Violations of Workers Rights in the Philippines in 2010

Aside from the worst forms of labor repression such as the killings of union leaders and members that are well documented by human rights groups, workers in the Philippines suffer from a host of other violations of internationally recognized and constitutionally protected rights and freedoms.

A particular section of the working class, those working in the special economic zones, deserve particular concern in terms of the observance of labor standards and labor rights. The most common grievances of export zone workers revolve around violations of security of tenure, such as illegal dismissal and illegal suspension; non-remittance of social security premiums, withholding taxes, employees' compensation and health premiums; non-payment/underpayment/late payment of mandated benefits such as 13th month pay, 5 days service incentive leave, overtime pay and paternity leave; lack of transparency in employment contracts; imposition of excessive production quota; verbal humiliation and physical abuse of workers; restrictions of the freedom to organize including blacklisting of unionists; and restraints on the right to peaceful concerted actions including strikes.

The town of Rosario, Cavite hosts the biggest economic zone. In the Cavite Economic Zone (CEZ) are based more than 300 locators which employ an estimated 70,000 workers, a majority of them women. In May this year some 100 retrenched workers of Dyna Image, a Taiwanese-owned electronics firm, setup the first ever campout at the CEZ in protest at the refusal of management to heed the workers demand for rotation instead of layoffs. The campout lasted for only 24 hours without the workers demands being met because of the threat by the CEZ administrator and the local police that the peaceful action will be dismantled.

Another illustrative case of restriction in the freedom to unionize is the pending labor dispute at Best Chemical and Plastics Phils. Inc. (BCPI), a Korean-owned factory in the town of Carmona, Cavite. The union won a certification election last July despite management interference in the exercise of the right to organize, and collusion by local government officials and Labor Department functionaries. Management has a pending protest at the results of the certification elections. The union has filed a notice of strike due to the company’s refusal to bargain.

One of the largest export zones is the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in Lapu-Lapu City in the province of Cebu. There are some 200 companies in MEZ I and MEZ II employing an estimated 50,000 workers but not a single union presently exists in the zone.

The latest attempt to form a union was the Alta Mode Workers Union in a garments export firm that supplies to Abercrombie and Fitch among other world famous brands. Unfortunately the union lost the certification election due to successful interference by management and collusion by Labor Department officials. All the union members were put on forced leave on the day of the certification election. The Labor Department allowed and counted the votes of supervisory and contractual workers who were not part of the bargaining unit.

Finally Alta Mode locked out the workers early this year and then closed the factory. The Alta Mode workers setup a three-month long campout at the gates of MEZ II. There was a failed attempt by the private security guards to demolish the campout and repeated threats to dismantle it despite its peaceful and legal nature. The workers finally settled with management because of the pressure of an unfavorable but questionable decision from a labor arbiter. The arbiter found the Alta Mode workers guilty of an illegal strike for holding a sit-in protest at the factory. The workers assert that the protest did not constitute a strike—and thus cannot be found illegal on procedural grounds—for they were then on forced leave and in fact were demanding that they be allowed to return to work.

The Alta Mode campout was the peak of a wave of labor unrest in Cebu that came as a result of the deleterious impact of global economic crisis on jobs, wages and working conditions. Workers involved in the wave of protests complain that not a single one of them have received financial assistance from the Labor Department despite meeting the requirements. Furthermore, an informant has revealed that the Alta Mode unionists are effectively blacklisted from employment in the MEZ since locators haven been furnished copies of their names.

Arguably the biggest labor issue this year is the dispute at the Philippine Airlines (PAL), the national flag carrier. It showcases government abuse of the power to intervene in labor disputes that are “imbued with national interest” in the opinion of the Labor Secretary.

The Labor Code allows the Secretary of Labor to assume jurisdiction (AJ) of disputes and enjoin the right to strike. The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), the ground crew union, is protesting against the planned mass layoff of some 3,000 employees and contractualization of work.

The AJ on the PAL dispute was dated April 23, 2010 and came just a few days after Department Order DO 40-G-03 series of 2010 amended the rules on strikes. It is dated March 29, 2010 and took effect 15 days after publication. DO 40 was supposed to be a reform in the wake of the ILO High Level Mission last year. The ILO High Level Mission conducted an investigation into the government’s enforcement of Convention 87 on the freedom of self-organization and Convention 98 on the right to collective bargaining amidst allegations by workers groups of employer interference and state indifference if not collusion.

In the PAL case, Sec 15 (conditions for assuming jurisdiction) of DO 40 was violated since (1) no conference was called by the Labor Department on the propriety of an AJ and (2) the union did not request for an AJ. Also Sec 17 (rendering decisions) was violated since the Acting Labor Secretary penned a decision even though the case was not yet submitted for resolution. The rules provide that decision should be made within 30 days after being submitted for resolution. A decision unfavorable to the union ("layoff is legal exercise of management prerogative") was dated June 15 even though mediation proceedings were still ongoing then.

A motion for reconsideration was filed by PALEA on June 28. On the strength of a petition sent by the union to President Benigno Aquino, he has ordered the new Labor Secretary to "review and evaluate" the decision, which remains pending to this day. Last September, PALEA formally asked the Labor Secretary to declare the planned mass layoff as illegal and for PAL to be found guilty of unfair labor practice.

Laid off electronics workers camp out at Cavite export zone

Press Release
May 19, 2010

The laid off workers of Dyna Image Corp. Phils., an electronics factory at the Cavite Economic Zone (CEZ) in Rosario, Cavite, with supporters from the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) picketed the export zone early this morning then setup a campout before noon. More than a hundred women members of the Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Dyna Image Corp. Phils. together with another hundred PM members started the protest as early as 7:00 a.m. at the main gate of the CEZ. The campout, the first ever setup at the CEZ, is an escalation of the series of protests conducted by the Dyna Image workers.

“The heat and humidity of the campout is small sacrifice for we are fighting for our jobs and our families. The meetings at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) have remained inconclusive since management refuses to consider workers demands for layoffs as a last option. We vow to continue the fight until our demands are met,” declared Virgielita Morite, president of the Dyna Image union.

The workers setup a makeshift tent outside the main gate of the CEZ after an impromptu intervention by Rosario Mayor Nonong Ricafrente proved futile. Mayor Ricafrente called the leaders of the Dyna Image union to his house upon learning of the picket. After he heard the workers’ grievances he called up the CEZ administrator to relay the workers demands to management.

“Mayor Ricafrente’s appeals to management however went unheeded as Dyna Image said that they can only offer 17 days per year of service as separation pay. They even blackmailed not just the workers but also Mayor Ricafrente by saying that Dyna Image will close shop if they accede to the workers demands,” explained Morite.

Dennis Sequena, a leader of PM in Cavite, explained that “We thank Mayor Ricafrente for his effort to mediate. The workers demand is reasonable; it is management that is being hardheaded.”

He also called on the police to respect the workers right to peaceful assembly and redress of grievance. Police mobile units have been checking on the campout although no attempt has been made to dismantle it. Another mediation meeting at the NCMB is scheduled on Friday.

The workers are demanding that management implement a last in, first out policy as regards the retrenchment. They also propose that working hours be reduced from the present 12-hour shift so that the 127 laid off workers can share the workload with the 450 workers inside the factory.

“The fact that workers are on overtime and production is in full blast belies management’s arguments that it is losing and so must dismiss workers,” Sequena insisted.

Last May 13, the workers picketed the factory premises inside the CEZ before marching out for a bigger protest at the main gate of the export zone with supporters from PM. Before that, the Dyna Image workers practically took over the NCMB extension office in Imus last April 27 in protest at their dismissal.

Also on April 26, the Dyna Image workers walked out of their factory after they were forced to receive separation pay from the company. Dyna Image is a Taiwanese-owned factory that produces parts for cellhone cameras. ###

Cavite electronics workers bring protest to factory premises and export zone

Press Release

May 13, 2010

The laid off workers of Dyna Image Corp. Phils., an electronics factory at the Cavite Economic Zone (CEZ) in Rosario, Cavite, picketed the company premises and the export zone this morning. The picket today is an escalation of the series of protests conducted by the Dyna Image workers.

Some 60 women members of the Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Dyna Image Corp. Phils. held a picket protest as early as 6:00 a.m. at the company gates inside the export zone compound. Not long after, a representative of the administration of CEZ asked the workers to a dialogue. Around 10:00 a.m. the dialogue at the CEZ administration office started with 10 Dyna Image union officers and a mediator from the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) but no representative from management came.

“We are more than willing to sit down with management in order to negotiate our demand that we return to work. The meetings at the NCMB have remained inconclusive since management refuses to consider workers demands for layoffs as a last option. Today’s picket is only the start of bigger protests to come,” declared Virgielita Morite, president of the Dyna Image union.

At 9:00 a.m. the Dyna Image workers marched from the factory to the main gate of the CEZ where they met some 200 members of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM). The PM members, together with other Dyna Image workers who were blocked at the main gate, were holding a solidarity program since 7:00 a.m.

The workers bore placards that said “Manggagawa ng Dyna Image, Ibalik sa trabaho,” “Last not first option ang tanggalan,” “Noynoy: Simulan ang pagbabago, Tigilan ang tanggalan,” and “Ang laban sa tanggalan ay laban na tapat. Ang laban sa tanggalan ay laban ng lahat.”

Dennis Sequena, a leader of PM in Cavite, explained that “We call on reelected Mayor Nonong Ricafrente to mediate and appeal to management to accept the Dyna Image workers back to work. The workers demand is reasonable; it is management that is being hardheaded.”

The workers are demanding that management implement a last in, first out policy as regards the retrenchment. They also propose that working hours be reduced from the present 12-hour shift so that the 127 laid off workers can share the workload with the 450 workers inside the factory. “The fact that workers are on overtime and production is in full blast belies management’s arguments that it is losing and so must dismiss workers,” Morite insisted.

Last May 7, 109 members of the Dyna Image union unanimously voted for strike. Before that, on April 27 the Dyna Image workers practically took over the NCMB extension office in Imus in protest at their dismissal. The Dyna Image workers walked out of their factory on April 26 when they were forced to receive separation pay from the company. Dyna Image is a Taiwanese-owned factory that produces parts for cellhone cameras.

Electronics workers in Cavite vote to go on strike

Press Release
May 7, 2010

Workers of Dyna Image Corp. Phils., an electronics export firm in the Cavite Economic Zone in Rosario, voted unanimously to go on strike. The 109 members of the Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Dyna Image Corp. Phils. all voted for a strike yesterday afternoon in a meeting in Rosario that was attended by a representative of the Department of Labor and Employment.

The strike vote came as a result of a deadlock in the preventive mediation conducted by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) in Imus last Wednesday. The union is demanding that management allow more than a hundred workers that have not accepted the separation package to return to work. The workers are proposing that management implement a last in-first out policy as regards the retrenchment of 450 workers, about half of the total workforce.

Dyna Image however did not accede to the compromise proposal and so the union declared a deadlock in the mediation. The union has already filed a notice of strike for unfair labor practice at the NCMB extension office in Imus last April 27. More than a hundred Dyna Image workers practically took over the NCMB extension office in a protest that coincided with the first mediation meeting that day.

“Management is inconsistent in its position that old workers have to go since they need younger employees for new product lines. The remaining workers in the factory are not doing anything that we did not already do and already know how to do,” insisted Virgielita Morite, president of the Dyna Image union.

Dennis Sequena, a leader of the labor party-list Partido ng Manggagawa which is supporting the Dyna Image workers, argued that “The DOLE’s declared policy is to find ways other that retrenchment and for layoffs to be the last option. So why are they giving credence to Dyna Image’s contradictory reasoning?”

Both Morite and Sequena explained that work can be shared by the workers so that no one need to retrenched. “At the moment workers at Dyna Image are working 12 hours straight. This means that the more than a hundred laid off workers can be accommodated back to work by reducing the working day to just 10 hours or less,” Morite clarified.

The Dyna Image union will attend a mediation meeting scheduled for May 12. In the meantime groups supporting them such as PM are planning protests to highlight the plight of the displaced workers. Dyna Image is an electronics firm making parts for cellphone cameras for export and is owned by Taiwanese nationals.

Ilang araw bago ang Mayo Uno: Protesta laban sa tanggalan sumisiklab

Press Release
April 26, 2010

Ilang araw bago ang Araw ng Manggagawa sa Sabado ay sumisiklab ang mga protesta laban sa malawakang tanggalan at kontraktwalisasyon ng paggawa. Kaninang hapon ay nag-walkout ang mga manggagawa sa isang pabrika sa Cavite export zone bilang protesta sa pagtatanggal ng 450 empleyado, halos kalahati ng workforce. Nagmartsa ang mga manggagawa ng Dyna Image Corp. Phils., isang electronics firm na pag-aari ng mga dayuhang Intsik, mula sa kanilang pabrika at nagprograma sa gate ng Cavite Economic Zone sa bayan ng Rosario, Cavite.

Bukas ay magpoprotesta uli sila bukas kasabay ng hearing sa reklamong iligal na tanggalan at harrasment. Lagpas 200 miyembro ng Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Dyna Image Corp. Phils. at ng party-list na Partido ng Manggagawa ang magtitipon bukas ng alas dos ng hapon sa opisina ng National Conciliation and Mediation Board sa Imus, Cavite.

Bukod sa protesta sa Dyna Image ay dalawang beses nang naglunsad ng motorcade nitong nakaraang linggo ang mga empleyado ng Philippine Airlines. Sa katapusan ng Mayo naman tatanggalin ang 3,000 empleyado ng PAL, halos kalahati din ng workforce.

Iginiit ni Dennis Sequena, lider ng Partido ng Manggagawa sa Cavite, dapat ay maghanap muna ng ibang paraan bago magsibak ng mga manggagawa sang-ayon sa patakaran ng Department of Labor and Employment. Suspetsa naman ni Virgie Morite, pangulo ng unyon sa Dyna Image, papalitan lang ang mga regular na manggagawa ng mga kontraktwal na barat ang sweldo, kulang ang benepisyo at walang seguridad sa trabaho.

Lalahok ang mga unyon ng Dyna Image at PAL sa protestang pangungunahan ng Partido ng Manggagawa sa darating na Araw ng Manggagawa. Mga isang libong manggagawa na sakay ng lagpas 500 motorsiklo ang bubuo sa “Sakbayan Para sa Dagdag Sahod at Trabahong Regular” na ilulunsad sa Mayo Uno.

Cavite export zone workers walkout of factory in protest at layoffs

Press Release
April 26, 2010

More than a hundred workers of an electronics firm walked out of their factory before noon today and marched to gates of the Cavite Economic Zone in Rosario, Cavite in protest at mass layoffs. Workers for the morning shift of the Dyna Image Corp. Phils., an export firm owned by Chinese foreigners, who were supposed to be retrenched on May 10, were suddenly called management to a meeting around 10:00 am. Their cellphones were confiscated, then asked to sign quit claim forms and receive separation pay on the spot.

“This was a desperate move by management to avert their responsibilities for the illegal retrenchment and harassment of workers. Management is supposed to attend the preventive mediation hearing set for tomorrow. Instead they told the workers that the hearing tomorrow is cancelled in order to entice workers to accept the severance pay,” explained Virgielita Morite, president of the newly formed Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Dyna Image Corp. Phils.

Morite led workers who did not accept the separation pay in marching from the factory and they held a program at the gates of the export zone. Workers from the afternoon shift joined the protest at the export zone gates instead of reporting for work. Morite announced that hundreds of union members will accompany them in the 2:00 pm hearing tomorrow at National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB)-Regional Adjudication Board IV in Imus, Cavite.

Dennis Sequena, a leader of the Partido ng Manggagawa in Cavite, questioned the presence of a Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) official during the meeting called by management. He asserted that “Why is Edwin Hernandez of the DOLE-Region IV telling workers that the company is terminating workers because it is facing difficulties. The job of the DOLE officers is to protect workers not be management’s spokesperson.”

“If the company is suffering difficulties, why is production in full blast and workers required to do overtime work,” Morite questioned. The mass layoff of 450 workers, about half of the total workforce of 933, pushed the workers employees to form a union and file a case with the NCMB for preventive mediation.

The Dyna Image union will participate in the Partido ng Manggagawa’s Labor Day protest on May 1. More than a thousand workers riding some 500 motorcycles will take part in a “Sakbayan Para sa Dagdag Sahod at Trabahong Regular.” The motorcade will be led by riders clubs in Cavite, Laguna and Batangas whose membership are overwhelmingly workers.