Action on killing of unionist demanded as PH remains on list of worst countries for workers

 

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the administration of President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. for action on the case of union organizer Dennis Sequeña who was killed five years ago as the Philippines remained on the list of the world’s worst countries for workers for eight straight years. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the peak global body of organized labor, released the list as part of its 2024 Global Rights Index.

 

“It has been five long years of seeking justice for our friend and comrade Dennis who was shot to death on June 2, 2019 while speaking at a labor rights seminar for Cavite export zone workers in Tanza. We demand that President Marcos Jr resolve the case as the ITUC list is a wake up call for government. Further, action is needed as part of his administration’s commitment to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) which conducted a probe last January 2023,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and a Marikina city councilor.

 

Sequeña’s fatal shooting days before the annual ILO conference in 2019 sparked outrage among delegates and led to the decision to send the HLTM to the country to investigate the series of labor-related killings and other violations of the right to unionize in the country. It however took more than four years since that ILO decision for the HLTM to actually conduct its probe. Still, the ILO HLTM concluded that the “presence of a ‘mindset linking’ unions to the insurgency without the benefit of due process, [which] has led to a climate of impunity and violations of workers’ rights” and recommended the formation of a presidential body to resolve the 72 unsolved cases of labor-related killings as of the end of 2023.

 

“The government’s submission to the Committee on the Application of Standards which reviewed the complaints against the Philippine state at the just concluded ILO annual conference states that concrete action has been undertaken by the concerned agencies. We know that there has been none regarding the case of Dennis. This despite the fact that the provincial tripartite monitoring body resolved that the killing of Dennis was labor-related and that the AO 35 Committee headed by the Department of Justice acquired jurisdiction of the case years ago,” Magtubo explained.

 

“The brutal murder of Dennis has become a cold case after five years because of inaction by the government despite the presence of leads and findings by bodies such as the provincial tripartite body and the AO 35 Committee. His case reveals the disconnect between words and actions by the government on the prevailing impunity against union leaders and activists,” Magtubo ended. 

June 16, 2024

 

Government asked, “Where is the concrete action on labor-related killings”?

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the administration of President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. for action on the case of union organizer Dennis Sequeña who was killed five years ago. “It has been five long years of seeking justice for our friend and comrade Dennis who was shot to death on June 2, 2019 while speaking at a labor rights seminar for Cavite export zone workers in Tanza. We call on President Marcos Jr. to pursue the case as part of his administration’s commitment to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) which conducted a probe last January 2023,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and a Marikina city councilor.

 

Sequeña’s fatal shooting days before the annual ILO conference in 2019 sparked outrage among delegates and led to the decision to send the HLTM to the country to investigate the series of labor-related killings and other violations of the right to unionize in the country. It however took more than four years since that ILO decision for the HLTM to actually conduct its probe. Still, the ILO HLTM concluded that the “presence of a ‘mindset linking’ unions to the insurgency without the benefit of due process, [which] has led to a climate of impunity and violations of workers’ rights” and recommended the formation of a presidential body to resolve the 72 unsolved cases of labor-related killings as of the end of 2023.

 

“The government’s submission to the Committee on the Application of Standards which is going to review the complaints against the Philippine state at the ongoing ILO annual conference states that concrete action has been undertaken by the concerned agencies. We know that there has been none regarding the case of Dennis. This despite the fact that the provincial tripartite monitoring body resolved that the killing of Dennis was labor-related and that the AO 35 Committee headed by the Department of Justice acquired jurisdiction of the case years ago,” Magtubo explained. The ILO annual conference is currently in session in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

PM is calling on the ILO to reject the government’s request that the Philippines be taken off the list of countries that need to be examined by the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards regarding compliance with international labor standards, including freedom of association and right to collective bargaining.

 

“The brutal murder of Dennis has become a cold case after five years because of inaction by the government despite the presence of leads and findings by bodies such as the provincial tripartite body and the AO 35 Committee. His case reveals the disconnect between words and actions by the government on the prevailing impunity against union leaders and activists,” Magtubo ended. 

June 4, 2024

Thousands of workers without aid from employers, gov’t

Thousands of workers still have not received assistance from either their employers, the government or both according to labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM).

