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

 

Golden age is full employment with living wage, safe workplaces, and healthy environment

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa, on SONA (State of the Nation Address) day, advised their fellow workers not to pin their hopes with the hype of a ‘golden era’ being promoted by the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying the value of this campaign narrative, the same as wages, has already been eroded by hard realities.

 

Because the truth is, argued PM Chair Renato Magtubo, “Never has there been a golden age for workers under any administration and neither will it be realized under BBM, or until full employment, living wage, safe workplaces, and healthy environment are achieved.”

 

Magtubo explained that over the last few decades, the army of unemployed and underemployed dominate the labor force, with the real value of wages failing to catch up with even half of the living wage.

 

In the face of soaring inflation, the real value of the P570 minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) today stood only at P508.02, according to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC). On the other hand, the living wage requirement for a family of five has already reached P1,300/day based on PM’s earlier estimates.

 

Thus, together with the Nagkaisa labor coalition, PM is advocating not only for an outright wage increase but also for a change in wage fixing mechanism and, in addition, a package of universal social protection programs that aims to lower households’ daily cost of living.

 

The country’s workplaces, added Magtubo, remain unsafe as far as workers’ freedom of association is concerned as the anti-union policies of the capitalists do not only enjoy maximum tolerance but are, in so many ways, aided by the state itself such as contractualization (endo), red-tagging and worst, extrajudicial killings.

 

The Philippines remains in the list of 10 countries where trade union work is most dangerous, according to the latest report by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

 

The group pointed out also that despite the unemployment rate tilting back to the pre-pandemic levels, most of the jobs that were either recovered or created remain irregular, self-employment, and low-paid.  Thus, the call of PM and Nagkaisa for employment guarantee and support to key sectors of the economy like the health sector, MSMEs, agriculture, and the environment.

 

Likewise, echoing the claim of climate activists that there’s hardly any jobs to talk about under a burning planet, PM is asking the government that fighting the climate crisis and creating climate jobs be made one of the major priorities of this new administration.

 

“Otherwise, if Marcos Jr. simply goes on as business-as-usual during his first SONA, the rest of his six years will be the same over and over again, or even worse,” concluded Magtubo.

25 July 2022

Media Advisory: Workers to hold solidarity action tonight with Myanmar/Burma

In time for a global call of solidarity by the international labor movement, workers' organizations and social movements in the Philippines led by Partido Manggagawa, Nagkaisa and Kalipunan will hold a noise barrage tonight

Feb 11, 7pm - 8pm

Boy Scout Rotonda, Timog Ave

Contact Wilson Fortaleza @ 09452182693

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

Intl, local groups ask Bello to act on killing of Cavite union organizer

International and local labor groups are asking Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello for action on the killings of labor leaders after the fatal shooting of a union organizer in Cavite during a meeting of workers.

“We deplore the ongoing violence and assassinations targeting labour and human rights defenders in the Philippines. Extrajudicial killings must be stopped and the environment of impunity must come to an end. It is the responsibility of the government of the Philippines to ensure that the lives and personal security of workers and activists must be guaranteed and that they are able to exercise their basic rights without threats and fear,” stated Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The ITUC represents 207 million workers in 163 countries.

The ITUC letter to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello arose from the fatal shooting of Dennis Sequena, provincial leader of the Partido Manggagawa (PM) in Cavite, while meeting a group of ecozone workers last June 2.

The labor coalition Nagkaisa earlier called on the Department of Labor and Employment for urgent response on the death of Sequena.

“We demand action from Secretary Bello to stop the series of extra-judicial killings of labor activists and trade unionists. As Labor Secretary, he must raise a voice against these killings. And we ask him to immediately convene the National Tripartite Monitoring Body (NTMB) which has the mandate to probe labor-related EJK’s,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

The NTMB was formed in response to the recommendation of the International Labor Organization High Level Mission (ILO HLM) in 2009 to investigate violations of the freedom of association and killings of trade unionists.

Yesterday, scores of workers attended a tribute to Sequena at his wake in Workersville, Tanza, Cavite. He was honored a “hero of epza workers.” Epza is the popular term for the Cavite Economic Zone in Rosario which is the largest export processing area in the country.

Sequena is to be buried on the morning of June 12. Hundreds are expected to participate in the funeral march which will also be a protest to seek justice for his killing.

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 10, 2019

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

Cavite workers gear up for strike anew

Workers of an electronics factory in the Cavite ecozone are preparing to go on strike once more due to the mass termination of all union officers. The all-women labor union at the Lakepower Converter Inc. filed a notice of strike after mediation talks last Wednesday broke down due to the refusal of management to reinstate eight union officers who were terminated.

The Lakepower women workers went on a five-month strike that started in December 2017 to demand a stop to the harassment of union officers and members. The strike was settled last April due to the intervention of the Department of Labor and Employment. As part of the agreement, 64 union officers and members were to return to work.

“However, Lakepower reneged on the agreement. It reinstated union members but immediately suspended union officers. After a month-long suspension, they were then terminated. This is obviously a case of union busting,” declared Rene Magtubo, chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM), which is assisting the Lakepower women workers.

Lakepower is a Taiwanese-owned parts supplier to global electronics companies like Recom Power, Arrow Electronics, Asus and Texas Instruments. To avert another strike, the National Conciliation and Mediation Board is calling the management and union to conciliation meetings next week.

Magtubo asserted that union busting and harassment of unionists in Lakepower is not an isolated case in the export processing zones. Last week, PM condemned the posting of a “wanted list” of unionists at the gate of the Mactan, Cebu Economic Zone and its security office. Also last week, in the middle of negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), a union president and vice president were arrested due to a criminal complaint in Valenzuela.

“We are alarmed at this disturbing pattern of unionists being treated as criminals. Unionism is not a crime. But with the prevailing culture of impunity, employers are emboldened to criminalize unionists and treat them as terrorists,” asserted Magtubo. A global union body had listed the Philippines as among the worst countries for workers in its 2018 Global Rights Index.

Names and pictures of Myra Opada, Luzelie Gesta and Aurelia Parangan were on the “wanted list” in the Mactan ecozone. Opada is union president at Philippine Light Leather Corp. (PLLC), Gesta is secretary of the union and Parangan is an active member. All three have been terminated by PLLC management but the workers have filed cases of union busting, unfair labor practice and illegal dismissal.

Meanwhile, the president and vice president of the labor union at the Nation Paper Products and Printing Corp. (NAPPCO) were arrested and detained at a Valenzuela police station for two days. The CBA negotiations were cancelled as a result of the arrest and detention.

July 6, 2018

Labor group slams criminalization of unionists

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today condemned the criminalization of unionists in Cebu, Valenzuela and Cavite. In Cebu, a “wanted list” of unionists were posted at the gate of the Mactan Economic Zone and its security office last Wednesday. In Valenzuela, in the middle of negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), a union president and vice president were arrested due to a criminal complaint also last Wednesday. Finally in Cavite, criminal complaints were also filed against union officers.

“We are alarmed at this disturbing pattern of unionists being treated as criminals. Unionism is not a crime. But with the prevailing culture of impunity, employers are emboldened to criminalize unionists and treat them as terrorists,” declared Rene Magtubo, national of PM.

Names and pictures of Myra Opada, Luzelie Gesta and Aurelia Parangan were on the “wanted list” in the Mactan ecozone. Opada is union president at Philippine Light Leather Corp. (PLLC), Gesta is secretary of the union and Parangan is an active member. All three have been terminated by PLLC management but the workers have filed cases of union busting, unfair labor practice and illegal dismissal.

Meanwhile, the president and vice president of the labor union at the Nation Paper Products and Printing Corp. (NAPPCO) were arrested and detained at a Valenzuela police station for two days already. The union is trying to raise the P36,000 total bail for the two. The CBA negotiations were cancelled as a result of the arrest and detention.

