Press Release
June 15, 2009
Hundreds of workers of a big lamp shade factory in the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Lapu-Lapu City refused to work today in sympathy with seven leaders that were suspended due to a protest action last month. Some 300 workers of Paul Yu, a locator in MEPZ II producing lamp shades for the export and local market, massed up outside the plant gates in protest. The work stoppage almost paralyzed the plant operations as only a few employees were working inside the factory.
“The suspension of seven leaders of the Paul Yu workers are not just in retaliation for the protest action last May 8 but also for the filing of a case last May 21 against management’s numerous unfair labor practices,” stated Willy Dondoyano, a leader of the Paul Yu workers and one of the seven suspended.
The work stoppage started at 8 a.m. today when seven leaders of the Paul Yu workers association were prevented from entering the factory premises on the strength of a suspension order. The preventive suspension was slapped by management supposedly for an “illegal strike” conducted last May 8. Officials of the Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) have met with the workers to convince them to return to work without their leaders but the protesters are adamant that all employees must be accepted back including those illegally suspending by management.
Dondoyano argued that “The May 8 protest cannot be considered an illegal strike for management agreed to face the workers in a dialogue together with PEZA officials. In the minutes of the dialogue that was duly signed by PEZA officials, it is stated that there will be no retaliatory action against workers involved in the protest.”
“Management is merely turning the tables on the workers. It is management that is guilty of illegal acts and unfair labor practice which we spelled out in the case we filed last May 21 at the Labor Department. Among these infractions is the three-day workweek implemented since December that lacks proper documentation and due notice with the Labor Department. Moreover, management is reducing the workdays for regular workers even as it continues to outsource 40% of its production to contractors,” he added.
The workers also found out that the AVI Amor Vil Inc., the biggest among three agencies that Paul Yu has contracted to supply workers for the factory, is not registered with the Labor Department and is thus another illegal act by management. A hearing has been scheduled on Thursday by the Labor Department to hear the complaints filed by the workers.
Among the protesting workers are agency employees who are up in arms at labor contractualization at Paul Yu. Many agency employees have worked for several years, some as long as five years, yet they remain irregulars whose contracts are renewed continuously every two months. Workers are also complaining of non-payment of holiday pay, non-remittance of SSS deductions for agency workers, non-implementation of paternity leave and non-payment of break time.
“Paul Yu is another case of a capitalist using the global crisis as an excuse to demolish workers rights and undercut labor standards. Workers are refusing to pay the price of a crisis that is not of their making. We salute the solidarity of the workers at Paul Yu, and their fight for labor rights,” stated Dennis Derige, spokesperson of Partido ng Manggagawa in Cebu.
Showing posts with label US crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US crisis. Show all posts
Monday, June 15, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Workers urge Senate to act on bailout resolution
Press Release
May 16, 2009
The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) urged the Senate to start hearings on proposed resolutions for a bailout of the working class before Congress ends its session on June 3. Three separate resolutions have been filed in the last several weeks pushing for a set of pro-labor demands. Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson, said that “A Senate resolution calling for a bailout of the workers is a belated but welcome gift. No matter that it is after May 1 as long as it is before June 3.”
The three resolutions were filed separately by Sen. Manny Villar, Sen. Chiz Escudero and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. Though slightly different, the resolutions are similar since they were all based on a proposal drafted by PM in consultation with other labor groups.
Magtubo revealed that representatives of labor groups are planning to lobby the Senate in the coming days to urge action on the proposals. The effort for a Senate resolution on a “workers bailout” is part of a campaign for immediate and medium-term response to the impact of the global economic crisis.
“A Senate resolution for a workers bailout is an urgent necessity despite the media spin being peddled by government about an economic recovery. The SWS survey about an unemployment rate of 34% has already exposed government’s lie about a mere 7.7% jobless figure. We challenge government to name names and identify the firms that have rehired their displaced workers for we know of no factory at the export zones that have taken back even a substantial portion of their retrenched employees,” explained Magtubo.
Senate Resolution No. 1064 was filed by Sen. Estrada last May 15. Meanwhile Senate Resolution No. 1029 was filed April 28 by Sen. Escudero. And Senate Resolution 919 was filed by Sen. Villar on March 3 and referred to the Labor Committee headed by Sen. Estrada.
The labor groups are also courting the support of the Catholic hierarchy with Archbishop Cardinal Rosales already committed to the workers bailout and a Church-backed Alyansa ng Manggagawa, Magsasaka at Maralita (AM3) launched last May 1.
The immediate demands being pushed by labor groups includes an unemployment subsidy, universal health care, tax refund, reform of the public employment program and a moratorium on demolitions and foreclosures. The middle-term reforms call for reversal of policies such as liberalization, deregulation and privatization.
May 16, 2009
The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) urged the Senate to start hearings on proposed resolutions for a bailout of the working class before Congress ends its session on June 3. Three separate resolutions have been filed in the last several weeks pushing for a set of pro-labor demands. Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson, said that “A Senate resolution calling for a bailout of the workers is a belated but welcome gift. No matter that it is after May 1 as long as it is before June 3.”
The three resolutions were filed separately by Sen. Manny Villar, Sen. Chiz Escudero and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. Though slightly different, the resolutions are similar since they were all based on a proposal drafted by PM in consultation with other labor groups.
Magtubo revealed that representatives of labor groups are planning to lobby the Senate in the coming days to urge action on the proposals. The effort for a Senate resolution on a “workers bailout” is part of a campaign for immediate and medium-term response to the impact of the global economic crisis.
“A Senate resolution for a workers bailout is an urgent necessity despite the media spin being peddled by government about an economic recovery. The SWS survey about an unemployment rate of 34% has already exposed government’s lie about a mere 7.7% jobless figure. We challenge government to name names and identify the firms that have rehired their displaced workers for we know of no factory at the export zones that have taken back even a substantial portion of their retrenched employees,” explained Magtubo.
Senate Resolution No. 1064 was filed by Sen. Estrada last May 15. Meanwhile Senate Resolution No. 1029 was filed April 28 by Sen. Escudero. And Senate Resolution 919 was filed by Sen. Villar on March 3 and referred to the Labor Committee headed by Sen. Estrada.
The labor groups are also courting the support of the Catholic hierarchy with Archbishop Cardinal Rosales already committed to the workers bailout and a Church-backed Alyansa ng Manggagawa, Magsasaka at Maralita (AM3) launched last May 1.
The immediate demands being pushed by labor groups includes an unemployment subsidy, universal health care, tax refund, reform of the public employment program and a moratorium on demolitions and foreclosures. The middle-term reforms call for reversal of policies such as liberalization, deregulation and privatization.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Cebu workers picket agency for labor standards violations, contest claims of rehiring
Press Release
May 15, 2009
Around a hundred workers from Sauna World (Sawo) picketed their manpower agency this morning at Mandaue City in protest at violations of labor standards. The agency workers were joined by former regular employees of Sawo and other members of Partido ng Manggagawa in the picket.