“The no work, no pay policy is a recipe for hunger. We call on employers to grant quarantine subsidy to their workers and for the government to mandate companies to provide such assistance,” argued Rene Magtubo, PM national chair. PM and other group are calling for P10,000 quarantine subsidy for formal workers affected by the covid pandemic.

Based in the groups monitoring of several factories in the ecozones of Cavite, majority have received not a single centavo of support since firms shuttered. A few received some assistance from their employers. However, all of the workers surveyed have not received the P5,000 CAMP subsidy from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The Cavite Economic Zone (CEZ) 1 and 1 in Rosario, Tanza and General Trias Cavite shutdown on the night of March 19.

“The Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in Lapu-Lapu shutdown last Sunday, throwing out of work some 100,000 workers which will add to the conservative figure of 500,000 DOLE Sec. Bello reported as affected by covid lockdown. Unfortunately, except for one electronics company in MEZ, we know that foreign locators let go of workers without substantial assistance,” Magtubo explained.

According to PM, a giant garments company in MEZ that supplies to global brands is refusing to grant quarantine subsidy to some 17,000 employees and instead only gave a token 5 kilos of rice with some canned goods. A large car parts supplier in Cavite employing some 9,000 workers gave pro-rated 13^th month pay to their workers. Both these companies in Mactan and Cavite applied for the CAMP from DOLE assistance but workers have not received the P5,000 subsidy.

Magtubo averred that “Foreign investors should shoulder temporary losses due to the covid pandemic. Employers have benefited from recent economic growth without sharing the bounty with their workers. This was revealed in a Department of Finance study showing labor productivity grew by at least 50 percent, yet real wages were stagnant from 2001 to 2016. Moreover, foreign investors in the ecozones enjoyed tax breaks and other privileges for years. Now that there is a crisis, employers are morally obliged not to pass on the burden to their hapless workers.”

He added that “A survey of five factories in the Cavite ecozone revealed that all did not grant any assistance to their workers and also none have received any support from the DOLE. Four of these are garments factories while the last is a metal firm. In total, the five factories employs at least 2,000 workers. Eleven days into the lockdown, they all face increasing difficulties due to the lack of support.”

Magtubo insisted that “We also know of three companies, two in Silang, Cavite and one in Dasmarinas, which applied for the DOLE CAMP but again none of the workers have received the P5,000 assistance. The Dasmarinas firm and one of the Silang companies did not grant any support to their workers while the last one gave seven days paid quarantine.”

March 30, 2020

State of human rights in the country regressing further – labor group

The state of human rights in the country continues to regress under the Duterte administration, the Partido Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement sent to media on the International Human Rights Day. The group joined the march by members of human rights community led by the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and i-DEFEND in Quezon City. 

“Extra-judicial killings remain unchecked while harassments and actual assaults against human rights defenders (HRDs) in the trade union and other people’s organizations escalated in recent months,” said PM Secretary General Judy Miranda. 

These assaults, Miranda noted, include red-tagging, misogyny, arrest and detentions, including unsolved killings of HRDs working for trade union rights and protection of the environment. 

Last June, trade union leader Dennis Sequeña of PM Cavite was gunned down while doing lecture on basic trade union rights for EPZA workers. This incident, including other cases of trade union killings and violations, prompted the International Labor Organization (ILO) to send a high level mission to the Philippines to investigate the state of trade union repression in the country. That mission, however, is yet to be acknowledged and allowed entry by the government. 

But for the group, the biggest threat to human rights in the country is the counter-narrative being peddled against its very concept and principles by no less than the President who keeps on vilifying the HRDs as bad guys working with society’s criminal elements. 

“It’s very similar to having a company CEO who keeps on telling his workers that labor rights are bad. That mindset justifies all repressive actions while creating fear among workers that having a job is better than enjoying labor rights,” concluded Miranda.

10 December 2019

Workers picket DOLE to demand investigation of union organizer killing

Members of the group Partido Manggagawa (PM) picketed this morning the main office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to demand that the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (NTIPC) be convened to investigate the killing of a union organizer in Cavite. The mass action coincides with the 40^th day since the brutal shooting of Dennis Sequeña, vice chair of the PM-Cavite chapter and veteran union organizer.

