DOLE slammed for inaction on 13th month pay issue of “Grinch” company in Cavite

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for lack of action in enforcing the mandatory payment of the 13^th month benefit for workers of a garments factory in Cavite.

“December 24 has come and gone but the DOLE still refuses to use it powers to enforce the payment of wages and 13^th month pay for workers of a ‘Grinch’ company,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair. Workers of Sejung Apparel Inc. in the First Cavite Industrial Estate have been on picket-protest since December 12.

Tomorrow, Senator Risa Hontiveros is set to visit the Sejung picketline to bring moral and logistical support to the workers.

“While DOLE officials in the national and regional offices are enjoying their happy holidays, Sejung workers had a sad Christmas and are facing a bleak New Year since labor standards are not being enforced,” Magtubo insisted.

Josephine Odchimar, president of the labor union at Sejung, stated that DOLE had already conducted a factory inspection last December 19 and promised to issue an order if management does not release the 13^th month pay on December 24 as mandated. However, she added that DOLE did not issue an order and instead is trying to schedule another inspection.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. What’s keeping the DOLE regional office from issuing a compliance order? Even during the mediation hearings, Sejung maintained its illegal and hardline stance that it will grant the 13^th month pay in March not December. Yet the DOLE dare not lift a finger even as Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello issued press releases reminding employers about the payment of the 13^th month benefit,” Magtubo averred.

Workers set up a picketline outside the factory to guard against machines being taken out of the factory and prevent a runaway shop. Sejung workers are also demanding a stop the transfer of machines and an end to subcontracting of production. “The company’s argument of lack of buyers is just an alibi. The truth is that production is being subcontracted by Sejung to other companies,” Odchimar asserted.

Workers believe management is maneuvering to bust the union. The union won the certification elections in August. The company temp closed down in October, a week after the union submitted a proposal for a collective bargaining agreement. After a month, the company reopened.

“The pattern of companies inside ecozones shutting down to bust unions is well documented. It appears that Sejung is following this modus operandi of union busting,” Magtubo asserted.

Photos of the company memo about the 13^th month pay and the workers protest can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157676136334323?__xts__[0]=68.ARBGx-zVbDCc8zj4NMSQA7GQZzAcPSgrdNybQuh8TDrUfgPoGL0ifqHsC1shGb5r2mUeM6OC4LpkuDtw0LdTEh7KBQlilRY_iXcLklX-Vfq6LbKMnlp7xtpdf1JMLKpSrmYbkSeR1kwkomnr5RLkideH5PsxzoAloxtaDTdzpFDTKp4P_r4XmggowFpw-YSXCTnkmrTtD8eUslR-4IFoREjmkuHzUSd8E6lbMV1Gpp9DF69t0eZLnLiTdp_1_HXmiB4qiZiza_RhwNSXxgs9EVYTJ_o2EFKqMqtjRoEfd-SvYOgk5nkwSe_ZrGfHS-R5a6SFOAuf4E6QAF3x_cux&__tn__=-R

December 29, 2019

DOLE asked to probe union busting at Cavite ecozone

With just a week to go before Labor Day, the partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to investigate complaints of union busting at the biggest export zone in the country. Workers of garments factories in the giant Cavite Economic Zone are complaining of union busting by their management.

“We ask Secretary Bello to act with dispatch as workers’ right to choose to be represented is being curtailed by foreign investors. With these cases of union busting, freedom of association will be among the highlights of workers’ commemoration of Labor Day on May 1,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

The workers of Korean-owned Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. are alleging that management is maneuvering to bust the union. Jisoo separated almost all of its regular work force last March ahead of a possible certification elections in April. Last April 14, some 100 workers in a motorcade of 50 motorcycles held a mass action at the main gate of the Cavite Economic Zone in support of the Jisoo union.

Magtubo reminded Sec. Bello that “Last May 2018, the Department of Labor and Employment convened a dialogue between labor groups and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to address complaints of violations of the right to unionize and labor standards in the major ecozones like in Cavite and Mactan Cebu. A technical working group was formed to resolve the allegations of union busting and other workplace grievances. Thus we ask Sec. Bello to put its commitment into action.”