The workers are also asking that the Department of Labor investigate Cebu General Services for its non-payment of separation pay and other violations of labor standards. Cebu General Services is a big manpower agency that supplies contractual workers to the Mactan Export Processing Zone and even to the giant Mitsumi electronics factory in Danao.
Dennis Derige, spokesperson for PM in Cebu, said that “Manpower agencies are exploiting and thereby benefiting from the economic crisis. They are used as an alibi by their principals not to pay separation pay to retrenched workers. We are calling on all agencies workers to organize so they could assert their rights and welfare.”
The agency workers filed a case yesterday against both Sawo and Cebu General Services at the National Labor Relations Commission for illegal dismissal and non-payment of separation pay. Both the agency and regular workers were dismissed from Sawo last April 13 in the wake of a corporate dispute.
The agency workers had demanded from Sawo the same separation pay they gave to regular workers but they were referred instead to the Cebu General Services. Cebu General Services however refuses to give them separation pay since they will allegedly be reassigned though they have remained jobless since their termination from Sawo.
The agency employees argue that there are no more jobs for skilled sauna workers since there is no other sauna factory in Cebu. Sawo is the biggest sauna equipment maker in the whole of Asia.
Derige also assailed the government for its pronouncements on economic recovery and job rehiring. He explained that “We are asking the government to identify which export firms that have retrenched workers have rehired and how workers have reclaimed their jobs. At the grassroots level, we know of no factory inside MEPZ that have rehired their retrenched workers.”
PM is claiming that job rehiring is “another myth from this government of lies.” Derige added that “News of rehiring is a lie no different from the fake low unemployment figures that have been exposed by the recent SWS survey that show joblessness at 34% instead of just 7.7%.”
May 15, 2009
Around a hundred workers from Sauna World (Sawo) picketed their manpower agency this morning at Mandaue City in protest at violations of labor standards. The agency workers were joined by former regular employees of Sawo and other members of Partido ng Manggagawa in the picket.
The workers are also asking that the Department of Labor investigate Cebu General Services for its non-payment of separation pay and other violations of labor standards. Cebu General Services is a big manpower agency that supplies contractual workers to the Mactan Export Processing Zone and even to the giant Mitsumi electronics factory in Danao.
Dennis Derige, spokesperson for PM in Cebu, said that “Manpower agencies are exploiting and thereby benefiting from the economic crisis. They are used as an alibi by their principals not to pay separation pay to retrenched workers. We are calling on all agencies workers to organize so they could assert their rights and welfare.”
The agency workers filed a case yesterday against both Sawo and Cebu General Services at the National Labor Relations Commission for illegal dismissal and non-payment of separation pay. Both the agency and regular workers were dismissed from Sawo last April 13 in the wake of a corporate dispute.
The agency workers had demanded from Sawo the same separation pay they gave to regular workers but they were referred instead to the Cebu General Services. Cebu General Services however refuses to give them separation pay since they will allegedly be reassigned though they have remained jobless since their termination from Sawo.
The agency employees argue that there are no more jobs for skilled sauna workers since there is no other sauna factory in Cebu. Sawo is the biggest sauna equipment maker in the whole of Asia.
Derige also assailed the government for its pronouncements on economic recovery and job rehiring. He explained that “We are asking the government to identify which export firms that have retrenched workers have rehired and how workers have reclaimed their jobs. At the grassroots level, we know of no factory inside MEPZ that have rehired their retrenched workers.”
PM is claiming that job rehiring is “another myth from this government of lies.” Derige added that “News of rehiring is a lie no different from the fake low unemployment figures that have been exposed by the recent SWS survey that show joblessness at 34% instead of just 7.7%.”
Monday, May 11, 2009
MEPZ workers go on work stoppage in protest at grievances
Press Release
May 8, 2009
An overwhelming majority of workers at a lamp shade factory inside the Mactan Export Zone went on a work stoppage early this morning in protest at various grievances of regular and agency workers. Some 200 workers downed their tools and trooped to the office of the management of Paul Yu, a locator in MEPZ II producing lamp shades for the export and local market, to seek a dialogue for redress of their grievances.
At the moment, management has agreed to talk to the workers about their grievances and PEZA officials will oversee the dialogue. Willy Dondoyano, speaking on behalf of the protesting workers, said that “We will not return to work until management meets the demands of the workers.”
After punching in their time cards at 8 a.m. today, the Paul Yu workers assembled and went to the management office to negotiate the company’s response to their complaints. The main grievance of the workers is the work rotation that was implemented since December despite the fact that 40% of production is outsourced to contractors outside the factory. The workweek of regular and agency workers at Paul Yu has been reduced by half while job contracting has not stopped.
“Paul Yu is another case of a capitalist using the global crisis as an excuse to demolish workers rights and undercut labor standards. Workers are refusing to pay the price of a crisis that is not of their making. We salute the unity of regular and agency workers at Paul Yu, and their fight for labor rights,” stated Dennis Derige of Partido ng Manggagawa in Cebu.
Agency workers are also up in arms at the labor contractualization at Paul Yu. Many agency employees have worked for several years, some as long as five years, yet they remain irregulars whose contracts are renewed continuously every two months. Workers are also complaining of non-payment of holiday pay, non-remittance of SSS deductions for agency workers, non-implementation of paternity leave and non-payment of break time.
Management has plans to change the name of the company and relocate the factory to Carmen, a town in the far north of the Cebu. However workers are resisting the relocation since it will to their dislocation.
May 8, 2009
An overwhelming majority of workers at a lamp shade factory inside the Mactan Export Zone went on a work stoppage early this morning in protest at various grievances of regular and agency workers. Some 200 workers downed their tools and trooped to the office of the management of Paul Yu, a locator in MEPZ II producing lamp shades for the export and local market, to seek a dialogue for redress of their grievances.
At the moment, management has agreed to talk to the workers about their grievances and PEZA officials will oversee the dialogue. Willy Dondoyano, speaking on behalf of the protesting workers, said that “We will not return to work until management meets the demands of the workers.”
After punching in their time cards at 8 a.m. today, the Paul Yu workers assembled and went to the management office to negotiate the company’s response to their complaints. The main grievance of the workers is the work rotation that was implemented since December despite the fact that 40% of production is outsourced to contractors outside the factory. The workweek of regular and agency workers at Paul Yu has been reduced by half while job contracting has not stopped.
“Paul Yu is another case of a capitalist using the global crisis as an excuse to demolish workers rights and undercut labor standards. Workers are refusing to pay the price of a crisis that is not of their making. We salute the unity of regular and agency workers at Paul Yu, and their fight for labor rights,” stated Dennis Derige of Partido ng Manggagawa in Cebu.
Agency workers are also up in arms at the labor contractualization at Paul Yu. Many agency employees have worked for several years, some as long as five years, yet they remain irregulars whose contracts are renewed continuously every two months. Workers are also complaining of non-payment of holiday pay, non-remittance of SSS deductions for agency workers, non-implementation of paternity leave and non-payment of break time.