Cases for falsification of public documents by were filed against union officers at Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. and Dong Seung Inc. in the Cavite ecozone more than a month ago. The criminal complaints followed other instances of harassment by management of active unionists in the two Korean-owned garments factories.

“While police are arresting tambays for crimes that have not been committed, employers are similarly engaged in criminalizing unionists for exercising their rights as workers. Police should instead arrest employers who are illegally employing endo workers, under paying workers for wages and benefits and not remitting deduction for SSS, Pag-ibig and Philhealth,” argued Magtubo.

The group is studying the possibility of a congressional investigation of the spate of incidents of union repression in the country. A global union body had listed the Philippines as among the worst countries for workers in its 2018 Global Rights Index. 

June 29, 2018

After citing the Philippines as one of worst: Global union body asked to probe recent cases of workers repression

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asked the global union body, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), to investigate recent cases of violent dispersals of strikes and harassment of striking workers. The ITUC had listed the Philippines as among the worst countries for workers in its 2018 Global Rights Index.

“If the ITUC report had noted very recent developments like the violent dispersal of the strike at NutriAsia and the harassment of picketlines at Lakepower Converter and Dong Seung in the Cavite export processing zone, the Philippines might even rise from being number 8 to number 1 in the list of worst countries,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

Magtubo was referring to the police dispersal last week of the picketline at the condiments giant NutriAsia that led to the arrest of a dozen workers and the wounding of several more. While in the strike at the electronics factory Lakepower Converter, two women workers were hurt when company and ecozone security guards repeatedly attacked the picketline in the dead of the night last December 2017. In the strike at the garments factory Dong Seung last month, ecozone guards tore down placards in the picketline and prevented striking workers from entering the Cavite export processing zone.

“All these incidents of impunity against labor rights at NutriAsia, Lakepower and Dong Seung are in blatant violation of the DOLE-PEZA-PNP Guidelines in the Conduct of Security Personnel During Labor Disputes. The guidelines was a reform enacted in response to findings by the International Labor Organization High Level Mission in 2009. Unfortunately the guidelines remain a piece of paper,” insisted Gerry Rivera, head of the newly established Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa.

Last Monday, some 200 members of PM and Kapatiran marched to the NutriAsia factory in solidarity with the striking workers. The groups are calling for a boycott of NutriAsia products such as Datu Puti, Silver Swan, UFC and Mang Tomas.

Tomorrow mediations meetings are to be held to resolve the pending disputes at Dong Seung and Lakepower. The DOLE National Office is calling the company and union of Lakepower to a meeting due to the termination of all seven union officers this month despite an agreement forged last April to reinstate all striking workers. Also the National Conciliation and Mediation Board in Cavite is meeting the management and union of Dong Seung because of the dismissal of 16 union officers.

“The mass termination of union officers at Lakepower and Dong Seung are black-and-white examples of union busting by companies. Workers in NutriAsia, Dong Seung, Lakepower and others are organizing in order to improve wages and working conditions but the response of employers is to suppress freedom of association,” concluded Rivera.

June 20, 2018

Extra-judicial killings, other human rights violations persist under ‘tuwid na daan’ – Nagkaisa!

NEWS RELEASE

NAGKAISA!

09 December 2014

A culture of impunity translated into extra-judicial killings (EJK) and other forms of human rights violations against leaders and labor organizers continue under the ‘tuwid na daan’, a coalition of major trade unions and labor organizations in the country, Nagkaisa!, said in a statement on the eve of the celebration of International Human Rights Day.

Since 2011, Nagkaisa! is engaged in dialogues with the Aquino administration on several labor issues, including some 62 unsolved cases of EJKs involving labor.

Nagkaisa! said the most recent in the cases of unsolved EJKs was the  murder of a labor organizer in Negros Occidental.  Rolando Pango, a full time organizer of Partido Manggagawa (PM) was gunned down in Binalbagan town in Negros Occidental on Novermber 29, 2014.