“To pre-empt the certification election and bust the union, last March Jisoo management offered to separate its regular work force. The separation package was supposed to be voluntary but instead workers were called for one-on-one meetings in management offices and cajoled into accepting the offer. Almost all of the 350 regular workers were terminated and only a handful of union officers remained who resisted the offer. Recently, the union president was denied overtime as a way to harass the remaining holdouts,” Magtubo explained.

Meanwhile another union busting complaint, by workers in Daegyoung Apparel Inc., also Korean-owned, was settled last Monday during a hearing by the DOLE-National Conciliation and Mediation Board with management pledging not to interfere in their employees’ right to unionize. The Daegyoung union filed for preventive mediation because workers were being called by management to meetings and asked to sign statements that they will not join a union.

Magtubo declared that “We commend the management of Daegyoung for committing to respect freedom of association and will hold them to that promise. As far as we know, things have changed in the factory since the settlement of the union busting complaint.”

A union busting complaint filed by the Jisso labor union is presently pending. Jisoo supplies to well-known and global garments brands such as Marubeni of Japan, Cross Plus of Japan, Vuarnet of France, Michael Bastian of the US, 8Seconds of Korea and Tomato.

Photos of the riders protest at the Cavite ecozone can be accessed at

https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157074669864323?__xts__[0]=68.ARCNe8Xq2DOLfIoDmiOvTmmdL-gw9m6y4kEKWiSzaD0_wJnX3WzPLxABqjj5qRM7ZpljywAYDZDVioixOOblkpcSAvz0tgFoIKM4BTcKao1_b7UxfGK-HRMbsegXNlpcq0CM-vpThuUaCHPe1sDu6WaBYpUyMUW1zEA5zLzKSnLGs8Fb3r8urgcjk5Z46ES9MZxYLd64wmU5SeZUpgcuDWTQwB61Qahdk9_JDKRyqROGAllu3qO6-604MCgtkyPYV-NZhwzmjW2qpMeELJh0m5T7apHMw_NYVnBp4SvDojKegkTF4AZTEDl2zILQuw3EclpbSw8A2FjmgL1k8mcn&__tn__=-R

April 24, 2019

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

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

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

Advisory: Workers protest vs. endo: At NCMB Cavite today, DOLE Intramuros tom

Media Advisory

Contact:

Dennis Sequena (PM Cavite) 09301803072

Rene Magtubo (PM Chair) 09178532905

Today, Nov. 15 (Tuesday), 2:00 pm:

Cavite workers to rally at NCMB Imus 

Tomorrow, Nov. 16 (Wednesday), 10:00 am: Labor groups to rally at DOLE Intramuros

Nov. 18 (Friday): Labor summit in Cebu City 

Workers are set to escalate protests as they call for an end to endo o contractualization. The DOLE is set to release by the end of the year a new order to regulate the practice of contractualization and labor groups are calling on the agency to prohibit contractualization of regular jobs, including outsourcing. The protests this week are a buildup to a national day of action later this month.

The protest today will be led by workers of the Faremo International Inc., the biggest garments company in the Cavite ecozone. Faremo workers are accusing management of union busting and planning to replace regular workers with contractual employees when the factory reopens.

The rally tomorrow at the main office of the DOLE will include groups Partido Manggagawa, Church-Labor Coalition and PALEA.

Advisory: Another mediation to resolve closure of biggest Cavite EPZA garments firm

MEDIA ADVISORY

October 27, 2016

Contact: Dennis Sequena @ 09301803072

Workers up picketline at Cavite EPZA firm as DOLE mediates closure dispute

WHAT: Workers of the biggest garments factory in Cavite EPZA setup a picketline even as DOLE convenes another mediation meeting re closure dispute

WHEN: Today, October 27, 2016, Thursday, 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: NCMB Imus @ MYP GBY Building, Bayan Luma 7, Aguinaldo Highway, Cavite

DETAILS:  Some 1,000 workers of the garments factory Faremo International Inc. at Cavite EPZA in Rosario were laidoff yesterday. Today workers are setting up a picketline even as the DOLE calls another mediation meeting today to resolve the dispute surrounding the closure of the biggest garments factory at Cavite EPZA.

The union is alleging union busting as Faremo International Inc. declared a permanent shutdown.

In the mediation meeting last Monday, the DOLE mediator is proposing that Faremo consider temporary shutdown instead of permanent closure.

The union is alleging that the closure is illegal since it is meant to bust the union and destroy the CBA. Early this month, management filed for temporary closure and the union proposed work rotation to preserve jobs and prevents layoffs. Management ignored the proposal and responded with the permanent closure.

Faremo is owned by the Korean textile multinational Hansoll and supplies to global brands such as Gap, JCPenney and Kohl's.

A union was formed by workers at Faremo last year in a bid to redress grievances such a low pay, verbal abuse and lack of benefits. A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was concluded just last May.

Advisory: Biggest garments factory in Cavite EPZA shuts down to bust union

October 24, 2016
Contact: Dennis Sequena @ 09301803072

Mediation at DOLE today:

Biggest garments factory in Cavite EPZA shuts down to bust union

WHAT: Mediation between management and union of biggest garments factory in EPZA employing some 1,000 workers 

WHEN: Today, October 24, 2016, 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: NCMB Imus @ MYP GBY Building, Bayan Luma 7, Aguinaldo Highway, Cavite

DETAILS:  The union is alleging union busting as the garments factory Faremo International Inc. located in the Cavite EPZA declared permanent shutdown. Some 1,000 workers, mostly women, will made jobless as a result. Faremo is owned by the Korean textile multinational Hansoll and supplies to global brands such as Gap, JCPenney and Kohl's.

A union was formed by workers at Faremo last year in a bid to redress grievances such a low pay, verbal abuse and lack of benefits. A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was concluded just last May.

The union is alleging that the closure is illegal since it is meant to bust the union and destroy the CBA. Early this month, management filed for temporary closure and the union proposed work rotation to preserve jobs and prevents layoffs. Management ignored the proposal and responded with the permanent closure.

Advisory: PAL-PALEA mediation tom as strike deadline nears

MEDIA ADVISORY

PALEA

October 26, 2015

Contact Gerry Rivera @ 09165047751

  

DOLE to hold mediation today on PAL-PALEA dispute as strike deadline nears

WHAT: Mediation meeting between PAL and PALEA on the notice of strike over mass layoff

WHEN:  Today, October 26 (Monday), 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: NCMB-Central office (Arcadia Building, 860 Quezon Ave., QC)

PALEA to demand reinstatement of dismissed workers in conciliation today

Press Release

October 15, 2015

PALEA

The union Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) will demand the recall of the recent mass layoff at Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the reinstatement of the 117 dismissed workers in the conciliation meeting scheduled today. To highlight the demand, PALEA members will hold a picket simultaneous with the mediation talks at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board office at the DOLE Building in Intramuros, Manila.

Today’s mediation is the second after PALEA filed a notice of strike last October 8. PAL announced the separation of 117 employees all working at domestic airports around the country last September 2.

“As we ask for the understanding of the riding public for a strike that may fall on the undas holiday, we also appeal for their solidarity in PALEA’s fight against retrenchment and contractualization. Ang laban ng PALEA ay laban ng lahat,” stated Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and Partido Manggagawa (PM) vice chair.

In threatening to strike, PALEA is alleging unfair labor practice by PAL due to the recent retrenchment and management interference in the right to unionize. The law gives PALEA 15 days after filing before it can actually hold a strike.

Rivera averred that “To avert a strike, we call on PAL to set aside their flimsy excuses for not responding to our demands. Such it seems is squid tactics to hide its inability to justify the illegal termination of 117 employees.”

“The mass layoff is not only illegal but immoral. PAL is firing workers though it is wallowing in profits. PAL’s parent company, PAL Holdings, reported a net income of P5.8 billion ($126.20 million) for the first half of 2015, soaring nearly ten-fold from P560 million ($12.18 million) during the same period last year,” Rivera added.

PALEA is hoping that PAL President Jaime Bautista will attend the mediation meeting today to facilitate resolution of the dispute. As part of its weekly protests, PALEA members picketed PAL offices yesterday around the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Aside from opposing the latest retrenchment, PALEA is also calling for the opening of collective bargaining negotiation and the full implementation of a settlement agreement that ended the dispute over the last mass retrenchment in 2011.

