Labor groups alarmed at MEPZ mass layoff

 

Labor groups Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) expressed their concern at the retrenchment of some 4,000 workers across five factories of the Sports City group of companies.

 

“This is alarming for workers in Cebu and elsewhere. For the biggest MEPZ employer to retrench 1/4 of of its workers may be a portent of worse things to come. What is the response of the government? Don't tell us ‘unity’,” exclaimed Dennis Derige, PM-Cebu spokesperson.

 

Workers of garment firms Mactan Apparels, Inc.; Metro Wear, Inc.; Globalwear Manufacturing, Inc.; Feeder Apparel Corporation; and Vertex One Apparel Phils. Inc.—all owned by Sports City—were affected in the largest termination yet this year. Sports City is the biggest employer in the Mactan Economic Zone and supplies to global garment brands.

 

Both PM and SENTRO said that they will further investigate the claims of Sports City about the “sudden dropping and reduction of orders from our clients.” “We cannot take these claims at face value. In fact, factories traditionally increase their production in the ber months to meet the huge spike in demand during the holiday season. We will seek help from our allies abroad to check the veracity of these claims of diminished orders,” Derige insisted.

Sports City supplies apparel to global brands Adidas, Under Armour, Saucony, New Balance and Lululemon. 

 

He said that workers were caught off guard by the mass layoff. He explained that “There was no social dialogue between the employer and the employees. A better option is that negotiations transpire between employer and employee representatives so that workers have voice and participation in the basis and terms of the termination.”

 

Last year, unions were formed at Mactan Apparel, Metro Wear and Globalwear but were defeated in the certification election. PM had slammed the companies for delaying the elections for almost half a year even as an anti-union campaign was conducted using social media.

 

In the face of the mass layoff at the MEPZ and other companies, PM and SENTRO also called on the government to heed the demand for employment guarantees. The proposal of the labor coalition Nagkaisa calls for public employment, preferably in climate jobs, for unemployed workers over a period of 100 days to nine months at minimum wages or P10,000, whichever is higher. In response to this demand, the Department of Labor and Employment undertook a study of a social protection floor which has remained unimplemented.

 

“It is high time that the employment guarantee and other social protection mechanisms are enacted,” Derige ended

September 30, 2022

Workers join protests to commemorate “dark days” of martial law

Candle light protest 20 Sept 2022

 

Militant workers are joining activities to commemorate the “dark days” of martial law. Today is the 50^th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that the dictatorship era was a period of labor militancy not a golden age for workers.

 

Labor and other sectoral groups are having a rally at the grounds of the Commission on Human Rights this morning before marching in the afternoon to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani. Last night, delegations of workers students, women and other sectors held a candle-lighting activity at the Boy Scout rotunda in Timog Ave., Quezon City.

 

“We call on our kababayans to hold candle-lighting activities in our homes and communities tonight to shine a light on the darkness of authoritarianism and revisionism. Let us remember the sacrifices and struggles of workers and other sectors during the dictatorship,” announced Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary general.

 

“There was massive discontent by workers during the martial period over low wages, high prices, insecure jobs and employer abuse. In fact, despite repression by police and soldiers under the dictatorship, workers led protests and strikes that broke the white terror of martial law. The struggles of the labor movement would open the way for multi-sectoral rallies that culminated in the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in the EDSA people’s uprising. This period is well documented if not well remembered by the present generation,” explained Miranda.

 

She added that “Immediately after martial law was declared, then President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. signed General Order No. 5 prohibiting strikes by workers. The American chamber of commerce was one of the first groups to congratulate Marcos on the declaration of martial law. All these reveal the class character of martial law—it was not just to outflank the liberal opposition rivals of Marcos but also to suppress the resistance of the working class to plunder and exploitation.”

 

Miranda insisted that “Contrary to the fake news peddled by social media influencers and amplified by a paid army of trolls, martial law was not a time of happiness for Filipinos nor a period of economic prosperity. A case in point, nutribuns were a response to widespread hunger and malnutrition. However, plunder of the public treasury, theft of debt-financed development projects and crony control of key industries indeed resulted in a golden age for the Marcoses.”

 

Photos of the candle lighting protest last night are here: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/pfbid0JwF9cF6C9hdfFnpQVF4ppRR4wTF7FVJy3vddvYnjR8LXiAM9TVfsZ2Nso3e9SqPWl

September 21, 2022

Martial law was a period of labor militancy not a golden age for workers—labor group

Globe Steel strike in the 1980's. Photo from Rappler

 

On the eve of the 50^th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that the dictatorship era was a period of labor militancy not a golden age for workers.

 

“There was massive discontent by workers during the martial period over low wages, high prices, insecure jobs and employer abuse. In fact, despite repression by police and soldiers under the dictatorship, workers led protests and strikes that broke the white terror of martial law. The struggles of the labor movement would open the way for multi-sectoral rallies that culminated in the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in the EDSA people’s uprising. This period is well documented if not well remembered by the present generation,” explained Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general.

 

PM is joining activities by various groups today and tomorrow to commemorate the dark days of martial law and to remember the sacrifices and struggles of workers and other sectors during the dictatorship.

 

“Workers will join students, women and other sectors to a candle-lighting activity at 6:00 p.m. today at the Boy Scout rotunda in Timog Ave., Quezon City. Tomorrow, groups will have a rally at the grounds of the Commission on Human Rights at 9:00 am before marching in the afternoon to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani. We call on our kababayans to hold candle-lighting activities in our homes and communities tomorrow to shine a light on the darkness of authoritarianism and revisionism,” Miranda elaborated.

 

She added that “Immediately after martial law was declared, then President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. signed General Order No. 5 prohibiting strikes by workers. The American chamber of commerce was one of the first groups to congratulate Marcos on the declaration of martial law. All these reveal the class character of martial law—it was not just to outflank the liberal opposition rivals of Marcos but also to suppress the resistance of the working class to plunder and exploitation.”

 

Miranda insisted that “Contrary to the fake news peddled by social media influencers and amplified by a paid army of trolls, martial law was not a time of happiness for Filipinos nor a period of economic prosperity. A case in point, nutribuns were a response to widespread hunger and malnutrition. However, plunder of the public treasury, theft of debt-financed development projects and crony control of key industries indeed resulted in a golden age for the Marcoses.”

September 20, 2022