulates make the protection of migrant workers its principal work. Magtubo said that “The government must forge labor agreements with receiving countries that will guarantee enforcement of labor standards, social protections and workers rights.”
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Case file of Cebu union submitted to ILO as workers end campout in export zone
Press Release
September 24, 2009
The Partido ng Manggagawa formally submitted to the ILO High Level Mission (HLM) a case file on a Cebu export zone union detailing incidents that violate Convention 87 on the right to self-organization. Judy Ann Miranda, Partido ng Manggagawa secretary general, stated that “Even as the ILO HLM conducts its investigation on the government’s implementation and enforcement of Convention 87, in the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ), a union is fighting for its life.”
The laid off workers of Alta Mode, a garments export firm in MEZ II that subcontracts for Abercrombie & Fitch among other multinational corporations, lifted today their picketline outside the company gates since their employer has agreed to a meeting tomorrow. Renante Pelino, president of Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU), declared that “We end our campout in good faith to remove any obstacle to a dialogue with top management on our demands for recognition of the union, work rotation, financial assistance to laid off workers and union access to the factory during the temporary shutdown.”
Pelino said that “We call the attention of the ILO mission to the de facto ‘no union, no strike’ policy in the export zones. Yesterday it took hours of haggling just to allow food and water to be brought to hungry and thirsty workers in the campout. Criminals get better treatment in jails compared to protesting workers inside the export zones.”
At 2:00 pm this afternoon, around 100 AMWU members marched some 400 meters from the Alta Mode factory to the MEZ II main gate and were met by dozens of their families, other union members, and supporters from the Partido ng Manggagawa and other unions. The AMWU members chanted “Makibaka, Wag Matakot” as export zone workers watched the march proceed.
In a meeting last night with representatives of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, Philippine Export Zone Authority and Aboitiz Land which owns MEZ II, AMWU agreed to lift the picketline in return for a dialogue with management. Since the declaring a temporary shutdown last September 11, Alta Mode has refused to negotiate with AMWU.
Among the recommendations forwarded in the AMWU case file are the following:
1. For the Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) to form tripartite councils within all export zones with the mandate to discuss workers grievances and employers concerns within the export zone, and recommend actions to resolve the issues.
2. For the PEZA to setup billboards at every single gate of export zones with the message that (a) it is state policy to guarantee labor rights, (b) the law encourages trade unionism and collective bargaining, and (c) management interference in the right to organize is unfair labor practice.
3. For employers within the export zone to put up notices at company gates that it is company policy to the respect labor laws and specifically that it will not interfere in the workers exercise of freedom to organize.
4. For the PEZA to draft, in consultation with workers, an education seminar on labor rights, standards and welfare based on provisions of the labor code for all export zones workers, including managerial and supervisory employees, to be attended within their first six months of their employment.
5. For the Executive to draft a course on labor rights, standards and welfare to be included in the mandatory curriculum for secondary and tertiary education.
6. For the PEZA and employers to allow representatives of labor organizations, specifically union organizers, access to the export zones and to company premises for the purpose of union organizing and other union activities, including workers concerted actions.
7. For the PEZA to allow representatives of media access to the export zones for the purpose of reporting on workers’ concerted activities, including strikes, conducted inside the zone.
8. For the PEZA to guarantee the exercise of the workers right to engage in concerted activities, including strikes without harassment or intimidation by PEZA police, company guards or any agent of state authorities.
September 24, 2009
The Partido ng Manggagawa formally submitted to the ILO High Level Mission (HLM) a case file on a Cebu export zone union detailing incidents that violate Convention 87 on the right to self-organization. Judy Ann Miranda, Partido ng Manggagawa secretary general, stated that “Even as the ILO HLM conducts its investigation on the government’s implementation and enforcement of Convention 87, in the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ), a union is fighting for its life.”
The laid off workers of Alta Mode, a garments export firm in MEZ II that subcontracts for Abercrombie & Fitch among other multinational corporations, lifted today their picketline outside the company gates since their employer has agreed to a meeting tomorrow. Renante Pelino, president of Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU), declared that “We end our campout in good faith to remove any obstacle to a dialogue with top management on our demands for recognition of the union, work rotation, financial assistance to laid off workers and union access to the factory during the temporary shutdown.”
Pelino said that “We call the attention of the ILO mission to the de facto ‘no union, no strike’ policy in the export zones. Yesterday it took hours of haggling just to allow food and water to be brought to hungry and thirsty workers in the campout. Criminals get better treatment in jails compared to protesting workers inside the export zones.”
At 2:00 pm this afternoon, around 100 AMWU members marched some 400 meters from the Alta Mode factory to the MEZ II main gate and were met by dozens of their families, other union members, and supporters from the Partido ng Manggagawa and other unions. The AMWU members chanted “Makibaka, Wag Matakot” as export zone workers watched the march proceed.
In a meeting last night with representatives of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, Philippine Export Zone Authority and Aboitiz Land which owns MEZ II, AMWU agreed to lift the picketline in return for a dialogue with management. Since the declaring a temporary shutdown last September 11, Alta Mode has refused to negotiate with AMWU.
Among the recommendations forwarded in the AMWU case file are the following:
1. For the Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) to form tripartite councils within all export zones with the mandate to discuss workers grievances and employers concerns within the export zone, and recommend actions to resolve the issues.
2. For the PEZA to setup billboards at every single gate of export zones with the message that (a) it is state policy to guarantee labor rights, (b) the law encourages trade unionism and collective bargaining, and (c) management interference in the right to organize is unfair labor practice.
3. For employers within the export zone to put up notices at company gates that it is company policy to the respect labor laws and specifically that it will not interfere in the workers exercise of freedom to organize.
4. For the PEZA to draft, in consultation with workers, an education seminar on labor rights, standards and welfare based on provisions of the labor code for all export zones workers, including managerial and supervisory employees, to be attended within their first six months of their employment.
5. For the Executive to draft a course on labor rights, standards and welfare to be included in the mandatory curriculum for secondary and tertiary education.
6. For the PEZA and employers to allow representatives of labor organizations, specifically union organizers, access to the export zones and to company premises for the purpose of union organizing and other union activities, including workers concerted actions.
7. For the PEZA to allow representatives of media access to the export zones for the purpose of reporting on workers’ concerted activities, including strikes, conducted inside the zone.
8. For the PEZA to guarantee the exercise of the workers right to engage in concerted activities, including strikes without harassment or intimidation by PEZA police, company guards or any agent of state authorities.
PAL union brings case vs. contractualization and labor rights violation to ILO
PRESS RELEASE
24 September 2009
Rampant violation of labor rights in the country is most probably the cause why the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) High Level Mission to the Philippines is swamped by many complaints that go beyond the mission’s specific mandate of looking into the eight particular cases brought before the body in 2007.
Once such additional complaint is from Philippine Airline employees who face a second wave of mass retrenchment due to the management’s planned spin-off of its ground handling operations and other functions beginning November 15, 2009.
Philippine Airlines Employees Association of the Philippines (PALEA) president, Gerry Rivera, said the ILO forum yesterday was very memorable for them since it was also on September 23, 1998 that PAL ceased its operations and sent termination notices to its employees. This was after employees rejected Lucio Tan’s proposal to offer stocks options to its employees and three seats in the Board of Directors, on the condition that all the existing Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) with its employees would be suspended for 10 years.
Upon intervention from Malacanang, however, employees were forced to accept the CBA suspension. Rivera, who is also the Vice President of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), said “the continuing saga of contractualization and labor rights violation all began from here.”
Another round of retrenchment in the offing
The PALEA leader disclosed that on September 9, 2009, Philippine Airlines President & Chief Operating Officer, Jaime J. Bautista, in a memorandum, informed the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) of the management’s plan to outsource/spin-off some operational units. The memorandum is but a formalization of the company’s earlier verbal notices to the Union.
Citing heavy losses and to prevent further bleeding, PAL is planning to outsource/spin-off the Catering, Passenger Handling, Ramp Handling and Cargo Handling operations. The management is also studying the possibility of doing the same to other functions such as the Information Technology, Revenue Accounting, Reservations and Call Centers, Medical and other Human Resources Operations.
“Once implemented, this second wave of outsourcing/spin-off will affect the job security of some 2,000 – 4,000 PAL employees currently assigned in those departments. And expected to be done under the same scheme that the management had employed in 2001, the remaining 7,000 PAL employees are therefore in for another round of mass retrenchment,” said Rivera.
Worse, adds Rivera, the plan may cast the proverbial last nail on the coffin for the PAL union which, for the last ten years, has been weakened and undermined by previous spin-offs and outsourcing, notwithstanding the effects of the state-sanctioned 10-Year CBA moratorium implemented since 1998.
10-Year CBA Moratorium 1998
The 10-Year suspension of PAL-PALEA CBA in 1998 was first in Philippine history, and perhaps one of the most blatant violations of ILO Conventions in the country on the right to organize and collectively bargain.
The management, with full blessings from the government, used the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the crippling pilot strike in 1998 against union-busting as pretext to force the issue of a moratorium despite strong opposition from PAL employees and the Philippine labor movement as a whole.
“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court came out with a surprisingly controversial decision affirming the validity of the CBA suspension,” Rivera said.
The decision created the jurisprudence that a CBA contract can be suspended even beyond its mandated lifetime. The decision also put PAL workers in limbo on how to exercise their Constitutionally-mandated right to organize, collectively bargain, and to strike.
As a consequence, internal conflict arose in the union afterwards as the management refused to recognize the new set of officers that won the union elections in April 2002, in clear violation of Conventions 87 and 98. The case remains pending before the Supreme Court.
On June 1998, PAL workers were rendered defenseless against the first wave of retrenchment which affected some 5,000 employees out of the approximately 14,000 employees before the 1998 strike. Included from those retrenched were some 1,400 flight attendants who were members of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP), who, just recently won a Supreme Court decision against illegal dismissal.
Spin-off 2001
On 2001, the Maintenance and Engineering Department was spun-off to a joint venture of Lufthansa Technik Philippines and MacroAsia Airport Services where PAL owner Lucio Tan Sr. also holds interests. MacroAsia’s Chairman of the Board is Lucio Tan, Jr., its President and CEO is Joseph Chua, the son-in law, while PAL President Jaime Bautista is the Treasurer. As a result, former PAL employees and PALEA members were terminated from PAL and rehired as contractual employees for Lufthansa Technik, and MacroAsia, of course, without the rights and benefits they previously enjoyed as PAL and unionized employees.
“The move was a classic example of how the PAL management has managed to implement contractualization scheme in the airline business effectively undercutting labor rights and undermining the Union existence,” lamented Rivera.
Spin-off 2009
PAL employees fear that the same spin-off and outsourcing scheme is going to happen now. This time, however, there is only a world recession to blame but no crippling strike the management can condemn. “Yet, there is a contractualization scheme to impose to once again to make labor assume the burden of flawed management decisions since the time PAL was privatized in the early 90s,” said Rivera.
In a Labor Management Council Meeting held last September 8, 2009, the PAL President & COO told the Union that the management has already invited prospective bidders for those departments targeted for spin-off. Again, as expected, one interested bidder is Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Airport Services.
“It seems 10 years of labor sacrifice were not yet enough. Again, to save PAL from its current financial mess, the management is asking PAL employees to bleed some more,” explained Rivera.
Today, the PAL union has put forward the following recommendations as the ILO High level mission is set to meet with concerned government bodies and employers’ representatives.
1. For the Malacanang to certify as priority bill the passage of the proposed Security of Tenure bill and for Congress to pass the same in order to align the Labor Code to the letter and spirit of Convention 87 and 98. The security of tenure bill seeks to amend the pertinent provisions of the Labor Code to strictly regulate the practice of labor contracting and plug the loopholes in the law.
2. For the Labor Department to review Department Order No 18 specifying allowable and illegal forms of labor contracting. The Department Order has significantly liberalized the scope of legal contracting, thus giving legal blanket to outsourcing such as the PAL spinoff even if it weakens unions.
3. For the PAL management to suspend the planned outsourcing/spin-off.
4. For the Supreme Court to decide with dispatch on GR 155097 on the local election dispute within PALEA considering the inordinately long time of 7 years.
5. For the Congress and the Supreme Court to consider forming a special court or special division to handle purely labor cases to expedite the disposition of mounting cases at the NLRC, Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court.
24 September 2009
Rampant violation of labor rights in the country is most probably the cause why the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) High Level Mission to the Philippines is swamped by many complaints that go beyond the mission’s specific mandate of looking into the eight particular cases brought before the body in 2007.
Once such additional complaint is from Philippine Airline employees who face a second wave of mass retrenchment due to the management’s planned spin-off of its ground handling operations and other functions beginning November 15, 2009.
Philippine Airlines Employees Association of the Philippines (PALEA) president, Gerry Rivera, said the ILO forum yesterday was very memorable for them since it was also on September 23, 1998 that PAL ceased its operations and sent termination notices to its employees. This was after employees rejected Lucio Tan’s proposal to offer stocks options to its employees and three seats in the Board of Directors, on the condition that all the existing Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) with its employees would be suspended for 10 years.
Upon intervention from Malacanang, however, employees were forced to accept the CBA suspension. Rivera, who is also the Vice President of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), said “the continuing saga of contractualization and labor rights violation all began from here.”
Another round of retrenchment in the offing
The PALEA leader disclosed that on September 9, 2009, Philippine Airlines President & Chief Operating Officer, Jaime J. Bautista, in a memorandum, informed the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) of the management’s plan to outsource/spin-off some operational units. The memorandum is but a formalization of the company’s earlier verbal notices to the Union.
Citing heavy losses and to prevent further bleeding, PAL is planning to outsource/spin-off the Catering, Passenger Handling, Ramp Handling and Cargo Handling operations. The management is also studying the possibility of doing the same to other functions such as the Information Technology, Revenue Accounting, Reservations and Call Centers, Medical and other Human Resources Operations.
“Once implemented, this second wave of outsourcing/spin-off will affect the job security of some 2,000 – 4,000 PAL employees currently assigned in those departments. And expected to be done under the same scheme that the management had employed in 2001, the remaining 7,000 PAL employees are therefore in for another round of mass retrenchment,” said Rivera.
Worse, adds Rivera, the plan may cast the proverbial last nail on the coffin for the PAL union which, for the last ten years, has been weakened and undermined by previous spin-offs and outsourcing, notwithstanding the effects of the state-sanctioned 10-Year CBA moratorium implemented since 1998.
10-Year CBA Moratorium 1998
The 10-Year suspension of PAL-PALEA CBA in 1998 was first in Philippine history, and perhaps one of the most blatant violations of ILO Conventions in the country on the right to organize and collectively bargain.
The management, with full blessings from the government, used the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the crippling pilot strike in 1998 against union-busting as pretext to force the issue of a moratorium despite strong opposition from PAL employees and the Philippine labor movement as a whole.
“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court came out with a surprisingly controversial decision affirming the validity of the CBA suspension,” Rivera said.
The decision created the jurisprudence that a CBA contract can be suspended even beyond its mandated lifetime. The decision also put PAL workers in limbo on how to exercise their Constitutionally-mandated right to organize, collectively bargain, and to strike.
As a consequence, internal conflict arose in the union afterwards as the management refused to recognize the new set of officers that won the union elections in April 2002, in clear violation of Conventions 87 and 98. The case remains pending before the Supreme Court.
On June 1998, PAL workers were rendered defenseless against the first wave of retrenchment which affected some 5,000 employees out of the approximately 14,000 employees before the 1998 strike. Included from those retrenched were some 1,400 flight attendants who were members of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP), who, just recently won a Supreme Court decision against illegal dismissal.
Spin-off 2001
On 2001, the Maintenance and Engineering Department was spun-off to a joint venture of Lufthansa Technik Philippines and MacroAsia Airport Services where PAL owner Lucio Tan Sr. also holds interests. MacroAsia’s Chairman of the Board is Lucio Tan, Jr., its President and CEO is Joseph Chua, the son-in law, while PAL President Jaime Bautista is the Treasurer. As a result, former PAL employees and PALEA members were terminated from PAL and rehired as contractual employees for Lufthansa Technik, and MacroAsia, of course, without the rights and benefits they previously enjoyed as PAL and unionized employees.