“Prior to his death, Pango was deeply involved in both the agrarian and labor disputes in Hacienda Salud, a 135-hectare sugar plantation in Barangay Rumirang, Isabela leased and managed by Manuel Lamata,”said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

Aside from EJKs, Nagkaisa! is also alarmed at the resurgence of other forms of human rights violations. 

Last October,  Antonio Cuizon, president of the Panaghiusa sa Mamumuo sa Carmen Copper, was arrested on trumped up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.  The union and the management were then in the thick of labor dispute when the case was filed against Quizon.

 Pango was instrumental in organizing the plantation workers in Hacienda Salud who in June applied the land under CARPER coverage.  Salud workers has also filed of a case of illegal dismissal before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) against Lamata for unlawful termination 41 workers.

PM and Nagkaisa is calling on both the national and local governments to render immediate justice to this case. 

Josua Mata, Secretary General of Alliance of Progressive Labor–Sentro, said Nagkaisa will be raising this issue before the Tripartite Industrial Council (TIPC) and the DOJ panel investigating the EJKs.

“Like Ruby, solving cases of EJKs in the country is a slow-grind,” said Mata.

Before Pango, another PM organizer, Victoriano Embang, leader of Maria Cecilia Farm Workers Association (MACFAWA) in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental was also killed on December 29, 2012.  A failed assassination attempt against his brother, Anterio Embang, followed  few months later, February 28, 2013.

A Negrense himself, Magtubo said Negros remains a ‘labor hotspot’ because of strong resistance by landlords to agrarian reform and their outmoded serf-type treatment of their laborers. 

“Perhaps this regional feudal context has escaped the eyes of the labor department and the national government.  Or they simply don’t care” added Magtubo.

But the most widespread of human rights violations, Nagkaisa! said, is the violation of labor’s right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

“The onslaught of state-sanctioned contractualization schemes have effectively disarmed workers of their ability to defend themselves, through their unions, against many forms of abuse and exploitation” concluded Magtubo.

PM: Philippines off course regarding labor rights

Press Release

December 6, 2011

Days before the commemoration of International Human Rights Day, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called the attention of the government to the critical report issued by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) regarding the observance of core labor standards in the Philippines. “The Philippines is not on the right track but off course as far as labor rights is concerned,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

The global union body said that “In view of restrictions on the trade union rights of workers, discrimination, child labour, and forced labour, determined measures are needed to comply with the commitments” of the country to the World Trade Organization and the International Labor Organization.

Magtubo said that “The ITUC report is a wake up call to PNoy and Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz that rhetoric is far from reality. The violations of core labor standards detailed in the report are in stark contrast to the avowed aim of the administration to align our country’s labor policies with international treaties and ILO conventions.”

The critique was contained in the ITUC REPORT FOR THE WTO GENERAL COUNCIL REVIEW OF THE TRADE POLICIES OF PHILIPPINES (Geneva, 22 and 24 November 2011) which is posted at http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/wto_review.pdf.

Magtubo insisted that “Among the damning conclusions reached by the ITUC is that union rights are restricted in law and practice.” He quoted from the report that “There is an environment of violence and intimidation against trade unions. Employers and state authorities make use of anti-union practices in order to curb unions' rights.”

The ITUC report also rapped the Aquino administration for its decision to allow the outsourcing plan of Philippine Airlines. The report asserted that “The increasing replacement of long-term employment contracts with subcontracted or contractual labor curtails union membership.” To support this conclusion, the report cited that “Another example of the increasing contractualisation of employment is PAL… In February 2011, PAL announced $15.1 million profits and one month later, the government gave the company permission to continue with its outsourcing plan.”

“The ITUC report further confirms the accusation of labor groups that labor rights in general and union organizing in particular is severely constrained in the export procession zones,” Magtubo averred. He again quoted from the ITUC report that “When a union is organized the management of the special economic zones (EPZs) or individual companies file lawsuits to frighten union leaders or threaten that they will file for bankruptcy. This was the case of the garment producer, Alta Mode Inc, in the Mactan EPZ II in Lapu-Lapu City.”