Management has plans to change the name of the company and relocate the factory to Carmen, a town in the far north of the Cebu. However workers are resisting the relocation since it will to their dislocation.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Labor party demands extension of health coverage to laid-off workers to at least 6 months
PRESS RELEASE
19 April 2009
A militant labor party is demanding the government to extend to at least six months the health coverage for retrenched workers, saying that the three-month extension announced by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) the other day may not be enough to secure the health needs of a worker’s family during interim dislocation as a consequence of job loss.
Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) secretary general Judy Ann Miranda, said one of the major consequences of job loss to a worker is the inability to access health care he or she previously enjoyed during employment. Under the rules, Philhealth coverage is good only until a member is employed.
The problem with this, Miranda said, is that a time lag before a worker finds another job is long, an average of 12 months, according to a study, especially if a displaced worker surpasses the “age limit” required for a new job. Thus, stressed Miranda, “a longer extension of health coverage is necessary to protect the worker and his family during this transition.”
“Loss of income as a consequence of job loss falls heavy on workers and the termination of their Philhealth coverage undermines their health security, especially on women and children,” said Miranda.
With the loss of work-related health insurance, laid off workers cannot afford the high cost of drugs and health care. Miranda explained further that it is also during hard times that health problems arise as displaced workers grapple with stress and other problems that affect their well-being.
The labor group said the state has an obligation to secure the health needs of its people with or without work, adding that universal health care is a right and should not be treated as collateral damage resulting from job loss.
Extension of health care benefits to displaced workers is one of the demands in the “bailout package for workers and the poor” advocated by the Partido ng Manggagawa. Other demands include unemployment subsidy, tax refund, reform and expansion of public employment program, and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
The group is also demanding the reversal of liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies, which it claims, were responsible for the country’s chronic underdevelopment.
PM, along with other labor groups, are set to launch series of protest actions to press for those demands leading to a bigger Labor Day action on May 1.
19 April 2009
A militant labor party is demanding the government to extend to at least six months the health coverage for retrenched workers, saying that the three-month extension announced by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) the other day may not be enough to secure the health needs of a worker’s family during interim dislocation as a consequence of job loss.
Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) secretary general Judy Ann Miranda, said one of the major consequences of job loss to a worker is the inability to access health care he or she previously enjoyed during employment. Under the rules, Philhealth coverage is good only until a member is employed.
The problem with this, Miranda said, is that a time lag before a worker finds another job is long, an average of 12 months, according to a study, especially if a displaced worker surpasses the “age limit” required for a new job. Thus, stressed Miranda, “a longer extension of health coverage is necessary to protect the worker and his family during this transition.”
“Loss of income as a consequence of job loss falls heavy on workers and the termination of their Philhealth coverage undermines their health security, especially on women and children,” said Miranda.
With the loss of work-related health insurance, laid off workers cannot afford the high cost of drugs and health care. Miranda explained further that it is also during hard times that health problems arise as displaced workers grapple with stress and other problems that affect their well-being.
The labor group said the state has an obligation to secure the health needs of its people with or without work, adding that universal health care is a right and should not be treated as collateral damage resulting from job loss.
Extension of health care benefits to displaced workers is one of the demands in the “bailout package for workers and the poor” advocated by the Partido ng Manggagawa. Other demands include unemployment subsidy, tax refund, reform and expansion of public employment program, and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
The group is also demanding the reversal of liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies, which it claims, were responsible for the country’s chronic underdevelopment.
PM, along with other labor groups, are set to launch series of protest actions to press for those demands leading to a bigger Labor Day action on May 1.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Workers say economic resurrection can occur through policy reversal
Press Release
April 12, 2009
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) declared that the economic crisis must be transformed into an opportunity for reconstruction by making policy changes. “An economic resurrection can come about through a policy reversal and paradigm shift in the national development model,” asserted Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM,
He added that “The policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization must be stopped. The local economy must be developed by strengthening industry and modernizing agriculture based on agrarian reform. Since the beginning of the global crisis it has been Black Friday for workers. It has been like Calvary for workers who have lost their jobs and have sustained pay cuts due to reduced work days and compressed workweeks.”
As examples of the policy changes, the group cited the repeal of the EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act), Oil Deregulation Law and VAT. “Such reversals in policy will rollback the price increases that came about because of privatization and deregulation of basic services. Also tariff protection and quota restrictions must be imposed on foreign goods that compete with locally-produced products and services,” Magtubo explained.
He also mentioned the review and revocation of unequal trade agreements such as the multilateral GATT-WTO and bilateral ones like JPEPA and the proposed EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. “These so-called trade agreements have favored multinational corporations to thee detriment of workers, farmers and local business,” Magtubo insisted.
The labor group also called on workers to challenge the government’s promises of assistance for the displaced. “The unemployment insurance proposal has been talked for weeks already. Workers cannot survive on news stories. It is high time that it be implemented. Workers should claim these benefits and protection through protest and struggle,” argued Magtubo.
For Labor Day, PM is demanding a bailout package for workers. The bailout includes subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; tax refund for all wage earners; expansion and reform of the public employment program; extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
Magtubo clarified that “Bailing out the workers is just the first step. Reversing the policies that brought about the crisis itself is the next. But the ultimate solution is to replace moribund capitalism with a new society whose organizing principle is not prioritizing corporate profit but meeting people’s needs.”
April 12, 2009
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) declared that the economic crisis must be transformed into an opportunity for reconstruction by making policy changes. “An economic resurrection can come about through a policy reversal and paradigm shift in the national development model,” asserted Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM,
He added that “The policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization must be stopped. The local economy must be developed by strengthening industry and modernizing agriculture based on agrarian reform. Since the beginning of the global crisis it has been Black Friday for workers. It has been like Calvary for workers who have lost their jobs and have sustained pay cuts due to reduced work days and compressed workweeks.”
As examples of the policy changes, the group cited the repeal of the EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act), Oil Deregulation Law and VAT. “Such reversals in policy will rollback the price increases that came about because of privatization and deregulation of basic services. Also tariff protection and quota restrictions must be imposed on foreign goods that compete with locally-produced products and services,” Magtubo explained.
He also mentioned the review and revocation of unequal trade agreements such as the multilateral GATT-WTO and bilateral ones like JPEPA and the proposed EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. “These so-called trade agreements have favored multinational corporations to thee detriment of workers, farmers and local business,” Magtubo insisted.
The labor group also called on workers to challenge the government’s promises of assistance for the displaced. “The unemployment insurance proposal has been talked for weeks already. Workers cannot survive on news stories. It is high time that it be implemented. Workers should claim these benefits and protection through protest and struggle,” argued Magtubo.
For Labor Day, PM is demanding a bailout package for workers. The bailout includes subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; tax refund for all wage earners; expansion and reform of the public employment program; extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
Magtubo clarified that “Bailing out the workers is just the first step. Reversing the policies that brought about the crisis itself is the next. But the ultimate solution is to replace moribund capitalism with a new society whose organizing principle is not prioritizing corporate profit but meeting people’s needs.”
