The leading cigarette firm in the
country is on the brink of a strike as the mandated seven-day notification
period is about to lapse. This afternoon a big march of workers and their
supporters will proceed from the Marikina factory to the Concepcion Church to
advocate their cause to city residents and to build up support for the strike.
The Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco
Labor Union (PMFTCLU-NAFLU) submitted last Saturday the results of the strike
vote to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Some 73% of workers in
Vigan, Ilocos Sur and Marikina City voted to strike.
“It is not too late for the company to resolve the dispute. We
call on management to heed the workers’ demand for the reinstatement of 184
workers terminated as a result of the sudden closure of the Vigan redrying
plant and the mass layoff at the Marikina factory,” stated Rey Almendras, union
president of PMFTCLU-NAFLU.
The countdown to the strike began
last Tuesday with workers holding a picket while DOLE convened another
mediation hearing that ended without any resolution. There were protests at the
Marikina factory every change of shift yesterday.
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. Last week
employees of the big Japanese pharmaceutical firm Takeda Healthcare Philippines
in Rockwell, Makati went on strike over a deadlock in collective bargaining
negotiations.
“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,”
argued Almendras.
Last 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.
“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,” Almendras elaborated. ###
Photos of the protests can be accessed at PMFTCLU’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/zpipsamonte/
September 6, 2018
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