“The move was a classic example of how the PAL management has managed to implement contractualization scheme in the airline business effectively undercutting labor rights and undermining the Union existence,” lamented Rivera.
Spin-off 2009
PAL employees fear that the same spin-off and outsourcing scheme is going to happen now. This time, however, there is only a world recession to blame but no crippling strike the management can condemn. “Yet, there is a contractualization scheme to impose to once again to make labor assume the burden of flawed management decisions since the time PAL was privatized in the early 90s,” said Rivera.
In a Labor Management Council Meeting held last September 8, 2009, the PAL President & COO told the Union that the management has already invited prospective bidders for those departments targeted for spin-off. Again, as expected, one interested bidder is Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Airport Services.
“It seems 10 years of labor sacrifice were not yet enough. Again, to save PAL from its current financial mess, the management is asking PAL employees to bleed some more,” explained Rivera.
Today, the PAL union has put forward the following recommendations as the ILO High level mission is set to meet with concerned government bodies and employers’ representatives.
1. For the Malacanang to certify as priority bill the passage of the proposed Security of Tenure bill and for Congress to pass the same in order to align the Labor Code to the letter and spirit of Convention 87 and 98. The security of tenure bill seeks to amend the pertinent provisions of the Labor Code to strictly regulate the practice of labor contracting and plug the loopholes in the law.
2. For the Labor Department to review Department Order No 18 specifying allowable and illegal forms of labor contracting. The Department Order has significantly liberalized the scope of legal contracting, thus giving legal blanket to outsourcing such as the PAL spinoff even if it weakens unions.
3. For the PAL management to suspend the planned outsourcing/spin-off.
4. For the Supreme Court to decide with dispatch on GR 155097 on the local election dispute within PALEA considering the inordinately long time of 7 years.
5. For the Congress and the Supreme Court to consider forming a special court or special division to handle purely labor cases to expedite the disposition of mounting cases at the NLRC, Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Case of laid off garments workers in Cebu presented to ILO mission
Press Release
September 23, 2009
In a meeting today with the International Labor Organization High Level Mission (ILO HLM) at the RCBC Plaza in Makati, Renato Magtubo, chairperson of the Partido ng Manggagawa, presented the case of laid off garments workers in Cebu as a “graphic example of violation of Convention 87 on the freedom of self-organization.”
The laid off workers were from Alta Mode, a garments export firm that subcontracts for Abercrombie & Fitch and Adidas among other multinational corporations. In a press conference today in Mactan City, members of the Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU) called on the ILO HLM to investigate the “unwritten no union, no strike policy” in export zones.
According to Renante Pelino, AMWU president, “Our experience is just one among many similar cases of employer interference with government connivance in the workers exercise of the freedom of self-organization. No single union represents the tens of thousands of workers in the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ). In the 30 years of MEZ, no union has been able to survive and gain status as bargaining representative of workers.”
Yesterday AMWU members barged into the MEZ compound and started a campout at the gates of the Alta Mode factory as a form of protest and to guard against any attempt at runaway shop. They are now on their second day of a “Campout for Union Rights.”
Magtubo cited the following as Convention 87 issues regarding Alta Mode:
1. Two days before the certification election last September 7, a meeting was held of Alta Mode workers under the guise of an assembly of cooperative members. The meeting’s agenda was not cooperative matters but the certification elections and the need to defeat the AMWU in the vote.
2. On the day of the certification election, all the union members were put on forced leave. Article 248 (e) of the Labor Code states that it is unfair labor practice to discriminate in regard to wages, hours of work, and other terms and conditions of employment in order to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization.
3. AMWU members were the first batch of workers to vote in the certification election but since they were on forced leave they were not allowed into the production area. Supervisors and managers were free to make a last-minute campaign among the workers since no union members were in the shop floor.
4. AMWU won 107 votes, “no union” got 88 votes but the certification election remains unresolved since 27 challenged ballots are not yet counted. These ballots were cast by supervisory employees, line leaders and contractual workers who AMWU alleges are not part of the bargaining unit.
5. Four days after the certification elections, Alta Mode went on a six-month temporary shutdown. AMWU filed a notice of strike on the basis of union busting and members unanimously voted to go on strike. But due to the restrictions of the Labor Code, AMWU could not immediately go on strike despite union busting by the employer. Further, if AMWU did go on strike, workers cannot setup a picket at the factory gates since they will not be allowed inside the MEZ compound since there are temporarily out of work.
September 23, 2009
In a meeting today with the International Labor Organization High Level Mission (ILO HLM) at the RCBC Plaza in Makati, Renato Magtubo, chairperson of the Partido ng Manggagawa, presented the case of laid off garments workers in Cebu as a “graphic example of violation of Convention 87 on the freedom of self-organization.”
The laid off workers were from Alta Mode, a garments export firm that subcontracts for Abercrombie & Fitch and Adidas among other multinational corporations. In a press conference today in Mactan City, members of the Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU) called on the ILO HLM to investigate the “unwritten no union, no strike policy” in export zones.
According to Renante Pelino, AMWU president, “Our experience is just one among many similar cases of employer interference with government connivance in the workers exercise of the freedom of self-organization. No single union represents the tens of thousands of workers in the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ). In the 30 years of MEZ, no union has been able to survive and gain status as bargaining representative of workers.”
Yesterday AMWU members barged into the MEZ compound and started a campout at the gates of the Alta Mode factory as a form of protest and to guard against any attempt at runaway shop. They are now on their second day of a “Campout for Union Rights.”
Magtubo cited the following as Convention 87 issues regarding Alta Mode:
1. Two days before the certification election last September 7, a meeting was held of Alta Mode workers under the guise of an assembly of cooperative members. The meeting’s agenda was not cooperative matters but the certification elections and the need to defeat the AMWU in the vote.
2. On the day of the certification election, all the union members were put on forced leave. Article 248 (e) of the Labor Code states that it is unfair labor practice to discriminate in regard to wages, hours of work, and other terms and conditions of employment in order to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization.
3. AMWU members were the first batch of workers to vote in the certification election but since they were on forced leave they were not allowed into the production area. Supervisors and managers were free to make a last-minute campaign among the workers since no union members were in the shop floor.
4. AMWU won 107 votes, “no union” got 88 votes but the certification election remains unresolved since 27 challenged ballots are not yet counted. These ballots were cast by supervisory employees, line leaders and contractual workers who AMWU alleges are not part of the bargaining unit.
5. Four days after the certification elections, Alta Mode went on a six-month temporary shutdown. AMWU filed a notice of strike on the basis of union busting and members unanimously voted to go on strike. But due to the restrictions of the Labor Code, AMWU could not immediately go on strike despite union busting by the employer. Further, if AMWU did go on strike, workers cannot setup a picket at the factory gates since they will not be allowed inside the MEZ compound since there are temporarily out of work.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Laid off garments workers barge into Cebu export zone, discover possible runaway shop
Press Release
September 22, 2009
Some 100 workers of a garments factory that went on a temporary shutdown more than a week ago barged into the compound of the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) around 7:30 am today and setup a picket at the gates of their company. The protesting workers of Alta Mode, which exports clothes under world-famous brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister, discovered a truck within the factory premises that is being filled up by materials and they suspect it might be an attempt at a runaway shop.
Renante Pelino, president of the Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU), declared that “The truck is from a scrap dealer but it is possible they might spirit out machines in the guise of scrap materials. We warn our employer and the dealer that they will be liable for unfair labor practice if they attempt to transfer machines for a runway shop. We will not let that truck leave with machines and materials on board.”
Officials of the Aboitiz Land which leases the MEZ II compound to the Philippine Economic Zone have met the workers and asked them to leave pending resolution of the dispute. The workers however refused and vowed to keep guard at the Alta Mode factory gate and not leave without an agreement on their demands. The workers brought with them food, water and supplies for an indefinite campout.
AMWU is demanding that management recognize the union, honor the memorandum of agreement (MOA) forged last September 8 providing for work rotation and financial assistance for workers who will be put on forced leave, and finally for access by two union officers to the factory during the duration of the six-month temporary shutdown.