“We condemn the glaring inaction and chilling silence of the DOLE on the killing of our colleague Dennis. Today marks 40 days since his murder, and the relevant government agencies have so far failed to make any headway in the investigation of the case,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

The NTIPC, sitting as the National Tripartite Monitoring Body (NTMB), is tasked to investigate complaints of labor-related extra-judicial killings. The NTMB was formed in response to the recommendations of a high level mission by the International Labor Organization in 2009.

The mass action today over the murder of Sequeña comes in the wake of the Philippines being named among the ten worse countries for workers. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the global body of organized labor, has once again listed the country for systematic violations of labor rights.

Sequeña was killed in broad daylight by a gunman in the middle of a meeting with ecozone workers last June 2. Local and international labor groups, including the labor coalition Nagkaisa and the ITUC, condemned the murder, called on the DOLE to stop the killings of unionists and investigate these cases.

“It is sad and frustrating to note that such basic acts of workers self-organization, protected no less by our Constitution and several international conventions and treaties, come at the price of the lives of countless labor organizers and rights defenders. Dennis’ murder and the appalling state of worker’s rights in ecozones simply confirm the report by the ITUC that the Philippines is among the ten most dangerous countries for unionists,” Magtubo explained.

PM also demanded that the DOLE enforce laws guaranteeing the freedom of association in ecozones in light of rampant management interference and intimidation against workers exercising their constitutional and human rights. Sequeña was actively assisting three unions at the time of his killing. This month several unions in the ecozones of Cavite are due to undergo certification elections but organizers are alleging that workers are “challenged by adversity and harassment by management.”

July 11, 2019

Funeral/protest march tom for slain Cavite union organizer as more groups call for action on killings

Slain Cavite union organizer, Dennis Sequena, is to be buried tomorrow with his family and colleagues holding a funeral and protest march. International and local labor and human rights groups have called on government for action on his killing.

Sequena, vice chair of the Cavite chapter of Partido Manggagawa (PM) and also a partylist nominee of the group in the last elections, was shot and killed last June 2 while meeting a group of workers.

The funeral march will start tomorrow 9:00 am from the community of Workersville in Brgy. Punta, Tanza where he was killed and end in the Sta. Cruz Memorial Park in the same town. Last Sunday, scores of worker activists and community leaders attended a tribute to Sequena where he was honored as a “hero of epza workers.”

Aside from local workers’ groups like PM, Sentro and the Nagkaisa coalition, international labor and human rights organizations are calling on Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to resolve the spate of killings of labor and human rights activists.

The International Trade Union Confederation representing 207 million workers in 163 countries has formally sent a letter to Bello and asked him to convene the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council to investigate the fatal shooting of Sequena. The Business and Human Rights Resource Center and the International Labor Rights Forum also issued statements condemning the killing of Sequena. The two international labor rights both worked with Sequena on issues workers rights of workers in the Cavite ecozone.

The BHRRC statement can be accessed here: https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/business-human-rights-resource-centre-condemns-the-killing-of-filipino-labour-leader-dennis-seque%C3%B1a

THE ITUC letter can be accessed here: https://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ituc_letter_to_dole_on_leonides_dennis_sequena.pdf.

Photos of the tribute to Sequena can be accessed here: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157187408269323?__xts__[0]=68.ARAse6d1ymGJdc2i7_QnNY7PiMHoy_2-VP-YWBmbjkOtXuIa1pFmXdt0Yw3WYE83v8GlevF5-NhxMk2bH9gEPwu5N8iu1j1RWOGdtfYU-Fi_GMc6kjWZ0-9RimVMyleMiuP8CPSPwdha2NGQLHhmxWv2FwaHLSvZK9xGTfCvDubeyxmLB9jlxs0N_dR_SmsBQ_xOF6GDQXk_Cw2Ez8BZn3uQNhY_VHY7zekIUWgFxswAVNH-vPnSGRmzO1aBk0TN4wvkvZBBeY_Mhp8o2NThrhWJKD6mWssgw_nEr8ZdafeDYG75pUSbc2JdJorCIXAW2tqNysGy8uYCP669p6Jc&__tn__=-R 

June 11, 2019

Media Advisory: Funeral & protest march for slain Cavite union organizer tom

Media Advisory: Parangal for slain Cavite unionist as intl labor center calls for a stop to killings

Cavite workers vote to go on strike in response to mass firing

Workers of a garments factory in the Cavite ecozone voted yesterday to go on strike in response to the mass termination of 16 union officers. The law provides a seven-day notification period before any actual work stoppage can be launched by workers of Dong Seung Inc. The National Conciliation and Mediation Board have called for a conciliation meeting between the company and the union on Monday.