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Keppel management settles dispute, union declares partial victory
Press Release
April 8, 2009
The management and union of the large Keppel Cebu shipyard this afternoon signed a memorandum of agreement spelling out the terms of a settlement over the month-long labor dispute over mass layoffs. The Keppel union considered the agreement as a “partial victory in the tactical fight against retrenchment.”
Roger Igot, president of Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Baradero (NMB) Keppel Shipyard-National Federation of Labor (NFL), said that “We were able to preserve the union and more than half of the regular workforce. Thus we will have a new collective bargaining negotiations come December whether under the present management or the new company that will undertake shipbuilding operations.”
The memorandum of agreement stipulates that management will not declare another redundancy and may use only persuasion in making workers accept the company’s offer for alternative employment in their other shipyards both locally and abroad. The agreement also allows any worker among the 70 that were retrenched through redundancy to contest their termination in a proper forum with the help of the union.
Renato Magtubo, chairperson of Partido ng Manggagawa, asserted that “The agreement is merely a ceasefire in the class struggle. At the moment the balance of forces tilted in favor of the workers through their militant struggle and labor solidarity among Cebu unions. The Giardini del Sole workers formula of militant struggle against mass layoffs has proved successful once more.”
In the course of more than a month, the Keppel union has engaged in sitdown protests and rallies at the shipyard gates with the support of the Solidarity of Cebu Workers (SCW). The Keppel union has a pending notice of strike and assails management for using the mass layoffs as a means to bust the union and replace the regular workforce with contractual workers. The memorandum of agreement enjoins both parties from engaging in any acts that will exacerbate the dispute. In concrete this means that the management will not push through with another redundancy while the union will follow through on the strike.
“The labor dispute at Keppel, the layoffs at Lear and other factories at the Mactan Export Processing Zone belie government claims. It is wishful thinking on the part of government to say that layoffs are over. The good news over more hiring than firings are just fairy tales. Still we call on all workers to challenge government’s promises of assistance for the displaced including the temporary unemployment insurance of P10,000 per month for six months. Workers should claim these benefits and protection through protest and struggle,” argued Magtubo.
April 8, 2009
The management and union of the large Keppel Cebu shipyard this afternoon signed a memorandum of agreement spelling out the terms of a settlement over the month-long labor dispute over mass layoffs. The Keppel union considered the agreement as a “partial victory in the tactical fight against retrenchment.”
Roger Igot, president of Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Baradero (NMB) Keppel Shipyard-National Federation of Labor (NFL), said that “We were able to preserve the union and more than half of the regular workforce. Thus we will have a new collective bargaining negotiations come December whether under the present management or the new company that will undertake shipbuilding operations.”
The memorandum of agreement stipulates that management will not declare another redundancy and may use only persuasion in making workers accept the company’s offer for alternative employment in their other shipyards both locally and abroad. The agreement also allows any worker among the 70 that were retrenched through redundancy to contest their termination in a proper forum with the help of the union.
Renato Magtubo, chairperson of Partido ng Manggagawa, asserted that “The agreement is merely a ceasefire in the class struggle. At the moment the balance of forces tilted in favor of the workers through their militant struggle and labor solidarity among Cebu unions. The Giardini del Sole workers formula of militant struggle against mass layoffs has proved successful once more.”
In the course of more than a month, the Keppel union has engaged in sitdown protests and rallies at the shipyard gates with the support of the Solidarity of Cebu Workers (SCW). The Keppel union has a pending notice of strike and assails management for using the mass layoffs as a means to bust the union and replace the regular workforce with contractual workers. The memorandum of agreement enjoins both parties from engaging in any acts that will exacerbate the dispute. In concrete this means that the management will not push through with another redundancy while the union will follow through on the strike.
“The labor dispute at Keppel, the layoffs at Lear and other factories at the Mactan Export Processing Zone belie government claims. It is wishful thinking on the part of government to say that layoffs are over. The good news over more hiring than firings are just fairy tales. Still we call on all workers to challenge government’s promises of assistance for the displaced including the temporary unemployment insurance of P10,000 per month for six months. Workers should claim these benefits and protection through protest and struggle,” argued Magtubo.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Workers challenge government on assistance package
Press Release
April 5, 2009
Workers of Lear, a factory in the Mactan Export Processing Zone which makes electronic components for cars, challenged the government to make good on its promises about alternatives to layoffs and assistance to the displaced. Lear again terminated some 400 workers last Friday and the workers believe a next batch of layoffs is in the works.
“Only last week President Gloria Arroyo herself was saying that electronics firms should not retrench workers and instead pay half of their wages while undergoing training. Workers cannot survive on press releases. We dare the government to implement its promises not issue statements,” argued Renato Magtubo, chairperson of Partido ng Manggagawa.
In response to the impact of the crisis, Lear announced to its workers that it is consolidating by shutting down two of its plants and maintaining just one. Among the 400 who were terminated last Friday were workers who availed of a retirement offer but others were simply retrenched without the required 30 days notice.
“Whether they availed of the retirement offer or were retrenched outright, the displaced workers received only a separation pay of 13 days per year of service. So we are asking Trade Secretary Peter Favila, where are other benefits on top of the separation pay that you were boasting last week,” Magtubo added.
The displaced workers of Cebu are also demanding that the government put into effect the proposal for temporary unemployment insurance. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto is recommending a monthly subsidy of P10,000 for each laid-off worker for six months.
Magtubo explained that “The unemployment insurance proposal has been bandied about in the media for weeks already. It is high time that it be implemented. Since retrenched workers will be receiving a subsidy of P10,000, we demand that electronics workers should not just be paid by their companies half of their wages but also receive from government a subsidy worth the other half.”
PM is reiterating its bailout package for workers in the light of continuous hemorrhage in jobs in export firms. The bailout includes subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; tax refund for all wage earners; expansion and reform of the public employment program; extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
“It has been Black Friday for workers since the onset of the crisis before the Christmas season last year. An economic resurrection can only come about through a policy reversal and paradigm shift in the national development model. The policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization must be stopped. The local economy must be developed by strengthening industry and modernizing agriculture based on agrarian reform,” insisted Magtubo.
April 5, 2009
Workers of Lear, a factory in the Mactan Export Processing Zone which makes electronic components for cars, challenged the government to make good on its promises about alternatives to layoffs and assistance to the displaced. Lear again terminated some 400 workers last Friday and the workers believe a next batch of layoffs is in the works.
“Only last week President Gloria Arroyo herself was saying that electronics firms should not retrench workers and instead pay half of their wages while undergoing training. Workers cannot survive on press releases. We dare the government to implement its promises not issue statements,” argued Renato Magtubo, chairperson of Partido ng Manggagawa.
In response to the impact of the crisis, Lear announced to its workers that it is consolidating by shutting down two of its plants and maintaining just one. Among the 400 who were terminated last Friday were workers who availed of a retirement offer but others were simply retrenched without the required 30 days notice.
“Whether they availed of the retirement offer or were retrenched outright, the displaced workers received only a separation pay of 13 days per year of service. So we are asking Trade Secretary Peter Favila, where are other benefits on top of the separation pay that you were boasting last week,” Magtubo added.
The displaced workers of Cebu are also demanding that the government put into effect the proposal for temporary unemployment insurance. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto is recommending a monthly subsidy of P10,000 for each laid-off worker for six months.
Magtubo explained that “The unemployment insurance proposal has been bandied about in the media for weeks already. It is high time that it be implemented. Since retrenched workers will be receiving a subsidy of P10,000, we demand that electronics workers should not just be paid by their companies half of their wages but also receive from government a subsidy worth the other half.”
PM is reiterating its bailout package for workers in the light of continuous hemorrhage in jobs in export firms. The bailout includes subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; tax refund for all wage earners; expansion and reform of the public employment program; extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
“It has been Black Friday for workers since the onset of the crisis before the Christmas season last year. An economic resurrection can only come about through a policy reversal and paradigm shift in the national development model. The policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization must be stopped. The local economy must be developed by strengthening industry and modernizing agriculture based on agrarian reform,” insisted Magtubo.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Urban poor group condemns violent demolition, arrest of leaders
Press Release
April 4, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
The Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) and the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) condemned the violent demolition yesterday of the depressed community of Militon in Paranaque City. The groups also slammed the arrest of two urban poor leaders in two separate incidents yesterday
According to Robert Labrador, an AMP leader, “Willy Candelario of Paranaque and Femelda Galura Avilen of Mandaluyong must be released since their arrests are mere harassment. Their only crime, if it can be called that, is fighting for the right to decent housing for the poor.”
Candelario was arrested during the demolition at Militon in Barangay San Antonio, Paranaque. While Avilen was hauled by the police in Hinahon, Barangka Drive, Mandaluyong City in the midst of the occupation by the poor of a housing project.
“Holy Week is still a few days away but these events highlight the calvary of the poor in our country. Yesterday seemed like Black Friday for the Militon community, and the demolition crew that used a bulldozer and the Paranaque police that threw tear gas were like Roman centurions,” asserted Labrador.
In the community of Hinahon, 16 families occupied early morning yesterday the vacant housing units that were allotted to them as legitimate beneficiaries but were denied them by a syndicate. The Hinahon is a Gawad Kalinga housing project in partnership with Megaworld and the city government of Mandaluyong.
AMP and PM are calling for a moratorium on demolitions and evictions in the face of the economic crisis. The groups will emphasize that demand in the yearly “Kalbaryo ng Maralita” to be held on Monday. The “Kalbaryo ng Maralita” is a traditional march-protest to draw attention to the plight of the poor.
April 4, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
The Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) and the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) condemned the violent demolition yesterday of the depressed community of Militon in Paranaque City. The groups also slammed the arrest of two urban poor leaders in two separate incidents yesterday
According to Robert Labrador, an AMP leader, “Willy Candelario of Paranaque and Femelda Galura Avilen of Mandaluyong must be released since their arrests are mere harassment. Their only crime, if it can be called that, is fighting for the right to decent housing for the poor.”
Candelario was arrested during the demolition at Militon in Barangay San Antonio, Paranaque. While Avilen was hauled by the police in Hinahon, Barangka Drive, Mandaluyong City in the midst of the occupation by the poor of a housing project.
“Holy Week is still a few days away but these events highlight the calvary of the poor in our country. Yesterday seemed like Black Friday for the Militon community, and the demolition crew that used a bulldozer and the Paranaque police that threw tear gas were like Roman centurions,” asserted Labrador.
In the community of Hinahon, 16 families occupied early morning yesterday the vacant housing units that were allotted to them as legitimate beneficiaries but were denied them by a syndicate. The Hinahon is a Gawad Kalinga housing project in partnership with Megaworld and the city government of Mandaluyong.
AMP and PM are calling for a moratorium on demolitions and evictions in the face of the economic crisis. The groups will emphasize that demand in the yearly “Kalbaryo ng Maralita” to be held on Monday. The “Kalbaryo ng Maralita” is a traditional march-protest to draw attention to the plight of the poor.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Women Workers’ Statement on Women’s Day 2009
Social protection not double burden
Women workers are disproportionately affected by the ongoing mass layoffs, work rotation and other flexibility schemes. In the two industries that have been greatly affected by the global crisis—electronics and garments—women workers are the overwhelming majority. The country’s top two exports are electronics and, apparel and clothing accessories, accounting respectively for $2.6 billion and $181 million in revenues as of September 2008 according to the National Statistics Office. About 18% of exports are sent to the US and then 14% to Japan, both of which are in recession.
With the crisis getting deeper, the double burden of women workers becomes heavier. The traditional coping mechanism of the workers and the poor is the safety net of family relations but this unduly relies on the unpaid work of women. The double burden means women are exploited as cheap labor in the factories and then utilized as unpaid workers in the home.
The government must provide the safety net of social protection so that workers and the poor do not rely exclusively on the coping mechanism of family relations and women are not weighed down by the heavier double burden. A pro-labor and pro-women bailout package is needed is to alleviate the burden of the crisis on the feminine shoulders of women workers.
Pilar (women) still trailing Pepe (men)
Yet the government is deaf and blind to these demands. In fact it is making big fuzz out of its false claim that Pilar has overtaken Pepe, that Filipino women have overtaken men in terms of development. A presumptuous government study claims that women have surpassed men in health, education, and income, and that sooner or later it is Filipino men who will clamor for equality and demand its own “National Men’s Month.”
This study asserts women have gained higher achievements than men in all three dimensions as indicated by the higher than one levels of Gender Equality Ratio or GER for health (1.0248), education (1.0583) and income (1.2299) in 2003. In fact, the advantage of women in the income dimension grew bigger as the GER in income increased from 1.1170 to 1.2299. This is probably one of the reasons why the theme of the government’s commemoration of Women’s Month is “Babae, Yaman ka ng Bayan!” (Women, You are the Wealth of the Nation!)
The truth is that the study merely highlights women achievements in those areas but it hides the bigger picture of the state of inequality between men and women in the Philippines. It also contains chauvinist innuendos, or a sexist joke at its worst, by challenging the egos of men that they are outperformed by women. This exposes the fact that the government hardly understands the essence of women’s struggle for equality.
The awful truth is that around 51.4 percent (or 15 million) of Filipino women are not active in the labor force compared to the 78.9 percent (22.9 million) labor force participation rate for men. Assuming that 4 million of these women aged 15-19 are still studying and the 2.5 million aged 60-80 above have retired, there remains 8.5 million women aged 20-59 who are not active in the labor force.