The Alta Mode factory has been rocked by labor unrest this year with workers complaining of inhuman working conditions such as excessive production quota, illegal forced leave and unfair schemes for undertime work. The workers organized a union but on the day of the certifications elections last September 7, management put all union members on forced leave. Still AMWU got 107 votes compared to 88 “no union” ballots cast but the certification elections remain unresolved since 27 challenged ballots remain uncounted.
Immediately after the elections, AMWU went into a 24-hour sitdown protest that ended with a MOA to put half of the union members back to work. However management reneged on the MOA by declaring a six-month temporary shutdown starting September 11. The union has a filed notice of strike and members have unanimously voted to go on strike.
Alta Mode has sister garments companies called Frankhaus International Corp. and MK Corp. operating in Taytay, Rizal. AMWU suspects that the temporary shutdown is a ruse to shift work to the sister companies and bust the union in Cebu.
September 22, 2009
Some 100 workers of a garments factory that went on a temporary shutdown more than a week ago barged into the compound of the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) around 7:30 am today and setup a picket at the gates of their company. The protesting workers of Alta Mode, which exports clothes under world-famous brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister, discovered a truck within the factory premises that is being filled up by materials and they suspect it might be an attempt at a runaway shop.
Renante Pelino, president of the Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU), declared that “The truck is from a scrap dealer but it is possible they might spirit out machines in the guise of scrap materials. We warn our employer and the dealer that they will be liable for unfair labor practice if they attempt to transfer machines for a runway shop. We will not let that truck leave with machines and materials on board.”
Officials of the Aboitiz Land which leases the MEZ II compound to the Philippine Economic Zone have met the workers and asked them to leave pending resolution of the dispute. The workers however refused and vowed to keep guard at the Alta Mode factory gate and not leave without an agreement on their demands. The workers brought with them food, water and supplies for an indefinite campout.
AMWU is demanding that management recognize the union, honor the memorandum of agreement (MOA) forged last September 8 providing for work rotation and financial assistance for workers who will be put on forced leave, and finally for access by two union officers to the factory during the duration of the six-month temporary shutdown.
The Alta Mode factory has been rocked by labor unrest this year with workers complaining of inhuman working conditions such as excessive production quota, illegal forced leave and unfair schemes for undertime work. The workers organized a union but on the day of the certifications elections last September 7, management put all union members on forced leave. Still AMWU got 107 votes compared to 88 “no union” ballots cast but the certification elections remain unresolved since 27 challenged ballots remain uncounted.
Immediately after the elections, AMWU went into a 24-hour sitdown protest that ended with a MOA to put half of the union members back to work. However management reneged on the MOA by declaring a six-month temporary shutdown starting September 11. The union has a filed notice of strike and members have unanimously voted to go on strike.
Alta Mode has sister garments companies called Frankhaus International Corp. and MK Corp. operating in Taytay, Rizal. AMWU suspects that the temporary shutdown is a ruse to shift work to the sister companies and bust the union in Cebu.
PAL employees hold motorcade vs. spinoff, call attention of ILO
Press Release
September 22, 2009
PAL Employees Association
Philippines Airlines (PAL) employees held a motorcade today in a protest against the spinoff to be implemented on November 15. An estimated 2,000 employees, about half of the total PAL workforce, will be retrenched due to the spinoff of the catering, passenger handling, ramp handling and cargo handling operations.
The “Motorcade Kontra Spinoff” of some 40 cars and motorcycles started assembling at 10:30 am in the Coastal Mall in the intersection Coastal Road and Airport Road. By noon the motorcade then proceeded along the Diosdado Macapagal Ave. in Pasay City to the PAL Center located at the PNB Compound. It then moved on to Nichols airport terminal and finally ended at the PAL In Flight Center (IFC) along Airport Road in Paranaque.
Gerry Rivera, president of the PAL Employees Association (PALEA), said that “Spinoff aims to outsource work to companies also owned by Lucio Tan where workers will be non-union and thus receive cheaper wages, fewer benefits and have no security of tenure. Regular workers will be retired and then rehired as contractuals. This has happened before when work was spun off to Lufthansa Technik and Macro Asia, in which Lucio Tan both had major interests. Employees retrenched from PAL because of the spinoff were employed by Macro Asia and Lufthansa Technik on new contracts.”
Last week a Rivera and the PALEA led a noise barrage at the PAL IFC to jumpstart the campaign against the spinoff. Rivera also revealed that they have organized a signature campaign versus the spinoff among PAL employees. He insisted that “Spinoff is not a solution to company losses but a scheme to contractualize labor and raise more profit not from better efficiency of work but from greater exploitation of workers.”
Meanwhile Rivera appealed to the International Labor Organization High Level Mission (ILO HLM) to investigate the case of PAL since management’s suspension of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and spinoff of operations has weakened one of the erstwhile strongest unions in the country. The ILO HLM is tasked to hear complaints of government’s violations of Convention 87 on the freedom to unionize and Convention 98 on right of collective bargaining.
According to Rivera, in 1998 PAL with the connivance of a government formed Inter-Agency Task Force pressured the PALEA into suspending the CBA for 10 years. Rivera, then PALEA vice-president, questioned the CBA suspension on grounds that the right to self-organization and collective bargaining, being founded on public policy, cannot be waived. But the Supreme Court in a precedent-setting decision affirmed the 10-year CBA suspension despite clear provisions of the labor code that 5 years is the maximum statutory life of a CBA and 5 years is the maximum period for a sole and exclusive bargaining agent after which its representation status can be contested by another union.
Rivera is also calling the attention of the ILO HLM on the results of the elections for union officers of PALEA that has remained in limbo for 7 years since 2002. The case has remained unresolved by the Supreme Court effectively paralyzing the operations of the union and giving management an alibi to deny representation status to PALEA.
September 22, 2009
PAL Employees Association
Philippines Airlines (PAL) employees held a motorcade today in a protest against the spinoff to be implemented on November 15. An estimated 2,000 employees, about half of the total PAL workforce, will be retrenched due to the spinoff of the catering, passenger handling, ramp handling and cargo handling operations.
The “Motorcade Kontra Spinoff” of some 40 cars and motorcycles started assembling at 10:30 am in the Coastal Mall in the intersection Coastal Road and Airport Road. By noon the motorcade then proceeded along the Diosdado Macapagal Ave. in Pasay City to the PAL Center located at the PNB Compound. It then moved on to Nichols airport terminal and finally ended at the PAL In Flight Center (IFC) along Airport Road in Paranaque.
Gerry Rivera, president of the PAL Employees Association (PALEA), said that “Spinoff aims to outsource work to companies also owned by Lucio Tan where workers will be non-union and thus receive cheaper wages, fewer benefits and have no security of tenure. Regular workers will be retired and then rehired as contractuals. This has happened before when work was spun off to Lufthansa Technik and Macro Asia, in which Lucio Tan both had major interests. Employees retrenched from PAL because of the spinoff were employed by Macro Asia and Lufthansa Technik on new contracts.”
Last week a Rivera and the PALEA led a noise barrage at the PAL IFC to jumpstart the campaign against the spinoff. Rivera also revealed that they have organized a signature campaign versus the spinoff among PAL employees. He insisted that “Spinoff is not a solution to company losses but a scheme to contractualize labor and raise more profit not from better efficiency of work but from greater exploitation of workers.”
Meanwhile Rivera appealed to the International Labor Organization High Level Mission (ILO HLM) to investigate the case of PAL since management’s suspension of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and spinoff of operations has weakened one of the erstwhile strongest unions in the country. The ILO HLM is tasked to hear complaints of government’s violations of Convention 87 on the freedom to unionize and Convention 98 on right of collective bargaining.
According to Rivera, in 1998 PAL with the connivance of a government formed Inter-Agency Task Force pressured the PALEA into suspending the CBA for 10 years. Rivera, then PALEA vice-president, questioned the CBA suspension on grounds that the right to self-organization and collective bargaining, being founded on public policy, cannot be waived. But the Supreme Court in a precedent-setting decision affirmed the 10-year CBA suspension despite clear provisions of the labor code that 5 years is the maximum statutory life of a CBA and 5 years is the maximum period for a sole and exclusive bargaining agent after which its representation status can be contested by another union.
