Employers asked for paid leave as ecozones close in Cavite

Photo from Cavite Economic Zone Administration

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on employers to grant paid leave to workers affected by the closure of ecozones in the province of Cavite. “Foreign investors should shoulder temporary losses due to the covid pandemic,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

The biggest export complex in the country, the Cavite Economic Zone in the town of Rosario, shuttered last night while the First Cavite Industrial Estate in Dasmarinas will close at 5:00 pm today. “We estimate that some 100,000 workers from the two ecozones are affected by the lockdown,” Magtubo said.

He added that “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.”

PM also stated that other factories have shutdown earlier, such as Yazaki-EMI in Imus and Eurotiles in Silang, both of which stopped operating since March 18 and are implementing a no work, no pay policy. The group averred that other workers—in factories like metal firm Taifini in Silang which are still producing—are suffering from walking long distances due to lack of transporation.

Magtubo insisted that “We cannot accept that workers are the last to benefit from economic progress but the first to sacrifice in time of crisis.”

The group is proposing the following mitigation measures to lessen the impact of covid on workers and the people:

1.      Release of a DOLE order—not just labor advisory—to mandate prior negotiation with workers before any flexible work arrangement is implemented;

2.      Paid leave for workers to be shouldered by employers and the government;

3.      Pay for workers put on forced quarantine to be shouldered by employers and the government;

4.      Implement work from home arrangements, in applicable jobs, without diminution of wages and benefits;

5.      Provision of personal protective equipment for all health and allied workers in the frontline of covid response;

6.      Living pension for senior citizens since the elderly are more prone to infection;

7.      Shift build-build-build budget to health in order to build more hospitals, provide testing and treatment facilities, hire more health workers;

8.      Health tax on the wealthy—as part of CITIRA—to fund universal health care.

March 20, 2020

Cavite electronics workers bring protest to factory premises and export zone

Press Release

May 13, 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Electronics workers in Cavite vote to go on strike

Press Release
May 7, 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mass layoff sparks labor unrest in Cavite export zone

Press Release
April 21, 2010

A planned mass layoff of 450 workers, about half of the total workforce of a factory in the Cavite Economic Zone, has pushed its employees to form a union and file a case with the Labor Department. Workers of Dyna Image Corp. Phils., an electronics export firm owned by Chinese foreigners, trooped yesterday afternoon to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board-RAB IV in Imus, Cavite to file for preventive mediation of cases of illegal retrenchment and harassment.

Dyna Image will layoff the workers by May 10 and is offering them 13 days per year of service in separation pay. The company declared that the dismissal is to prevent losses due to the financial crisis. “But if the company is suffering difficulties, why is production in full blast and workers required to do overtime work,” questioned Virgielita Morite, president of the newly certified Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Dyna Image Corp. Phils.

Out of 933 total workers, 229 are already members of the union and more are signing up according to Morite. She alleges that management forced workers to sign papers giving consent to the termination. Morite added that “The fact that workers organized a union show that they do not agree to the layoff and we suspect that management will just replace regular workers with contractual agency workers.”

Raquel Monzon, president of the Rosario Workers Association, a DOLE-certified workers organization for mutual benefit and protection, argued that “The Dyna Image case is no different from the PAL spinoff that will lead to the layoff of 3,000 workers by May 31. By replacing regular with contractual workers, capitalists increase their profits by cutting labor costs. Why should workers be the first to bear the burden of the global crisis when we are the last to benefit during the period of boom?”

The labor party-list Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) chapter in Cavite is also supporting the Dyna Image workers. Dennis Sequena, a PM-Cavite leader, said that “It is ironic that on election day hundreds of Cavite workers will lose their jobs but all we hear from presidentiables are motherhood statements on poverty but no concrete jobs policy. Contractualization is a national issue that deserves attention. Thus among the ‘Apat na Dapat’ platform of PM is the protection and promotion of regular jobs.”

The Dyna Image union will participate in the coming Labor Day protest on May 1. Some 500 motorcycles will take part in a “Sakbayan Para sa Dagdag Sahod at Trabahong Regular” to be led by riders clubs whose membership are overwhelmingly workers.

The Dyna Image workers are still awaiting a date for the hearing of their preventive mediation case that is docketed as Case No. 04004-10. The factory produces parts for cellphone cameras.

Export zone workers march vs. con-ass, call for action on economic recession instead of charter revision

Press Release
June 8, 2009

Some 300 factory workers and community residents marched around the Cavite Economic Zone in the town of Rosario to express outrage over the passage of Resolution 1109. “The workers protests are in response to the multisectoral movement against cha-cha and the Catholic Church’s call versus con-ass. The working class adds its voice to the people’s indignation over the railroading of con-ass and the desperate attempt to extend GMA’s term,” stated Dennis Sequena, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM)-Cavite chairperson.

Members of the Rosario Workers Association (RWA), United Cavite Workers Association and Samahang Nagkakaisa ng Cavite led two contingents that met around 10 a.m. at the main gate of the Cavite Economic Zone then marched around the export zone. The first group came from the towns of Gen. Trias and Tanza, and assembled at Tejero. The second contingent came from the towns of Rosario, Kawit and Cavite City, and gathered at the Rosario Municipal Hall.

Marites Manjares of RWA argued that “The workers call on Congress to retreat from changing the Constitution and instead act on the economic recession. The recession has been overshadowed by other sensational news but it is a threat worse than the outbreak of the AH1N1 virus while the epidemic of layoffs is a worse scandal than the Hayden-Katrina sex video.”