These women are a big chunk of the labor force that are doing fulltime household work—unrecognized by society because the value of what they do remains invisible in the country’s income accounts. Likewise, they are not counted in unemployment statistics. There are only 929,000 unemployed women accounted for in October 2008.
These numbers indicate that more than half of Filipino women aged 15 and above are without their own income. So how can these invisible women be considered “yaman ng bayan” (wealth of the nation) when in fact they are without their own source of income.
Moreover, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), women are paid lower wages compared to men, and this is the trend worldwide. Despite the fact that there is no discrimination on women in terms of wages policies in the country, majority of women workers are found in the service sector, education, finance, health and social work where wages are more often than not below minimum, without benefits, with worse working conditions and the type of work are mere extensions of their household chores. To add up to these is the recent lay off of around 40,000 workers, mostly women, due to the global economic crisis.
The same goes in the health aspect. While it is true that women live longer than men, there are also 11 women who die in childbirth everyday according to the recent study by the United Nations Children’s Fund. Pregnancy and childbirth complications remain in the top 10 killers of women in the country. In relation with this, it is estimated that 800 women die yearly due to complications of unsafe abortion. Around 3,000 women yearly are reported raped and the trend is going up. Another 3,000 women die of breast cancer yearly, and another 2,000 of cervical cancer.
Working class women demands
Thus women workers demand a (1) subsidy for displaced workers from the government; (2) tax refund for all wage earners; (3) expansion and reform of the public employment program; (4) extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and (5) moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
Aside from these, we demand the passage of the Reproductive Health bill. The Reproductive Health bill answers the problem of high maternal mortality that is bound to escalate in times of crisis. Without the Reproductive Health bill, reproductive health services will remain beyond the reach of poor working women.
To fund this vastly expanded social program, the entire PhP700 billion (USD14 billion) debt servicing budget must be reallocated.
Furthermore we demand the reversal of the policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization which is at the root of high prices of goods and the deterioration of public services.
Women workers are disproportionately affected by the ongoing mass layoffs, work rotation and other flexibility schemes. In the two industries that have been greatly affected by the global crisis—electronics and garments—women workers are the overwhelming majority. The country’s top two exports are electronics and, apparel and clothing accessories, accounting respectively for $2.6 billion and $181 million in revenues as of September 2008 according to the National Statistics Office. About 18% of exports are sent to the US and then 14% to Japan, both of which are in recession.
With the crisis getting deeper, the double burden of women workers becomes heavier. The traditional coping mechanism of the workers and the poor is the safety net of family relations but this unduly relies on the unpaid work of women. The double burden means women are exploited as cheap labor in the factories and then utilized as unpaid workers in the home.
The government must provide the safety net of social protection so that workers and the poor do not rely exclusively on the coping mechanism of family relations and women are not weighed down by the heavier double burden. A pro-labor and pro-women bailout package is needed is to alleviate the burden of the crisis on the feminine shoulders of women workers.
Pilar (women) still trailing Pepe (men)
Yet the government is deaf and blind to these demands. In fact it is making big fuzz out of its false claim that Pilar has overtaken Pepe, that Filipino women have overtaken men in terms of development. A presumptuous government study claims that women have surpassed men in health, education, and income, and that sooner or later it is Filipino men who will clamor for equality and demand its own “National Men’s Month.”
This study asserts women have gained higher achievements than men in all three dimensions as indicated by the higher than one levels of Gender Equality Ratio or GER for health (1.0248), education (1.0583) and income (1.2299) in 2003. In fact, the advantage of women in the income dimension grew bigger as the GER in income increased from 1.1170 to 1.2299. This is probably one of the reasons why the theme of the government’s commemoration of Women’s Month is “Babae, Yaman ka ng Bayan!” (Women, You are the Wealth of the Nation!)
The truth is that the study merely highlights women achievements in those areas but it hides the bigger picture of the state of inequality between men and women in the Philippines. It also contains chauvinist innuendos, or a sexist joke at its worst, by challenging the egos of men that they are outperformed by women. This exposes the fact that the government hardly understands the essence of women’s struggle for equality.
The awful truth is that around 51.4 percent (or 15 million) of Filipino women are not active in the labor force compared to the 78.9 percent (22.9 million) labor force participation rate for men. Assuming that 4 million of these women aged 15-19 are still studying and the 2.5 million aged 60-80 above have retired, there remains 8.5 million women aged 20-59 who are not active in the labor force.
These women are a big chunk of the labor force that are doing fulltime household work—unrecognized by society because the value of what they do remains invisible in the country’s income accounts. Likewise, they are not counted in unemployment statistics. There are only 929,000 unemployed women accounted for in October 2008.
These numbers indicate that more than half of Filipino women aged 15 and above are without their own income. So how can these invisible women be considered “yaman ng bayan” (wealth of the nation) when in fact they are without their own source of income.
Moreover, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), women are paid lower wages compared to men, and this is the trend worldwide. Despite the fact that there is no discrimination on women in terms of wages policies in the country, majority of women workers are found in the service sector, education, finance, health and social work where wages are more often than not below minimum, without benefits, with worse working conditions and the type of work are mere extensions of their household chores. To add up to these is the recent lay off of around 40,000 workers, mostly women, due to the global economic crisis.
The same goes in the health aspect. While it is true that women live longer than men, there are also 11 women who die in childbirth everyday according to the recent study by the United Nations Children’s Fund. Pregnancy and childbirth complications remain in the top 10 killers of women in the country. In relation with this, it is estimated that 800 women die yearly due to complications of unsafe abortion. Around 3,000 women yearly are reported raped and the trend is going up. Another 3,000 women die of breast cancer yearly, and another 2,000 of cervical cancer.
Working class women demands
Thus women workers demand a (1) subsidy for displaced workers from the government; (2) tax refund for all wage earners; (3) expansion and reform of the public employment program; (4) extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and (5) moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
Aside from these, we demand the passage of the Reproductive Health bill. The Reproductive Health bill answers the problem of high maternal mortality that is bound to escalate in times of crisis. Without the Reproductive Health bill, reproductive health services will remain beyond the reach of poor working women.
To fund this vastly expanded social program, the entire PhP700 billion (USD14 billion) debt servicing budget must be reallocated.
Furthermore we demand the reversal of the policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization which is at the root of high prices of goods and the deterioration of public services.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Garments workers in Mactan Export Zone stop work to protest capitalist abuse
Press Release
March 19, 2009
Workers of a garments export factory in the Mactan Export Processing Zone walked out of their jobs today in protest at the suffering from their abusive capitalist. Workers of Altamode which makes clothes under world-famous brands like Adidas, Reebok and Abercrombie & Fitch stopped work when their capitalist again sent home without pay workers who failed to reach their daily quota of production.
“This is wage theft. Our management is robbing us of our daily bread by dismissing early workers who do not attain their excessive, in fact impossible, production quota. This is not a flexibility scheme but a scam. We want management to give us our salary for working a full day,” argued Reynante Pelino, an Altamode worker.