Yesterday scores of Dong Seung workers and their supporters trooped to the Cavite ecozone main gate to protest the union busting and call for respect for freedom of association. The rally followed a forum in which Cavite ecozone workers aired their grievances about low pay, insecure jobs, verbal harassment and excessive work quotas.

The Dong Seung union officers were served notices of termination in their houses by an HR officer of the company last April 12. They were supposed to back to work on April 13 as part of the agreement. An earlier strike notice was precipitated by the one-month suspension of the 16 union officers.

“The firing of all 16 union officers, including the union president, is just the latest in a series of union busting moves by management. Moreover it is a maneuver done in bad faith as the union just withdrew a notice of strike earlier filed. The retraction of the strike was part of an agreement mediated by the Labor Department wherein workers will be accepted back to work after an investigation by management,” explained Juanito Diaz, president of the Dong Seung Workers Union-Independent.

Dong Seung Inc. is a Korean-owned apparel manufacturer inside the Cavite Economic Zone, the country’s biggest government-run export processing estate. It manufactures garments for global brands Macy’s and Ann Taylor. Dong Seung workers are asking Macy’s and Ann Taylor to remediate the code of conduct violations of its supplier.

Diaz declared that “Tama na. Sobra na. Oras na para igalang ang karapatang mag-unyon para mapabuti ang kalagayan ng mga manggagawa. Workers in the Cavite ecozone are organizing to improve their wages and working conditions but the response of companies is to bust unions and harass workers.”

The union had filed a petition for certification elections in the company last December. Immediately after, the union alleged that management started harassing officers and members. Unionists were denied loans or were forced to withdraw support for the union in return for access to loans. Union leaders were transferred to different production lines and a union officer was demoted from mechanic to sewer.

Then in the latter part of March, management suspended for 30 days all union officers on the pretext that they smeared the company by seeking action from the factory customers regarding violations of freedom of association and labor standards.

Photos of the Dong Seung workers rally can be accessed at FB page of Partido Manggagawa: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/

April 28, 2018

Wage hike is loose change in face of rising inflation—Calabarzon workers

Calabarzon workers slammed the hike in minimum wages in the region as “loose change that will be wiped out by rising inflation.” Several labor groups active in Calabarzon trooped this afternoon to the main gate of the Cavite Economic Zone, the country’s biggest government-managed export processing zone, to protest low pay and union busting.

The regional wage board in Calabarzon ordered pay hikes of P14 to P21.50 thus increasing minimum wages to P303 to P400 depending on the area. The minimum wage hike takes effect tomorrow. The last wage hike in the region was in July 2016.

“A 4.6% rise in prices will erase the P16.50 minimum wage increase in Rosario. From 2.9% last December, inflation has steadily risen to 4.3% this March. By the time the wage hike is implemented tomorrow, it will not redound to any real wage improvement,” asserted Dennis Sequena, coordinator of the Cavite chapter of Partido Manggagawa (PM).

More than a hundred members of labor groups PM, Sentro, Samahang Nagkakaisa ng Cavite, and Katipunan ng Manggagawang Pilipino picketed the Cavite ecozone. The mass action is also a buildup to the massive labor unity rally of workers for the Labor Day commemoration on Monday.

“Workers in the Cavite ecozone are organizing to improve their wages and working conditions but capitalists are illegally busting unions and harassing workers,” Sequena explained.

Last week, garments factory Dong Seung Inc. at the Cavite ecozone terminated en masse all 16 union officers including the union president. In response, the union filed a notice of strike and a strike vote will be held tomorrow. Yesterday management did not attend the mediation meeting convened by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB).

Meanwhile, a complaint for harassment was filed by the union at another apparel company, Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. Jisoo workers are alleging that management is behind a falsification case filed against union officers. The case came just after a certification election was held in the company. Among the grievances of workers at Dong Seung and Jisoo that led to unionization was that salaries for all workers, new or old, including people who have worked for several years, remained stuck at the minimum level.