Rivera is also calling the attention of the ILO HLM on the results of the elections for union officers of PALEA that has remained in limbo for 7 years since 2002. The case has remained unresolved by the Supreme Court effectively paralyzing the operations of the union and giving management an alibi to deny representation status to PALEA.
Labor groups cry “Wakasan ang Batas Militar sa Paggawa” as ILO mission due to arrive
Press Statement
KONTRA
Labor groups under the umbrella of Kowalisyon Kontra Kontraktwalisasyon (KONTRA), the broadest trade union coalition against massive contractualization, denounced the suppression of the workers right to organize as a High Level Mission (HLM) from the International Labor Organization (ILO) is due to arrive next week.
“The Philippines is the most dangerous country for trade unionists next to Columbia,” according to a statement from the group. The ILO HLM will investigate the government’s implementation of the ILO Convention 87 on the right to self-organization on the basis of complaints of extrajudicial killings of labor rights advocates and anti-union campaigns by the military and the state.
“Martial law is alive and well in the labor front two decades after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship. Systematic violations of the right to unionize stem from the fact that the labor relations in the country is governed by a Labor Code that was designed by the Marcos dictatorship not so much to guarantee workers’ rights but to suppress them to attract and maintain investments. Ironically the ramparts of the dictatorship in were dismantled 1986 except the chains bearing down on workers,” KONTRA argued in a statement.
The groups announced that a mobilization is planned on September 21 with the theme “Wakasan ang Batas Militar sa Paggawa.” The rally will start at 9 am in Morayta, Manila. KONTRA also appealed to the ILO HLM to call the government to task for “systematic violations” of the right to organize.
The groups presented a 10-point list of issues relating to breach of Convention 87:
1. The government’s counter-insurgency program and the policies of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that brands some trade unions as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines;
2. The constraints to organizing in the Export Processing Zones that has a de facto “no-union, no-strike policy”;
3. The use and abuse of the Assumption of Jurisdiction statute for its scope, which is well beyond essential services, and for its arbitrary implementation;
4. The use of libel, sedition and other criminal charges against unionists;
5. The implementation of RA 9481 that sought to strengthen workers' right to self-organization but was negated by the implementing rules issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE);
6. The government’s definition of what encompasses a strike and how workers’ freedom of expression was effectively curtailed;
7. The rampant use of contractual labor as union avoidance and union busting techniques;
8. The restrictions imposed by EO 180 on public sector workers’ right to organize;
9. The Public Sector Labor Management Council Resolution No. 1, which redefined the bargaining unit in the public sector, thus further constraining the exercise of collective bargaining;
10. The continuing absence of codified set of laws or work standards governing all public sector workers.
KONTRA is made up of the groups APL, CIU, KPMP, MALABAYAN, PM, PSLINK among others.
KONTRA
Labor groups under the umbrella of Kowalisyon Kontra Kontraktwalisasyon (KONTRA), the broadest trade union coalition against massive contractualization, denounced the suppression of the workers right to organize as a High Level Mission (HLM) from the International Labor Organization (ILO) is due to arrive next week.
“The Philippines is the most dangerous country for trade unionists next to Columbia,” according to a statement from the group. The ILO HLM will investigate the government’s implementation of the ILO Convention 87 on the right to self-organization on the basis of complaints of extrajudicial killings of labor rights advocates and anti-union campaigns by the military and the state.
“Martial law is alive and well in the labor front two decades after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship. Systematic violations of the right to unionize stem from the fact that the labor relations in the country is governed by a Labor Code that was designed by the Marcos dictatorship not so much to guarantee workers’ rights but to suppress them to attract and maintain investments. Ironically the ramparts of the dictatorship in were dismantled 1986 except the chains bearing down on workers,” KONTRA argued in a statement.
The groups announced that a mobilization is planned on September 21 with the theme “Wakasan ang Batas Militar sa Paggawa.” The rally will start at 9 am in Morayta, Manila. KONTRA also appealed to the ILO HLM to call the government to task for “systematic violations” of the right to organize.
The groups presented a 10-point list of issues relating to breach of Convention 87:
1. The government’s counter-insurgency program and the policies of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that brands some trade unions as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines;
2. The constraints to organizing in the Export Processing Zones that has a de facto “no-union, no-strike policy”;
3. The use and abuse of the Assumption of Jurisdiction statute for its scope, which is well beyond essential services, and for its arbitrary implementation;
4. The use of libel, sedition and other criminal charges against unionists;
5. The implementation of RA 9481 that sought to strengthen workers' right to self-organization but was negated by the implementing rules issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE);
6. The government’s definition of what encompasses a strike and how workers’ freedom of expression was effectively curtailed;
7. The rampant use of contractual labor as union avoidance and union busting techniques;
8. The restrictions imposed by EO 180 on public sector workers’ right to organize;
9. The Public Sector Labor Management Council Resolution No. 1, which redefined the bargaining unit in the public sector, thus further constraining the exercise of collective bargaining;
10. The continuing absence of codified set of laws or work standards governing all public sector workers.
KONTRA is made up of the groups APL, CIU, KPMP, MALABAYAN, PM, PSLINK among others.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Labor party calls for changes to martial law-era labor code
Press Release
September 21, 2009
On the anniversary of the declaration of martial law, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called for major changes in the labor code in the interest of advancing workers rights and welfare. “It is ironic that even as we vow never again to repeat the tragedy of martial law, the 1974 labor code remains in force as an enduring legacy of the dictatorship and a tight chain on the hands of the workers. The 1986 Edsa revolution dismantled many ramparts of the Marcos dictatorship and revived the trappings of elite democracy but it retained the labor code in order to restrict the freedoms of workers,” argued Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM.
PM together with other labor groups under the KONTRA coalition formed to campaign against contractualization mobilized today several hundreds of workers. Theme of the workers rally was “Wakasan ang Batas Militar sa Paggawa.” The KONTRA mobilization assembled around 9 am at Morayta in Manila before proceeding to Mendiola by 10 am.
“The urgency of revising the martial law-era labor code comes to stark relief as the International Labor Organization starts its High Level Mission on the government’s enforcement of the Convention 87 and 98 on the right to organize of workers and bargain collectively,” Magtubo explained. The ILO High Level Mission (HLM) arrives today and starts if investigation officially tomorrow.
Magtubo also issued a challenge to the presidentiables to make put in their platforms the labor issues. “For the coming election to truly be a fight between good and evil, the presidentiables must specifically commit to changes in the labor code and jurisprudence on labor in the interest of promoting workers rights and welfare. Any presidentiable who claims to be fighting for good instead of evil must be an advocate of labor,” Magtubo insisted.
PM also appealed to the ILO HLM to investigate the “no union, no strike” policy in the export zones and the contractualization of labor both of which the group claims as a hindrance to the exercise of the right to unionize and bargain. “For example, Philippine Airlines will spinoff by November 15 its catering, passenger and cargo handling operations thus affecting an estimated 2,000 workers, about half its workforce. But this is just a retire-rehire tactic to weaken the PAL union. Lucio Tan owns the companies which will continue the spun off operations but with workers who are non-union with cheaper wages, less benefits and no security of tenure,” Magtubo described.
He also clarified that in the Mactan Export Processing Zone in Cebu workers are complaining of unfair labor practices by management designed to interfere in the workers exercise of the freedom to organize. “A clear case in point is Alta Mode, a garments factory producing world famous brands like Abercrobie and Fitch and Hollister, that put on forced leave all of the union members on the day of the election for workers to decide on having a union. And several days after the union won a majority of the votes, the management put the factory on temporary shutdown in order to intimidate the workers,” Magtubo added.
September 21, 2009
On the anniversary of the declaration of martial law, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called for major changes in the labor code in the interest of advancing workers rights and welfare. “It is ironic that even as we vow never again to repeat the tragedy of martial law, the 1974 labor code remains in force as an enduring legacy of the dictatorship and a tight chain on the hands of the workers. The 1986 Edsa revolution dismantled many ramparts of the Marcos dictatorship and revived the trappings of elite democracy but it retained the labor code in order to restrict the freedoms of workers,” argued Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM.
PM together with other labor groups under the KONTRA coalition formed to campaign against contractualization mobilized today several hundreds of workers. Theme of the workers rally was “Wakasan ang Batas Militar sa Paggawa.” The KONTRA mobilization assembled around 9 am at Morayta in Manila before proceeding to Mendiola by 10 am.
“The urgency of revising the martial law-era labor code comes to stark relief as the International Labor Organization starts its High Level Mission on the government’s enforcement of the Convention 87 and 98 on the right to organize of workers and bargain collectively,” Magtubo explained. The ILO High Level Mission (HLM) arrives today and starts if investigation officially tomorrow.
Magtubo also issued a challenge to the presidentiables to make put in their platforms the labor issues. “For the coming election to truly be a fight between good and evil, the presidentiables must specifically commit to changes in the labor code and jurisprudence on labor in the interest of promoting workers rights and welfare. Any presidentiable who claims to be fighting for good instead of evil must be an advocate of labor,” Magtubo insisted.
PM also appealed to the ILO HLM to investigate the “no union, no strike” policy in the export zones and the contractualization of labor both of which the group claims as a hindrance to the exercise of the right to unionize and bargain. “For example, Philippine Airlines will spinoff by November 15 its catering, passenger and cargo handling operations thus affecting an estimated 2,000 workers, about half its workforce. But this is just a retire-rehire tactic to weaken the PAL union. Lucio Tan owns the companies which will continue the spun off operations but with workers who are non-union with cheaper wages, less benefits and no security of tenure,” Magtubo described.
He also clarified that in the Mactan Export Processing Zone in Cebu workers are complaining of unfair labor practices by management designed to interfere in the workers exercise of the freedom to organize. “A clear case in point is Alta Mode, a garments factory producing world famous brands like Abercrobie and Fitch and Hollister, that put on forced leave all of the union members on the day of the election for workers to decide on having a union. And several days after the union won a majority of the votes, the management put the factory on temporary shutdown in order to intimidate the workers,” Magtubo added.
Monday, September 14, 2009
PAL workers hold lunchtime noise barrage vs. spinoff
Press Release
September 14, 2009
Philippine Airlines (PAL) employees held a noontime noise barrage against management’s plan to spinoff major operations. The protest at the PAL In Flight Center along Airport Road in Paranaque is only the first salvo of mass actions to stop the planned spinoff, according to Gerry Rivera, PAL Employees Association (PALEA) president and vice chairperson of the labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).
“Spinoff aims to outsource work to companies also owned by Lucio Tan where workers will be non-union and thus receive cheaper wages, fewer benefits and have no security of tenure. Regular workers will be retired and then rehired as contractuals. This has happened before when work was spun off to Lufthansa Technik and Macro Asia, in which Lucio Tan both had major interests. Employees retrenched from PAL because of the spinoff was employed by Macro Asia and Lufthansa Technik on new contracts,” explained Rivera.
The planned spinoff to be implemented on November 15 will affect an estimated 2,000 workers in the airline’s catering, passenger handling, ramp handling and cargo handling operations. Rivera announced that a signature campaign against the spinoff is ongoing and beside the noontime protest today, a presscon and motorcade rally is planned for Wednesday.
Rivera insisted that “Even assuming the PAL is losing now, it however posted profits for several years before. So why is it that in times of crisis, workers are first to be sacrificed but in periods of boom, employees are last to benefit? Workers will resist paying for the price of the economic crisis that is not our fault.”
Quoting from PAL’s own website, he said that since 2000, the first year of the airlines’ rehabilitation program, it has been posting net earnings and that by 2007, it had a net income of $140.3 million for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, supposedly the largest annual profit in the airline's 66-year history.
“Spinoff is not a solution to company losses but a scheme to contractualize labor and raise more profit not from better efficiency of work but from greater exploitation of workers,” Rivera argued.
Labor contractualization is a major grievance of ordinary workers and the labor movement. PM is supporting the so-called Security of Tenure bill in Congress that provides for a cap on the number of contractual workers that can be hired by employers.
September 14, 2009
Philippine Airlines (PAL) employees held a noontime noise barrage against management’s plan to spinoff major operations. The protest at the PAL In Flight Center along Airport Road in Paranaque is only the first salvo of mass actions to stop the planned spinoff, according to Gerry Rivera, PAL Employees Association (PALEA) president and vice chairperson of the labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).
“Spinoff aims to outsource work to companies also owned by Lucio Tan where workers will be non-union and thus receive cheaper wages, fewer benefits and have no security of tenure. Regular workers will be retired and then rehired as contractuals. This has happened before when work was spun off to Lufthansa Technik and Macro Asia, in which Lucio Tan both had major interests. Employees retrenched from PAL because of the spinoff was employed by Macro Asia and Lufthansa Technik on new contracts,” explained Rivera.
The planned spinoff to be implemented on November 15 will affect an estimated 2,000 workers in the airline’s catering, passenger handling, ramp handling and cargo handling operations. Rivera announced that a signature campaign against the spinoff is ongoing and beside the noontime protest today, a presscon and motorcade rally is planned for Wednesday.
Rivera insisted that “Even assuming the PAL is losing now, it however posted profits for several years before. So why is it that in times of crisis, workers are first to be sacrificed but in periods of boom, employees are last to benefit? Workers will resist paying for the price of the economic crisis that is not our fault.”
Quoting from PAL’s own website, he said that since 2000, the first year of the airlines’ rehabilitation program, it has been posting net earnings and that by 2007, it had a net income of $140.3 million for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, supposedly the largest annual profit in the airline's 66-year history.
“Spinoff is not a solution to company losses but a scheme to contractualize labor and raise more profit not from better efficiency of work but from greater exploitation of workers,” Rivera argued.
Labor contractualization is a major grievance of ordinary workers and the labor movement. PM is supporting the so-called Security of Tenure bill in Congress that provides for a cap on the number of contractual workers that can be hired by employers.
Labor unrest brewing vs. PAL spinoff
PRESS RELEASE
September 13, 2009
Rank and file workers of the Philippine Airlines are flexing their muscles against imminent job loss after the management bared its plan to implement a major restructuring program before the end of this year.
Gerry Rivera, PAL Employees Association (PALEA) president and vice chairperson of the labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) is leading a noontime protest tomorrow to be held at the PAL In Flight Center, Airport Road, Paranaque City against what the union bewails as Lucio Tan’s predilection of throwing the weight of his corporate problems to the workers.
A signature campaign against the spinoff is also ongoing and after the noontime protest tomorrow, a press conference followed by a motorcade rally is tentatively scheduled on Wednesday.
Last September 9, the PAL management informed its employees that a spinoff will be implemented beginning November 15. The planned spinoff will affect an estimated 2,000 workers —almost half of the total workforce in the airline’s catering, passenger handling, ramp handling and cargo handling operations.
PAL is currently reviewing its entire organizational set-up to make the workforce “lean and mean," after suffering heavy losses this year. A company statement said that as of end-March this year, the airline posted $301.4 million in losses. According to Flight's ACAS database, PAL had 7,751 employees in 2007.
PAL employees are resisting the planned spinoff as they believe that its main aim is to bust the union by outsourcing those work to companies that are also owned by Lucio Tan such as MacroAsia Corp. where workers are non-unionized, receive cheaper wages, less benefits and without security of tenure.
“More than 5,000 of our employees suffered this onslaught ten years ago and we see it coming again on the same pretext that the company used to justify massive outsourcing plan before,” explained Rivera.
Rivera pointed out that since catering, passenger, cargo and ramp handling operations cannot be replaced by modern machines, “the management can only think of replacing secured and trained workers with contractual ‘modern-day slaves’ to cut down on costs.”
“This is unacceptable,” Rivera declared, insisting that labor should not be made the usual sacrificial lamb in every corporate restructuring programs.
“Why put everything on our shoulders? Corporations worldwide had been bailed out many times over, why can’t the same be done to workers who are the very lifeblood of this dying system,” concludes Rivera.