PM renewed its call for a workers bailout in order to stimulate the economy and counter the recession. The group is calling for tax refund, unemployment insurance and direct subsidies to displaced employees and poor people in to order to “put money in the hands of workers and the poor” and revive consumer demand.

“Resolution 1109 may be one small step for her allies in the House of Representatives but it is a giant leap for GMA. It may not be long now when the people will wake up one morning to be greeted by a Prime Minister GMA. Con-ass is the illegitimate child of the Lakas-Kampi marriage and the secret godchild of Gloria Arroyo. It is a GMA-PALAKA outrage that is worse than the sex videos,” Manjares added.

Sequena expained that “Revising the Constitution will pave the way not just for GMA’s perpetuation in power but also the annihilation of the token protection for labor rights and national patrimony that remains in the Constitution.”

Tomorrow the urban poor will hold a noise barrage at the Bicutan Interchange in Paranaque to call on Congress to withdraw the con-ass move. Affiliates of the Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino and PM in Paranaque will march from their communities to the Bicutan palengke at the Bicutan Interchange. They will hold a noise barrage to call for a stop to con-ass and the scrapping of cha-cha.

Workers to hold protests vs. con-ass, call for action on economic recession instead of charter revision

Press Release
June 7, 2009

The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) will lead workers in Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog in protest actions against con-ass and cha-cha this coming week. On Monday factory workers will march around the Cavite Economic Zone in Rosario to express outrage over the passage of Resolution 1109. While on Tuesday the urban poor will hold a noise barrage at the Bicutan Interchange in Paranaque to call on Congress to withdraw the con-ass move.

“The workers protests are in response to the multisectoral movement against cha-cha and the Catholic Church’s call versus con-ass. The working class adds its voice to the people’s indignation over the railroading of con-ass and the desperate attempt to extend GMA’s term,” stated Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

In the Monday mass action, members of Rosario Workers Association and United Cavite Workers Association will lead two contingents that will come from Gen. Trias and Tanza, and Rosario, Kawit and Cavite City. The first group will assemble at Tejero and the second will gather at the Rosario Municipal Hall. The two contingents will meet at the main gate of the Cavite Economic Zone then march around the export zone. Meanwhile on Tuesday, affiliates of the Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino in Paranaque will march from their communities to the Bicutan palengke at the Bicutan Interchange. They will hold a noise barrage to call for a stop to con-ass and the scrapping of cha-cha.

Magtubo added that “The workers call on Congress to retreat from changing the Constitution and instead act on the economic recession. The recession has been overshadowed by other sensational news but it is a threat worse than the outbreak of the AH1N1 virus while the epidemic of layoffs is a worse scandal than the Hayden-Katrina sex video.”

PM renewed its call for a workers bailout in order to stimulate the economy and counter the recession. The group is calling for tax refund, unemployment insurance and direct subsidies to displaced employees and poor people in to order to “put money in the hands of workers and the poor” and revive consumer demand.

“Resolution 1109 may be one small step for her allies in the House of Representatives but it is a giant leap for GMA. It may not be long now when the people will wake up one morning to be greeted by a Prime Minister GMA. Con-ass is the illegitimate child of the Lakas-Kampi marriage and the secret godchild of Gloria Arroyo. It is a GMA-PALAKA outrage that is worse than the sex videos. Revising the Constitution will pave the way not just for GMA’s perpetuation in power but also the annihilation of the token protection for labor rights and national patrimony that remains in the Constitution,” explained Magtubo.

Cavite workers picket Export Zone Authority despite ban on rallies

Press Release
December 16, 2008

A hundred displaced workers of a closed factory in the export processing zone in Rosario, Cavite picketed the offices of the Philippine Export Processing Zone Authority (PEZA) administrator around 2 p.m. today despite a ban on protest actions inside the compound. The workers were demanding that their union be consulted on the disbursement by the PEZA of PhP 1.69 million in money claims.

A momentary scuffle occured when PEZA guards unsuccessfully tried taking away the workers placards. However the workers were able to maintain the picket inside the PEZA compound while another group protested outside the gates. After a dialogue with the PEZA administrator, the union got its demand to be consulted.

The amount was the proceeds from the sale of the assets of the Sapphire Phils. garments factory that unceremoniously shutdown last January 15, 2007. According to Marites Manjares, union president of Sapphire Phils., “There were 300 workers when our factory closed down. But the PEZA masterlist ballooned to more than double with 640 names. This is new case of dagdag-bawas (addition-subtraction). The added names will result in lesser claims to be received by legitimate worker beneficiaries.”

“When the Korean owner of Sapphire Phils. suddenly left the country, the factory shutdown without the required 30 days notice and without giving any separation pay to the workers. Thus we filed a case at the Department of Labor for illegal closure and money claims. Now that the PEZA has sold the assets of the company, we want them to talk and coordinate with the union so that legitimate beneficiaries receive what is due them,” insisted Manjares.

The Rosario Workers Association and the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) supported the picket of the Sapphire Phils. workers. Dennis Sequenia, chairperson of PM-Cavite declared, “In Chicago, USA workers occupied the Republic Windows and Doors when the factory closed without the necessary notice and without the required separation pay. They got their demands after six days of occupying the plant and winning even the support of President-elect Barack Obama. The Sapphire Phils. case is no different though the workers are not asking for the support of President Gloria Arroyo but simply that they not be prohibited from holding their protest action.”

“Labor discontent is simmering at the export zone as the global crisis impacts thousands of workers with layoffs and rotations, reduced hours and reduced pay. Today it is a picket at the PEZA office. Tomorrow it may be an occupation of a factory inside PEZA,” warned Sequenia.