After the Altamode workers went on a work stoppage, they went to the management to air their grievances. They then staged a picket inside the factory gates with supporters from Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) just outside. More than 120 workers remain at Altamode after around 500 contractual workers were laid off in the last quarter of last year.
Dennis Derige, spokesperson for PM in Cebu, said that “It is illegal for capitalists to make workers labor for part of the day then send them home penniless and hungry on the sorry excuse of failing to attain an extreme quota. This is grand theft of labor power. It is now clear that there is an epidemic of capitalists exploiting the global crisis to undercut labor standards and wreck workers rights.”
The workers have been complaining of their capitalist’s illegal practice and went to the DOLE to gather data. They found out that Altamode had filed a notice for temporary shutdown for six months starting February this year. “Yet the truth is that Altamode is operating though erratically. They make us work for only a few days in a week and then deny us our wage if we don’t reach the quota,” explained Pelino.
Pelino also clarified that Altamode had fabricated the documents it gave the DOLE about notifying workers of the shutdown and workers supposedly agreeing to the temporary closure. “We aired our complaints when they told us of the shutdown and we asked for financial assistance if they did do it. But not only did they not give us monetary support, they are robbing us of our rightful pay,” Pelino insisted.
March 19, 2009
Workers of a garments export factory in the Mactan Export Processing Zone walked out of their jobs today in protest at the suffering from their abusive capitalist. Workers of Altamode which makes clothes under world-famous brands like Adidas, Reebok and Abercrombie & Fitch stopped work when their capitalist again sent home without pay workers who failed to reach their daily quota of production.
“This is wage theft. Our management is robbing us of our daily bread by dismissing early workers who do not attain their excessive, in fact impossible, production quota. This is not a flexibility scheme but a scam. We want management to give us our salary for working a full day,” argued Reynante Pelino, an Altamode worker.
After the Altamode workers went on a work stoppage, they went to the management to air their grievances. They then staged a picket inside the factory gates with supporters from Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) just outside. More than 120 workers remain at Altamode after around 500 contractual workers were laid off in the last quarter of last year.
Dennis Derige, spokesperson for PM in Cebu, said that “It is illegal for capitalists to make workers labor for part of the day then send them home penniless and hungry on the sorry excuse of failing to attain an extreme quota. This is grand theft of labor power. It is now clear that there is an epidemic of capitalists exploiting the global crisis to undercut labor standards and wreck workers rights.”
The workers have been complaining of their capitalist’s illegal practice and went to the DOLE to gather data. They found out that Altamode had filed a notice for temporary shutdown for six months starting February this year. “Yet the truth is that Altamode is operating though erratically. They make us work for only a few days in a week and then deny us our wage if we don’t reach the quota,” explained Pelino.
Pelino also clarified that Altamode had fabricated the documents it gave the DOLE about notifying workers of the shutdown and workers supposedly agreeing to the temporary closure. “We aired our complaints when they told us of the shutdown and we asked for financial assistance if they did do it. But not only did they not give us monetary support, they are robbing us of our rightful pay,” Pelino insisted.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Labor dispute erupts at Cebu shipyard
Press Release
March 11, 2009
A labor dispute is festering at the Keppel ship repair facilities in Cebu that may soon erupt into a strike. The management of Keppel shipyard wants to shift from ship repair to ship building and in the process downsize its workforce. The Keppel labor union is however resisting management attempt to layoff workers.
“Keppel is using the global crisis as an alibi to destroy the union and replace regular jobs with contractual workers,” Roger Igot, president of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Baradero (Keppel Shipyard)-National Federation of Labor alleged. As an initial protest, members of the Keppel union stayed overnight inside the shipyard facilities yesterday and will continue the mass action today when their shift ends. “We sacrificed quality time with our families in order to protect the security of our jobs,” Igot explained.
Last February 20, management proposed a plan for forced leave but the union disagreed citing the heavy presence of contractual workers. The proposal did not push through. Then on February 27, management offered a voluntary resignation package which the union also rejected because it shortchanged the workers. The same day, in a preventive mediation hearing at the National Mediation and Conciliation Board, the workers questioned management’s move to hire new contractuals without informing the union as stipulated in their collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Last Monday, management threatened the workers that it will file redundancy if they do not avail of the resignation package.
“There is no basis for redundancy since ship building will require more not less workers compared to ship repair even if they introduce new machines since it is intrinsically labor intensive. The real issue is that management wants to squeeze more profit by cheapening labor costs. Management pays a regular Keppel worker much higher wages and benefits compared to a contractual laborer who makes do with below minimum wages and no benefits,” Igot insisted.
Tomorrow a rally in support of the Keppel union will be held by affiliates of the Solidarity of Cebu Workers, displaced Cebu workers and members of the Partido ng Manggagawa. They will picket outside the gates of the Keppel shipyard in solidarity with the workers staying inside the compound.
The union also says that there are no signs that Keppel is bleeding. It will pay profit sharing later this week. There is an ongoing shipyard development project worth P300 million. While an incentive bonus was released last February.
The union also assails management for bad faith in negotiations since its statements are contradictory. Igot added that “Management intends to deceive the workers if they can get away with it. In our CBA negotiations in June of last year, they were saying that we need not worry since more workers will be hired when Keppel turns to ship building.”
The union believes that despite the global crisis, Keppel’s business remains strong and any supposed business losses due to the global crisis are just an alibi to get rid of the regular workforce and bust the union.
March 11, 2009
A labor dispute is festering at the Keppel ship repair facilities in Cebu that may soon erupt into a strike. The management of Keppel shipyard wants to shift from ship repair to ship building and in the process downsize its workforce. The Keppel labor union is however resisting management attempt to layoff workers.
“Keppel is using the global crisis as an alibi to destroy the union and replace regular jobs with contractual workers,” Roger Igot, president of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Baradero (Keppel Shipyard)-National Federation of Labor alleged. As an initial protest, members of the Keppel union stayed overnight inside the shipyard facilities yesterday and will continue the mass action today when their shift ends. “We sacrificed quality time with our families in order to protect the security of our jobs,” Igot explained.
Last February 20, management proposed a plan for forced leave but the union disagreed citing the heavy presence of contractual workers. The proposal did not push through. Then on February 27, management offered a voluntary resignation package which the union also rejected because it shortchanged the workers. The same day, in a preventive mediation hearing at the National Mediation and Conciliation Board, the workers questioned management’s move to hire new contractuals without informing the union as stipulated in their collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Last Monday, management threatened the workers that it will file redundancy if they do not avail of the resignation package.
“There is no basis for redundancy since ship building will require more not less workers compared to ship repair even if they introduce new machines since it is intrinsically labor intensive. The real issue is that management wants to squeeze more profit by cheapening labor costs. Management pays a regular Keppel worker much higher wages and benefits compared to a contractual laborer who makes do with below minimum wages and no benefits,” Igot insisted.
