Workers of Philip Morris-Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC) picketed today
the Intramuros office of the Department of Labor and Employment while mediation
was ongoing between management and the union. Members of the Philip
Morris-Fortune Tobacco Corp. Labor Union (PMFTCLU-NAFLU) and their supporters carried
placards that said “Job security not redundancy” and “Welga sagot sa
tanggalan.”
The union is set to hold a strike vote in a few
days. A strike can then be held seven days after a majority of union members
vote yes. Yesterday the union held a general assembly in preparation for the
strike vote.
The labor dispute at the leading cigarette
manufacturer is part of a rising wave of workers unrest. Scores of notices of
strike have been filed and strikes are erupting in various companies. This
morning, employees of the big Japanese pharmaceutical firm Takeda Healthcare Philippines
in Rockwell, Makati went on strike over a deadlock in collective bargaining
negotiations.
The leading cigarette manufacturer shut down its
Vigan, Ilocos Sur redrying plant affecting 90 workers and also laid off 220
workers (a third of the 600 workforce) at its Marikina factory early this month.
In response the union filed notice of strike last August 9 and immediately started
protests.
“The Constitution mandates that workers receive their fair share
of the fruits of production. But at PMFTC, retrenchment was the company’s
reward for increased labor productivity and workers meeting key performance
indicators. What kind of system is this?,” argued Rene Magtubo, chair of
Partido Manggagawa and former president of the Marikina union.
This month the Lucio Tan Group announced a P3.63 billion total
income for the first quarter of this year.
Some P2.35B or 65% of the total income of the
Lucio Tan Group came from its tobacco business.
The PMFTCLU is alleging unfair labor practice over the closure and
retrenchment. The union slammed the bad faith and deceit attending the
so-called right-sizing plan of management. The group believes that union
busting is the real agenda as the non-union sister factory in Sto. Tomas, Batangas
just regularized 100 contractual employees. In contrast, the Marikina and Vigan
plants are both unionized factories.
“Management told the union that the Vigan plant will be closed and
sold to another entity. No other details were given. This raises the suspicion
that this is another outsourcing program similar to the contractualization
scheme at Philippine Airlines,” declared Gerry Rivera, president of the
Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA-TUCP) and head of the newly
formed Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa. Both PALEA and PMFTCLU are
members of the Kapatiran.
He declared that “We express support for the fight of PMFTCLU for
job security and against union busting. Ang laban ng isa ay laban ng lahat.”
“PMFTC management has been absolutely opaque behind the misnamed
right-sizing plan. When management first discussed the plan before the union,
they withheld the names of workers affected, they did not disclose how the
termination process will proceed and finally they did not give any solid basis
for the closure and redundancy. And then just hours after the meeting with the
union, management unveiled its surprise gift to unsuspecting workers who were
cajoled into signing separation without the presence of union officers who
barred from entering the factory,” Magtubo elaborated.
Photos of the protests can be accessed at PMFTCLU’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/zpipsamonte/
28 August 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment