Workers of a garments factory in the
First Cavite Industrial Estate in Dasmarinas, Cavite will be spending undas at the
picketlines instead of the graves of their departed love ones. The dispute
between workers and management of Sejung Apparel Inc. is on its third week.
A hearing at the National Conciliation
and Mediation Board ended last Wednesday without any agreement between the
union and management. The union is demanding the reopening of the factory and
the return to work of all employees.
The workers started their picket protest
last October 14 after management locked out them out. The lockout happened just
a week after the union submitted a proposal for a collective bargaining
agreement.
“This is not the first time and
unfortunately not the last time that a recently unionized factory suddenly
closed down. This is the action of last resort by management in order to bust
and avoid unions. We have seen this happen with the Faremo garments factory at
the Cavite Economic Zone in 2016 and the Cebu Nisico electronics firm at the
Mactan Economic Zone in 2017,” stated Rene Magtubo, national chair of Partido
Manggagawa (PM).
Josephine Odchimar, union president,
lamented that the freedom to unionize are dead in the ecozones. Tonight, workers
staying at the picketline plan to light candles in memory of their dead family
members but also in protest at the death of labor rights in the country.
Odchimar vowed that the union will
continue the picket protest until workers are allowed back to work. She also
called on the administration of the First Cavite Industrial Estate to respect
the right of workers to protest in compliance with the DOLE-PEZA-PNP guidelines
of 2011 and 2012. These guidelines on the right of workers to protest and
strike in the ecozones were enacted in the wake of a high level mission by the
ILO in 2009.
PM has been assisting export zone
workers in Cavite and Cebu in their bid to improve wages and working
conditions. “We call on the DOLE and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)
to intervene as this is a clear case of violation of the freedom of association
(FOA). While the dialogue between labor groups, DOLE and PEZA about ensuring
respect for freedom of association has been much delayed, union busting
complaints like that in Sejung are happening with no action from government
institutions. This is among the reasons the International Labour Organization
last June resolved to investigate the government’s enforcement of Conventions
87 and 98 about freedom of association and collective bargaining respectively,”
Magtubo explained. ###
November 1, 2019
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