September 13, 2009
Rank and file workers of the Philippine Airlines are flexing their muscles against imminent job loss after the management bared its plan to implement a major restructuring program before the end of this year.
Gerry Rivera, PAL Employees Association (PALEA) president and vice chairperson of the labor party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) is leading a noontime protest tomorrow to be held at the PAL In Flight Center, Airport Road, Paranaque City against what the union bewails as Lucio Tan’s predilection of throwing the weight of his corporate problems to the workers.
A signature campaign against the spinoff is also ongoing and after the noontime protest tomorrow, a press conference followed by a motorcade rally is tentatively scheduled on Wednesday.
Last September 9, the PAL management informed its employees that a spinoff will be implemented beginning November 15. The planned spinoff will affect an estimated 2,000 workers —almost half of the total workforce in the airline’s catering, passenger handling, ramp handling and cargo handling operations.
PAL is currently reviewing its entire organizational set-up to make the workforce “lean and mean," after suffering heavy losses this year. A company statement said that as of end-March this year, the airline posted $301.4 million in losses. According to Flight's ACAS database, PAL had 7,751 employees in 2007.
PAL employees are resisting the planned spinoff as they believe that its main aim is to bust the union by outsourcing those work to companies that are also owned by Lucio Tan such as MacroAsia Corp. where workers are non-unionized, receive cheaper wages, less benefits and without security of tenure.
“More than 5,000 of our employees suffered this onslaught ten years ago and we see it coming again on the same pretext that the company used to justify massive outsourcing plan before,” explained Rivera.
Rivera pointed out that since catering, passenger, cargo and ramp handling operations cannot be replaced by modern machines, “the management can only think of replacing secured and trained workers with contractual ‘modern-day slaves’ to cut down on costs.”
“This is unacceptable,” Rivera declared, insisting that labor should not be made the usual sacrificial lamb in every corporate restructuring programs.
“Why put everything on our shoulders? Corporations worldwide had been bailed out many times over, why can’t the same be done to workers who are the very lifeblood of this dying system,” concludes Rivera.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Hundreds of poor residents along South Rail and Manila Bay hold rally at HUDCC
Press Release
September 10, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
Some 500 urban poor residents living along the South Rail in Laguna, Batangas and Cavite, and along the coastlines of Manila Bay held a rally at the Makati office of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and a dialogue with housing officials on their demand for decent housing and livelihood opportunities.
Romy Cabugnason, spokesperson of Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP), said that “Thousands of families will be displaced by demolitions along the Calabarzon areas of South Rail and Manila Bay to give way to rehabilitation of the railway and clean up of the bay. But the urban poor are not garbage that should be thrown away to give way to so-called development. There is no real progress unless there is social justice.”
The Calabarzon urban poor assembled at Magallanes in Makati around noon and then marched to the HUDCC office by 1:00 pm. They then held a dialogue at 2:00 pm with HUDCC officials regarding their demands.
The residents along the Manila Bay are asking for in-city relocation, alternative forms of fishing for livelihood, and financial assistance for relocation, livelihood and social services. While the demands of the urban poor along the South Rail line are the release of the funds meant for relocatees, sale to informal settlers of the Philippine National Railroad lands that will not be used in the rehabilitation, and representation in the inter-agency committee on relocation.
Members of Alyansa ng Mamamayan na Apektado ng Road 1 (AMAR-1), Samahang Mamamayan Naninirahan sa Riles ng Calabarzon (SMPRC) and Partido ng Manggagawa joined AMP in the march, rally and dialogue. The protesters came from the towns of Calamba, Los Baños and Bae in Laguna, Sto. Tomas and Tanauan in Batangas, and Bacoor, Kawit, Cavite City, Rosario and Tanza in Cavite.
Demolition of fishing communities along the Cavite coastline of Manila Bay was supposed to start yesterday as per the notices sent to residents promting the urban poor to hold a rally and dialogue with HUDCC officials. Preparation for eviction of residents along the South Rail starting from Calamba are also underway.
Cabugnason explained that “We are merely asking for the social cost of these development plans that should already be factored into the project cost. The urban poor demands amount to only a small portion of these multibillion projects.” The South Rail projects costs more than P 40 billion with an allotment around P 1.8 billion for relocation. The government meanwhile recently allocated P 1.6 billion for the Manila Bay clean up, of which P 250 million is for relocation of informal settlers on open waterways in Metro Manila.
September 10, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
Some 500 urban poor residents living along the South Rail in Laguna, Batangas and Cavite, and along the coastlines of Manila Bay held a rally at the Makati office of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and a dialogue with housing officials on their demand for decent housing and livelihood opportunities.
Romy Cabugnason, spokesperson of Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP), said that “Thousands of families will be displaced by demolitions along the Calabarzon areas of South Rail and Manila Bay to give way to rehabilitation of the railway and clean up of the bay. But the urban poor are not garbage that should be thrown away to give way to so-called development. There is no real progress unless there is social justice.”
The Calabarzon urban poor assembled at Magallanes in Makati around noon and then marched to the HUDCC office by 1:00 pm. They then held a dialogue at 2:00 pm with HUDCC officials regarding their demands.
The residents along the Manila Bay are asking for in-city relocation, alternative forms of fishing for livelihood, and financial assistance for relocation, livelihood and social services. While the demands of the urban poor along the South Rail line are the release of the funds meant for relocatees, sale to informal settlers of the Philippine National Railroad lands that will not be used in the rehabilitation, and representation in the inter-agency committee on relocation.
Members of Alyansa ng Mamamayan na Apektado ng Road 1 (AMAR-1), Samahang Mamamayan Naninirahan sa Riles ng Calabarzon (SMPRC) and Partido ng Manggagawa joined AMP in the march, rally and dialogue. The protesters came from the towns of Calamba, Los Baños and Bae in Laguna, Sto. Tomas and Tanauan in Batangas, and Bacoor, Kawit, Cavite City, Rosario and Tanza in Cavite.
Demolition of fishing communities along the Cavite coastline of Manila Bay was supposed to start yesterday as per the notices sent to residents promting the urban poor to hold a rally and dialogue with HUDCC officials. Preparation for eviction of residents along the South Rail starting from Calamba are also underway.
Cabugnason explained that “We are merely asking for the social cost of these development plans that should already be factored into the project cost. The urban poor demands amount to only a small portion of these multibillion projects.” The South Rail projects costs more than P 40 billion with an allotment around P 1.8 billion for relocation. The government meanwhile recently allocated P 1.6 billion for the Manila Bay clean up, of which P 250 million is for relocation of informal settlers on open waterways in Metro Manila.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
ILO asked to investigate workers rights violations at export zones
Press Release
September 9, 2009
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) asked the International Labor Organization (ILO) High Level Mission due to arrive on September 22 to investigate violations of the right to unionize at the export zones and industrial estates. Renato Magtubo, PM Chairperson, stated that “The Philippines is signatory to ILO Convention No. 87 which obliges governments to guarantee the right to self-organization of workers. That right is blatantly violated by the unwritten no union policy at the export zones and industrial estates in order to attract foreign investments.”
PM is pointing to the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in Cebu as a case in point. Magtubo explained, “No single union presently exists within MEZ despite being in operation for three decades since it opened in 1979. In the latest attempt at organizing, all union members at the Alta Mode factory in MEZ were all put on forced leave on the day that the workers were to vote to certify the union as bargaining agent. The Labor Department did not lift a finger despite such being a violation of Article 248 (e) of the Labor Code which provides that it is unfair labor practice to discriminate in regard to wages, hours of work, and other terms and conditions of employment in order to discourage union membership.”
In a related development, some 100 members of the Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU) staged a sit down protest starting Monday afternoon to protest the forced leave. The 24-hour factory occupation ended early evening yesterday with management acceding to workers demands to implement a work rotation scheme instead of forced leave and to provide financial assistance to workers who cannot be absorbed through work rotation. Renante Pelino, AMWU president, elaborated that “Half of the union membership will now be put back to work through work rotation and the rest will be given P500 every week in assistance, half as cash advance and the other half for free. Such a victory is not possible without the courage and militance of the workers.”