PM also criticized the two-tiered wage system in Calabarzon for being an instrument for cheapening wages. Sequena insisted that “In the two-tiered system, the minimum wage is just a floor wage that will be supplemented by productivity-based increases. But companies in the Cavite ecozone do not provide for productivity pay hikes even though labor productivity has continuously grown as measured by the annual GDP growth.”

April 27, 2018

Striking Cavite women workers protest for Labor Secretary intervention

Women workers of the electronics firm Lakepower in the Cavite ecozone held a protest today at the DOLE main office to call on Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to intervene and resolve the protracted dispute. The Lakepower workers have been on strike for more than two months now. The strike commenced after management refused worker’s demands that the termination and suspension of union officers and members be stopped.

The rally is also part of a series of protests by labor groups who are calling for the signing of an executive order to abolish contractualization and action by the DOLE on labor disputes at Lakepower, Coke and Philippine Airlines. The DOLE main office will also be the site of rallies on February 23 (Friday) by KMU and on February 26 (Monday)  by the Nagkaisa labor coalition.

The strike has dragged on as management has refused to take back the workers unless they are subjected to disciplinary action for taking part in the strike. Management has hired striker replacements since the strike began and continues to operate.

Immediately after the strike started last December 7, the striking women workers were repeatedly harassed by company and ecozone guards. Company guards, export zone security guards and other men wearing ski masks but clad in ecozone police uniforms repeatedly tore down placards and makeshift tents at the picketline. Two women workers—Maricar Orque and Magdalena Peña—were hurt in the commotion that followed the forcible dismantling of the picketline.

Unrest has festered at Lakepower since last year. Among workers grievances is the removal of the door of the women’s restroom so that the company can spy on workers. Almost all of the 200 workers in the factory are women. They are also outraged at the unreasonable limits on the use of the restroom which has led to numerous cases of workers suffering from urinary tract infection. Workers also complained of excessive quota and the exclusion of unionists from receiving Christmas packages.

Workers formed a union in June last year in a bid to resolve various workplace grievances such as verbal harassment, health and safety, and excessive quota. In response, management interrogated workers individually regarding their union activity. Union leaders were given new work assignments and overtime work was denied unionists and instead given to contractual employees. Three line leaders were forced to resign since they were suspected union supporters.

Photos of the rally can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10156031672514323

February 22, 2018

Workers protest shutdown of garments supplier to Costco and Disney

Workers of a Philippine garments factory supplying to Costco, Disney and Korean brands started protests today against a planned shutdown. The factory Sein Together Philippines will close temporarily for one month by end of September due to alleged lack of orders. However, the workers charge that the orders are being shifted to other factories and the shutdown is meant to harass union members into accepting separation.

In a memo announcing the shutdown, management also offered separation to workers. Since then, workers have observed bundles of textile being trucked out of the Sein Together warehouse. It is suspected that the raw materials and the orders have been shifted to  Sein Together’s sister company S&S and another Korean-owned factory called Do First.

The illegal shutdown is just the latest in a series of attempts by management to subvert the workers’ freedom of association. When the union was formed early this year, suspected leaders were transferred to a single production line to separate them from other workers. Then the factory was also closed temporarily in April. Management personnel started a whispering campaign that the factory will close down if the union proceeds. Management further convened several meetings of workers to discuss the alleged drawbacks of a union.

The workers union of Sein Together has filed a complaint at the Labor Department for illegal shutdown. The company did not attend the hearing called by the Labor Department last Monday. To coincide with another hearing today, workers are wearing red ribbons to symbolize their opposition to the planned shutdown and union repression. The union is calling on the company to stop transferring the orders to other factories and to remain in operation.

Sein Together Philippines is located in the Cavite Economic Zone. It is a subsidiary of the Korean apparel company Sein Together Co. Ltd. Aside from Costco and Disney, Sein Together Philippines also supplies to Crocodile and Korean brands Homeplus, Daiz and Jaju. ###

DOLE asked to deputize unionists as labor and safety inspectors

(Photo from Cavite Provincial Government)

In the wake of a third fatality in the massive factory fire at the House Technology Industries (HTI) in the Cavite ecozone, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to deputize unionists as inspectors to ensure enforcement of general labor and occupational safety and health (OSH) standards. Cavite Governor Crispin Remulla confirmed the third death due to the HTI factory fire last February 10.

“We ask DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello to approve the pending proposal that union officers be accredited as labor inspectors to beef up the labor standards enforcement system. With just a twist of Sec. Bello’s pen, labor leaders can be deputized, the number of inspections can be multiplied overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved as a result,” appealed Rene Magtubo, PM national chairperson.

He added that “We take exception to the opinion of Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) head Charito Plaza that HTI has no fault since the fire was caused by an accident. In OSH 101, it is a basic tenet that accidents are not acts of divine providence but are the result of unsafe acts that are preventable by strict enforcement of safety rules. Even if HTI is compliant according to inspection, obviously there are violations of safety rules that led to the recent fire and a previous 10-hour blaze in October 2012.”

Citing deaths of workers in HTI, Kentex in Valenzuela, Hanjin shipyard in Subic and in several construction sites natiowide, Magtubo argued “Government through the DOLE and PEZA must make policy changes regarding enforcement of labor standards and occupational health and safety so that workers do not die in vain.”

“The DOLE only has some 600 inspectors to cover around a million establishments nationwide. In 2013 just around 40,000 enterprises were subjected to inspections, self-assessments and visits. The numbers can easily be increased several fold by deputizing union officers as labor inspectors. Even if just 10% of the 17,000 local union presidents are accredited, this is already thrice the present number of inspectors,” elaborated Magtubo.

PM insisted that the DOLE already allows local government units to undertake technical safety inspections in order to complement its efforts and so there is no reason not to mobilize workers groups in labor enforcement. “All the DOLE has to do is train union officers in the labor inspection and enforcement process and then accredit them appropriately,” Magtubo added.

In the DOLE's Labor Standards Enforcement Framework, unions with collective bargaining agreements are given a role in self-assessment for their enterprises. “If unions play a responsibility in ensuring labor standards and occupational safety in their own workplaces, it does not take a leap of logic to allow them a task in inspecting other enterprises,” Magtubo argued.

February 14, 2017

Months-long Cavite EPZA labor dispute settled

After more than three months, the labor dispute surrounding the closure of the biggest garments factory at the Cavite economic zone was finally settled. As the massive fire at the factory of the House Technology Industries burned last week, the management and union of Faremo International Inc. signed an agreement at the Cavite ecozone administration office to end the labor row.

“The deal provides for the rehiring of the workers if the factory reopens, a substantial financial assistance on top of the separation pay and the grant of several sewing machines for a livelihood project of the displaced employees. It was a resounding win for the workers,” declared Rene Magtubo, chairperson of Partido Manggagawa (PM).

PM assisted the Faremo workers in their months-long picketline inside the Cavite ecozone. Last October 26, some 1,000 workers of Faremo, majority of them women, were laid off when the factory closed down allegedly due to lack of orders. However, one of its customers, a major global garments brand, admitted that orders were increased not cancelled. This disclosure emboldened the resistance of the workers and bolstered the accusation of the union that the closure was illegal and meant to bust the union and break the collective bargaining agreement.

“Illegal closure is a weapon of last resort by employers in their union busting bag of tricks. Faremo is not the first and probably not the last. Last May, the Cavite ecozone electronics firm Seung Yeun Technology Industries Corp. filed for shutdown when its workers unionized but is still operating under a new name. The same modus operandi was done by the Mactan ecozone factory Blaze Manufacturing Corp. in 2011 to bust the two unions of its regular and contractual workers. We have reported these violations to the International Labor Organization Direct Contact Mission (DCM) that is in the Philippines at the moment,” Magtubo clarified.

The ILO DCM is a follow up to the High Level Mission conducted in 2009 to investigate the Philippine government’s violations of Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. The ILO DCM is holding a briefing this afternoon in Manila.

Jessel Autida, president of the Faremo labor union, said that “We owe this victory to the determination to fight of our members, and the solidarity of fellow trade unions and international labor rights advocates. We also thank our management for granting the demands of the union and even Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglungsod whose office patiently mediated the dispute until it was resolved.”