No collective bargaining negotiation between PAL and PALEA has happened since 1998 when a 10-year CBA suspension was imposed. After a two-year fight, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute of 2011 yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement.

Over a strike notice vs. mass layoff: PAL, union conciliation inconclusive

Press Release

October 13, 2015

PALEA

A conciliation meeting yesterday between the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the union Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) ended without any agreement on the issue of the recent mass layoff of 117 employees. The first meeting between PAL and PALEA was called by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board-NCR after the union filed a notice of strike last October 8, allegedly unfair labor practice due to the retrenchment and management interference in the right to unionize. The law gives PALEA 15 days after filing before it can actually hold a strike.

“PAL, through the industrial relations lawyers who attended in behalf of management, was non-committal on the union demand to recall the separation of the 117 employees and their immediate reinstatement. Thus PALEA’s notice of strike stays,” stated Gerry Rivera, PALE president and vice chair of Partido Manggagawa.

Another conciliation meeting is set for Thursday, October 15. PALEA asked that PAL President Jaime Bautista attend the meeting to facilitate resolution of the dispute. As part of its weekly protests, tomorrow PALEA will picket PAL offices around the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

PAL sent termination notices to 117 employees, almost all PALEA members and working in domestic airports around the country last September 2. The notice cited an organizational restructuring which had rendered “several positions in the Company redundant.”

However Rivera argued that “No redundancy exists since the workers retrenched were replaced by agency employees. The new round of layoffs is just another wave of contractualization, changing regular unionized workers with contractual employees who will be paid less in wages and benefits.”

He added that “The mass layoff is not only illegal but immoral. PAL is firing workers though it is wallowing in profits. PAL’s parent company, PAL Holdings, reported a net income of P5.8 billion ($126.20 million) for the first half of 2015, soaring nearly ten-fold from P560 million ($12.18 million) during the same period last year.”

PALEA wrote PAL President Jaime Bautista last September 5 to ask for the recall of the mass layoff. In the same letter, PALEA also repeated its request for the commencement of collective bargaining negotiations, and the resumption of discussions for the implementation of the Settlement Agreement.

No collective bargaining negotiation between PAL and PALEA has happened since 1998 when a 10-year CBA suspension was imposed. After a two-year campaign, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute of 2011 yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement.

Over firing and suspension of union members: Workers of Korean-owned factory in Cavite restive anew

Workers strike at Tae Sung last February

Press Release

March 17, 2015

Workers of a Korean-owned metal factory in the Cavite economic zone, the biggest in the country, are restive once more because of a series of dismissals and suspensions of union members. The Tae Sung Employees Association, the labor union at Tae Sung Philippines Co. Inc., filed a notice of strike last Friday as it alleged unfair labor practices of the management.

In the three weeks since the settlement of a previous strike by the Tae Sung union, management has dismissed two union members and suspended six more, including one union officer. The Tae Sung union is alleging that the terminations and suspensions of active unionists are retaliatory acts and thus a violation of a settlement agreement that no such actions should be undertaken.

The National Conciliation and Mediation Board of Region IV-A has called for a meeting tomorrow between union and management in a bid to settle the new labor dispute. Just last February the Tae Sung workers launched a two-day strike over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations that has lasted for six months without an agreement between the union and management. The strike was settled with workers winning a wage hike and added benefits.

The Tae Sung union is citing the case of three workers in the spray department who were all charged with a case for eating in the production area. Two of them, who are active union members, were fired as a result but the third worker, who scabbed during the February strike, was given a “slap in the wrist” of just a five-day suspension.

The union is arguing that minor infractions by workers have been meted the maximum of 30-day suspensions thus constituting discriminatory acts. A 30-day long suspension means the loss of a month’s wage for the concerned workers.

Further, the union is complaining that management has delayed by a month the signing of the collective bargaining agreement even though the settlement provided it shall be finished in just one week.

The Partido Manggagawa warned of protests to support the embattled Tae Sung workers in case there is no breakthrough in the mediation meeting tomorrow. The union is also planning to hold a strike vote among its members.