Magtubo added that last Friday, a worker leading a union organizing drive was retrenched in a mass layoff of some 1,000 workers at the Taiwanese-owned Sports City conglomerate of garments factories that includes Metroware, Mactan Apparel, Fedder Apparel and Global. Jose Pelino, a worker at Metroware, claims he was singled out for dismissal due to his organizing work. He alleges that he was under intense observation by management for the last two weeks and furthermore he was conspicuously tailed by men in two motorcycles on his way home on the very day of his dismissal. Magtubo pointed out that Pelino has reported the harassment incident and his complaint of illegal dismissal to the Labor Department but no action has yet been taken.
Magtubo also emphasized that the contractualization of workers have become a barrier to union organizing, especially in the export zones and industrial estates. “Contractual workers work side by side in with regular workers in the factories, with the former frequently outnumbering the latter, practically an insurmountable hindrance to unionization. For example, Cebu General Services and Nozumi are the two biggest agencies supplying thousands of contractual workers to factories in MEZ and the giant Mitzumi electronics plant in Danao, all of which have no unions,” he clarified.
The union elections at Alta Mode, a subcontractor for garments brands like Adidas, Reebok and Abercrombie & Fitch, remains inconclusive, Magtubo emphasized. In the certification elections, 107 voted for AMWU while 88 chose no union but 27 ballots remain uncounted since they were challenged by the union since they were cast by supervisory employees, line leaders and contractual workers which are not supposed to be part of the bargaining unit.
September 9, 2009
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) asked the International Labor Organization (ILO) High Level Mission due to arrive on September 22 to investigate violations of the right to unionize at the export zones and industrial estates. Renato Magtubo, PM Chairperson, stated that “The Philippines is signatory to ILO Convention No. 87 which obliges governments to guarantee the right to self-organization of workers. That right is blatantly violated by the unwritten no union policy at the export zones and industrial estates in order to attract foreign investments.”
PM is pointing to the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in Cebu as a case in point. Magtubo explained, “No single union presently exists within MEZ despite being in operation for three decades since it opened in 1979. In the latest attempt at organizing, all union members at the Alta Mode factory in MEZ were all put on forced leave on the day that the workers were to vote to certify the union as bargaining agent. The Labor Department did not lift a finger despite such being a violation of Article 248 (e) of the Labor Code which provides that it is unfair labor practice to discriminate in regard to wages, hours of work, and other terms and conditions of employment in order to discourage union membership.”
In a related development, some 100 members of the Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU) staged a sit down protest starting Monday afternoon to protest the forced leave. The 24-hour factory occupation ended early evening yesterday with management acceding to workers demands to implement a work rotation scheme instead of forced leave and to provide financial assistance to workers who cannot be absorbed through work rotation. Renante Pelino, AMWU president, elaborated that “Half of the union membership will now be put back to work through work rotation and the rest will be given P500 every week in assistance, half as cash advance and the other half for free. Such a victory is not possible without the courage and militance of the workers.”
Magtubo added that last Friday, a worker leading a union organizing drive was retrenched in a mass layoff of some 1,000 workers at the Taiwanese-owned Sports City conglomerate of garments factories that includes Metroware, Mactan Apparel, Fedder Apparel and Global. Jose Pelino, a worker at Metroware, claims he was singled out for dismissal due to his organizing work. He alleges that he was under intense observation by management for the last two weeks and furthermore he was conspicuously tailed by men in two motorcycles on his way home on the very day of his dismissal. Magtubo pointed out that Pelino has reported the harassment incident and his complaint of illegal dismissal to the Labor Department but no action has yet been taken.
Magtubo also emphasized that the contractualization of workers have become a barrier to union organizing, especially in the export zones and industrial estates. “Contractual workers work side by side in with regular workers in the factories, with the former frequently outnumbering the latter, practically an insurmountable hindrance to unionization. For example, Cebu General Services and Nozumi are the two biggest agencies supplying thousands of contractual workers to factories in MEZ and the giant Mitzumi electronics plant in Danao, all of which have no unions,” he clarified.
The union elections at Alta Mode, a subcontractor for garments brands like Adidas, Reebok and Abercrombie & Fitch, remains inconclusive, Magtubo emphasized. In the certification elections, 107 voted for AMWU while 88 chose no union but 27 ballots remain uncounted since they were challenged by the union since they were cast by supervisory employees, line leaders and contractual workers which are not supposed to be part of the bargaining unit.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Cebu garments workers hold sit down protest against forced leave, unfair labor practice
Press Release
September 8, 2009
Some one hundred workers at the Alta Mode garments firm in the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) started a sit down action yesterday and spent the night inside the factory in protest against the forced leave implemented by management that discriminates against union members. “The forced leave that was timed for the certification elections yesterday constitutes unfair labor practice and discrimination to discourage union membership,” asserted Renante Pelino, president of Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU).
As of this morning 89 workers remained inside the factory and vowed not to leave until management resolves their demands. Pelino explained that the AMWU demands are: (1) rotation among the workers so they can share the supposedly reduced workload, (2) financial assistance for those workers who still cannot be absorbed through rotation, and (3) definite cutoff date to the forced leave and reduced workdays. The union states that even the Labor Department encourages work rotation as an alternative to retrenchments.
The union plans to file today a notice of strike on the basis of union busting and unfair labor practice. AMWU is arguing that the forced leave discriminates against the union since practically all of the more than 100 workers affected were AMWU members.
In the certification election yesterday, AMWU got 107 votes, 88 voted for no union while one ballot was spoiled. Another 27 ballots are being challenged by AMWU since these were cast by supervisory employees, line leaders and contractual workers who the union allege are not part of the bargaining unit. The case is due to be heard by the Labor Department.
Pelino explained, “Our sit down action is a peaceful protest with the aim of obliging management to sincerely face the workers’ grievances. This is a fight for our jobs and our rights. Without our jobs, we cannot live. But without the union, we are vulnerable to abuse and discrimination at work.”
Before the sit down protest started late in the afternoon yesterday, AMWU held a dialogue with management in the presence of officials of the export zone administration. The dialogue was inconclusive as management claimed they could not answer the workers demands since the company owners were in Manila.
AMWU is appealing for support from fellow MEPZ workers and the labor movement in general. No union presently exists within MEPZ and the workers movement has been accusing the export zone administration and the Labor Department of implementing an unwritten no union policy.
September 8, 2009
Some one hundred workers at the Alta Mode garments firm in the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) started a sit down action yesterday and spent the night inside the factory in protest against the forced leave implemented by management that discriminates against union members. “The forced leave that was timed for the certification elections yesterday constitutes unfair labor practice and discrimination to discourage union membership,” asserted Renante Pelino, president of Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU).
As of this morning 89 workers remained inside the factory and vowed not to leave until management resolves their demands. Pelino explained that the AMWU demands are: (1) rotation among the workers so they can share the supposedly reduced workload, (2) financial assistance for those workers who still cannot be absorbed through rotation, and (3) definite cutoff date to the forced leave and reduced workdays. The union states that even the Labor Department encourages work rotation as an alternative to retrenchments.
The union plans to file today a notice of strike on the basis of union busting and unfair labor practice. AMWU is arguing that the forced leave discriminates against the union since practically all of the more than 100 workers affected were AMWU members.
In the certification election yesterday, AMWU got 107 votes, 88 voted for no union while one ballot was spoiled. Another 27 ballots are being challenged by AMWU since these were cast by supervisory employees, line leaders and contractual workers who the union allege are not part of the bargaining unit. The case is due to be heard by the Labor Department.
Pelino explained, “Our sit down action is a peaceful protest with the aim of obliging management to sincerely face the workers’ grievances. This is a fight for our jobs and our rights. Without our jobs, we cannot live. But without the union, we are vulnerable to abuse and discrimination at work.”
Before the sit down protest started late in the afternoon yesterday, AMWU held a dialogue with management in the presence of officials of the export zone administration. The dialogue was inconclusive as management claimed they could not answer the workers demands since the company owners were in Manila.
AMWU is appealing for support from fellow MEPZ workers and the labor movement in general. No union presently exists within MEPZ and the workers movement has been accusing the export zone administration and the Labor Department of implementing an unwritten no union policy.
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