Autida revealed that the union will continue to exist as an organization for mutual aid and protection and to manage the garments production that they will undertake as a livelihood project. “We are asking the Department of Labor and Employment to help us in our garments making project. This is one way to sustain the livelihood of former Faremo employees and other displaced garments workers in the Cavite ecozone,” he explained.

The union has dismantled its picketline outside the Faremo factory and also withdrawn its pending cases at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and the National Labor Relations Commission as part of the settlement agreement.

February 10. 2017

Transparent, tripartite probe asked of Cavite EPZA factory fire

With the massive factory fire at Cavite EPZA finally put out, the group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asked for a transparent probe and the participation of labor organizations as part of the tripartite system.

“Given the conflicting reports from government officials on the number of workers missing after the fire, it is imperative to conduct an investigation that is open and inclusive. It is also necessary to verify numerous eyewitness accounts of workers trapped inside the burning factory,” stated Dennis Sequena, PM-Cavite coordinator.

He noted the fact that yesterday Cavite Governor Crispin Remulla said six workers of House Technology Industries (HTI) were unaccounted for while Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza mentioned only one.

PM members trooped to the Cavite EPZA last Thursday morning to call for immediate aid to HTI workers and justice for the victims. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) later announced financial assistance for HTI workers.

“We call on DOLE and PEZA to form a Task Force Cavite EPZA that includes workers groups. The Task Force Valenzuela convened in the wake of the Kentex industrial tragedy is a good template to follow,” Sequena elaborated.

After the Kentex fire that killed 72 factory workers, the DOLE formed the Task Force Valenzuela to conduct unannounced inspections to ensure compliance with labor, occupational safety and other standards.

Sequena also took to task PEZA head Plaza for pre-empting the probe by announcing that she does not expect any fatality to be uncovered. He argued that “The PEZA head must be more circumspect in her statements given that it is her agency that has jurisdiction over economic zones. What happens if the police and fire personnel uncover facts contrary to Plaza’s declaration?”

PM is also asking for clarification on the compliance certification issued to HTI. “Is HTI’s compliance based on an inspection by DOLE or based on self-assessment by the company? If it was self-assessment, were workers involved and were they handpicked by management given that HTI is not unionized? Regulations allow self-assessment if the establishment has more than 200 workers. Self-assessment however means that the DOLE is allowing the wolf to guard the sheep and thus we should not be surprised that the sheep gets slaughtered,” insisted Sequena.

He averred that despite HTI’s compliance certification, there are apparent occupational health and safety issues since there was a previous fire at HTI in 2012. A 10-hour fire started at the boiler department of the HTI factory in October 19, 2012 and lasted up to early the next day.

February 4, 2017

Cavite EPZA factory fire prompts call for stronger labor enforcement

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) demanded stronger labor and safety enforcement from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the wake of the massive factory fire at the Cavite EPZA that resulted to some one hundred injuries and one confirmed dead as of today.

“Export zones should not be independent republics where weak labor and safety rules lead to low wages, proliferation of contractualization and unsafe working conditions. The DOLE should exercise its labor enforcement and inspection powers to the full within economic zones. A big number of the country’s factory workers are now employed in the numerous export zones across the country and especially Calabarzon,” argued Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

Yesterday members of PM and the Katipunan ng Manggagawang Pilipino (KMP) trooped to the Cavite EPZA to demand a transparent investigation of the factory fire at House Technology Industries (HTI) and immediate assistance for workers injured or killed in the industrial tragedy reminiscent of the Kentex fire in 2015.

“We express our sympathies for HTI workers and their families. Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead, accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards,” Magtubo insisted.

He noted that despite HTI’s compliance certification, there are apparent occupational health and safety issues since there was a previous fire at HTI in 2012. A 10-hour fire started at the boiler department of the HTI factory in October 19, 2012 and lasted up to early the next day.

“Also we are gravely concerned that out of HTI’s total workforce of some 10,000, only 4,000 are regular workers and the rest are contractual workers deployed by several agencies. Labor inspection should reveal if these agency workers are actually doing the job of regular workers but are being used to evade implementation of mandated wages, benefits and rights,” Magtubo elaborated.

He added that “Further, due to their short-term employment, contractual workers may not be properly informed of health and safety procedures, and probably not participate in fire drills. The proliferation of contractual workers from manpower agencies and labor coops must be stopped not just to advance decent working conditions but also workplace health and safety. Thus we call on DOLE not just to probe HTI but also its sister companies Wu Kong and SCAD where conditions are no different.”