Carmen Copper mine union statement on settlement of labor dispute

PAMCC press con announcing planned strike

Press Statement

February 27, 2014

PAMCC-AGLO-PM

Today we announce that the looming strike at the country’s biggest mine has been averted with the union gaining significant concessions in its demands, especially a major advance in the fight against contractualization.

We have withdrawn the Notice of Strike (NOS) we have filed before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) as the union has reached an agreement with Carmen Copper Corp. (CCC) management yesterday afternoon during a conciliation conference at the NCMB.

We welcome management’s willingness to meet union demands in order to avoid a costly strike. The reasonableness of our demands combined with the support of the entire union membership made this settlement with the management possible.

This settlement is a victory for the union in general and specifically it is a step forward in protecting job security at the mine.

Out of four main issues we raised as basis for the NOS, only one outstanding issue was left:

1. Management commits to regularize 250 casual employees by March 8, 2014. For its smooth implementation, an oversight committee will be set up composed of union and management representatives;

2. Both the management and union agree to respect due process concerning the alleged infractions of 33 employees. On the complaint of double standard in the implementation of company rules ad regulations, management commits to be transparent with the union on all the administrative hearings and furnish copies of pertinent documents relevant to the relevant cases;

3. Management commits to act on the complaint of union Interference and unfair labor practice. Union will give the management free hand on the investigation and subsequent findings as a result of the said investigation.

The outstanding issue left is complaints regarding violations of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The union and management have agreed to put the issue on preventive mediation. The NCMB has set a preventive mediation hearing on March 13, 2014 to start the ball rolling on the resolution of the remaining issue.

The union remains vigilant in the implementation of the settlement agreement. We remain committed to industrial peace on the basis of respect for workers rights and welfare, especially compliance with the existing CBA between the union and the company.

Labor party calls for strict regulation of labor standards in BPO industry

Press Release

August 2, 2012

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) today called on the government to strictly monitor and enforce labor standards in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the wake of the abrupt closure of a call center in Cebu City which left more than 600 workers without jobs and with unpaid wages, benefits and unremitted social security contributions.

“In the SONA of President Benigno Aquino III he applauded the BPO industry but behind this so-called sunrise industry lurks storm clouds that batter workers’ working conditions. Within an industry which prides itself with above-standard systems are substandard practices that are common in other businesses. The Labor Department and other agencies cannot be complacent that all is well for workers in the BPO industry. But the best regulator of labor standards are empowered workers and so we call for representatives to be elected by workers with the mandate to talk with management regarding working conditions, terms of employment, employee benefits and work load including setting of quotas, metrics and performance indexes,” said Renato Magtubo, PM national chairperson.

PM is assisting the employees of Direct Access Corporation, a locator in the Asiatown IT Park in Cebu City, which shutdown without due notice last July 30 to the surprise of its workforce. In arguably the first such protest among BPO workers, hundreds of Direct Access employees spontaneously held a rally last Monday in the prestigious ecozone.

Dennis Derige, PM-Cebu spokesperson, announced that the scheduled teleconference today between leaders of the Direct Access workers and the US-based owner was postponed for tomorrow. He also explained that no agreement was reached yesterday at mediation called by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, and a meeting with the Cebu tripartite industrial peace council. “Direct Access workers welcome the offer of employment at other BPO companies even as they press for their demands with the different institutions that are intervening. They demand justice for workers, the payment of some PhP 6.4 million in wages and other emoluments, and the company’s culpability for violations of labor laws,” Derige insisted.

Magtubo recognized that numerous studies have called attention to health and safety concerns specific to the BPO industry, especially due to the graveyard working shift prevalent in call centers. “BPO companies must provide health insurance that is on top of the mandatory Philhealth membership and guarantees wider coverage and better benefits that especially address call center-specific health issues and afflictions.”

“Further, government must push for industry-wide standards for wages, benefits and entitlements that is well above the minimum set by law and commensurate to the dollar-earning nature of the BPO sector.” Magtubo argued. In the SONA, President Aquino mentioned that the BPO industry already employs more than 600,000 workers and earns revenues of some PhP 11 billion, equivalent to 5% of the country’s GDP.