February 3, 2017

Assistance, justice asked for victims of Cavite EPZA factory fire

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called for immediate assistance to victims of the massive factory fire in the Cavite ecozone. Members of PM and the Katipunan ng Manggagawang Pilipino (KMP) trooped to the Cavite EPZA this morning to demand a transparent investigation and justice for workers injured or killed in the industrial tragedy reminiscent of the Kentex fire in 2015.

“We condole with the victims of the fire at House Technology Industries (HTI). We ask too the Singaporean owners for prompt aid for the victims and a thorough probe of the accident. Justice must be served for casualties among HTI workers,” stated Dennis Sequena, PM-Cavite coordinator.

He noted that there was a previous fire at HTI in 2012 and so it seems occupational health and safety standards may not be up to par. There was a 10-hour fire that started at the boiler department of the HTI factory in October 19, 2012 and lasted up to early the next day.

Sequena insisted that “Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead, accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards.”

“Stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection are needed in response to the deadly industrial fires at HTI and Kentex, and loss of lives at several construction sites amidst the current real estate boom,” he argued.

PM reminded employers not to cut corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and called the attention of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the lax implementation of labor and safety standards inside the ecozone.  “While capitalists were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying and being injured in the workplace all around the country,” Sequena elaborated.

He added that “HTI and its sister companies Wu Kong and SCAD employ thousands of workers but a lot of them are contractual even though they do the job of regular employees. Due to their short-term employment, contractual workers may not be properly informed of health and safety procedures, and probably not participate in fire drills. The proliferation of contractual workers from manpower agencies and labor coops must be stopped not just to advance decent working conditions but also workplace health and safety.”

2 February 2017

Cavite workers continue months-long picket as garments brand admits it didn’t cancel orders

As their labor dispute entered its third month, workers of the biggest garments factory at the Cavite economic zone vowed to win their fight against union busting. They have maintained a picketline outside the main gate of the factory Faremo International Inc. since 1,000 workers were laid off last October 27, 2016.

“Faremo shutdown allegedly due to lack of orders, a claim that has been debunked by the admission of its major client, the global garments brand Gap, that purchases have in fact been increased. We are not on strike and want to work but have been locked out. We have sustained a 24/7 picket at the factory to guard against machines being taken out of Faremo. We have survived Undas, Christmas and New Year on the picketline and we are ready for the Chinese New Year,” explained Jessel Autida, president of the Faremo workers union.

Gap made this public statement last November upon inquiry from international labor rights groups that are waging a solidarity campaign for Faremo workers. Faremo’s other customers, US-based companies JC Penney and Kohl’s, did not respond to letters. Faremo is owned by the Korean multinational Hansoll. [ [Gap's statement is posted at https://business-humanrights.org/en/philippines-faremo-intl-factory-closure-leaves-over-1000-without-work-union-suspects-shutdown-was-meant-to-suppress-organizing]

Autida insisted that “Since Faremo’s reason for closing has been exposed as lie, it is now obvious that the motive is to bust the union and destroy the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA was concluded last June and just after four months the factory was shutdown.”

He explained that they formed a union in order to improve pay, benefits and working conditions and stop mistreatment like verbal abuse. Workers at Faremo, despite years of seniority, receive just the mandated minimum wage of P356.50, well below the daily cost of living which PM estimates at P1,100 per day. Pioneers at Faremo, who have worked since the factory started in 2003, receive just P1 higher than the rest of the workers.

“Faremo workers are paid so cheap they cannot buy the clothes they make yet Hansoll is a billion dollar global company. Hansoll declared USD 1.27 billion revenues in 2016 and targets a net profit of 10%,” Autida elaborated.

He added that “We also suspect that another garments factory in the Cavite ecozone is the runaway shop of Faremo. Both before and after Faremo’s closure, truckloads of machines were taken out and we know these equipment are now being used in this factory. Most of Faremo’s former managers have also transferred to this company.”

“Faremo’s spiriting way of machines is in violation of an agreement reached during mediation meetings called by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and also of a Philippine Economic Zone Authority board resolution,” Autida averred.

January 20, 2017