Tomorrow a rally in support of the Keppel union will be held by affiliates of the Solidarity of Cebu Workers, displaced Cebu workers and members of the Partido ng Manggagawa. They will picket outside the gates of the Keppel shipyard in solidarity with the workers staying inside the compound.
The union also says that there are no signs that Keppel is bleeding. It will pay profit sharing later this week. There is an ongoing shipyard development project worth P300 million. While an incentive bonus was released last February.
The union also assails management for bad faith in negotiations since its statements are contradictory. Igot added that “Management intends to deceive the workers if they can get away with it. In our CBA negotiations in June of last year, they were saying that we need not worry since more workers will be hired when Keppel turns to ship building.”
The union believes that despite the global crisis, Keppel’s business remains strong and any supposed business losses due to the global crisis are just an alibi to get rid of the regular workforce and bust the union.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Militant labor calls for Neri’s resignation as SSS head
Press Release
March 8, 2009
The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called for the resignation of SSS Administrator Romulo Neri in the wake of his declaration that the social security fund will not release loans to laid-off workers. “Neri does not deserve the post of custodian of the workers’ retirement and social security fund. He is not simply stingy but is insensitive to the workers,” insisted Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM.
“If Neri cannot tell the people the truth about the NBN ZTE deal, then how can we trust him to reveal the real condition of SSS funds? In the interest of transparency and accountability, the SSS Board must reveal to the workers the state of the workers fund. So workers can validate Neri’s declaration that the 10 per cent ceiling allowed by law has already been reached,” Magtubo argued. He also asked that the SSS open its books for an audit by representatives of organized labor other than those already sitting in its board.
He added that “Workers have sacrificed part of their daily pay for social security contributions in preparation for a rainy day. Now is that rainy day. In fact this is bound to be a rainy season. To deny workers this social protection and safety net in their hour of need is cruel and coldhearted.”
PM is also asking Congress to study an amendment to the SSS law in order to lift the 10 per cent ceiling and the necessity of a government infusion of money to the workers’ fund so it can provide benefits for the estimated hundreds of thousands of workers that will be displaced.
“This 10 per cent limit should not be a concrete ceiling but a movable elevator that can be adjusted as the conditions necessitate. In this historic crisis that the world is going through, arbitrary limits such as the 10 per cent ceiling should not be hard-and-fast rules that cannot be changed for workers lives are at stake,” Magtubo elaborated.
March 8, 2009
The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called for the resignation of SSS Administrator Romulo Neri in the wake of his declaration that the social security fund will not release loans to laid-off workers. “Neri does not deserve the post of custodian of the workers’ retirement and social security fund. He is not simply stingy but is insensitive to the workers,” insisted Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM.
“If Neri cannot tell the people the truth about the NBN ZTE deal, then how can we trust him to reveal the real condition of SSS funds? In the interest of transparency and accountability, the SSS Board must reveal to the workers the state of the workers fund. So workers can validate Neri’s declaration that the 10 per cent ceiling allowed by law has already been reached,” Magtubo argued. He also asked that the SSS open its books for an audit by representatives of organized labor other than those already sitting in its board.
He added that “Workers have sacrificed part of their daily pay for social security contributions in preparation for a rainy day. Now is that rainy day. In fact this is bound to be a rainy season. To deny workers this social protection and safety net in their hour of need is cruel and coldhearted.”
PM is also asking Congress to study an amendment to the SSS law in order to lift the 10 per cent ceiling and the necessity of a government infusion of money to the workers’ fund so it can provide benefits for the estimated hundreds of thousands of workers that will be displaced.
“This 10 per cent limit should not be a concrete ceiling but a movable elevator that can be adjusted as the conditions necessitate. In this historic crisis that the world is going through, arbitrary limits such as the 10 per cent ceiling should not be hard-and-fast rules that cannot be changed for workers lives are at stake,” Magtubo elaborated.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Women workers demand state subsidy, job and reversal of economic policies
PRESS RELEASE
March 5, 2009
Some 100 women members of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), including displaced workers, staged a picket today at the Intramuros office of the Department of Labor and Employment to demand a six-point bailout for workers and the poor.
PM members brought a mock stretcher and a wheelchair to dramatize the dire plight of women, especially those who are displaced by the deepening global economic crisis. The mock stretcher and wheelchair, the group said, depict the urgent need of women for a life support system to cushion the impact of massive layoffs, high cost of living and tuition fee increases. The protesters also carried dextrose- and pill-shaped placards listing their 6-point call for a bailout.
“More than anybody else, it is the women workers who shoulder the heavy burden of the ongoing economic crisis due to lack of social protection from the state and the weak observance and implementation of core labor standards in the country,” stated Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of PM.
Job and security, Miranda said, is very important for a woman since having a regular job “is her first and major step in the long journey away from the dark world of domestication.” She also criticized the government’s theme in this month’s women day celebration that focuses more on entrepreneurship rather than job protection and job creation. “The theme ‘Babae, Yaman ka ng Bayan’ highlights the women’s exceptional role in poverty alleviation, but this merely stresses the self-help economic activities that they have already been doing since time immemorial because of lack of employment,” she added.
In particular, the Partido ng Manggagawa is demanding unemployment subsidy for women workers, tax refund for wage earners, health care coverage for displace workers, a reformed public employment program for displaced and unemployed women, and moratorium on demolitions and evictions. It is also calling for the reversal of liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies which women blame for the high prices of goods and the deterioration of public services.
According to Miranda, the immediate and harsh impact of the global crisis hit the women workers first since most of them work in electronics and garment industries, the country’s top export to the US and Europe.
Marites Manjares, a leader of the United Cavite Workers Association who joined the protest reported more layoffs in the Cavite Economic Zone in the town of Rosario. “The overwhelming majority of those laid off and about to be retrenched are women since they are workers in electronics factories,” she emphasized.
The country’s top export is electronics with revenues of $2.6 billion as of September last year. Manjares enumerated the recently affected electronics factories in the ecozone as:
Clarion: more than 200 to be retrenched this March
P. Imes: more than 100 laid off last February but the separation pay to be released only this month
Dyna Image: 400 jobs cut last January
N.T. Phils: 400 workers terminated last Dec
“With the crisis deepening, the double burden of women workers becomes heavier. The traditional coping mechanism of the workers and the poor is the safety net of family relations but this unduly relies on the unpaid work of women. The double burden means women are exploited as cheap labor in the factories and then utilized as unpaid workers in the home,” argued Manjares.
She explained that “The government must provide the safety net of social protection so that workers and the poor do not rely exclusively on the coping mechanism of family relations and women are not weighed down by the heavier double burden.”
The labor party is also calling for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill now pending before the Congress.
“The RH bill answers the problem of high maternal mortality that is bound to escalate in times of crisis. Without the RH bill, reproductive health services are presently beyond the reach of poor working women,” Miranda concluded.
March 5, 2009
Some 100 women members of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), including displaced workers, staged a picket today at the Intramuros office of the Department of Labor and Employment to demand a six-point bailout for workers and the poor.
PM members brought a mock stretcher and a wheelchair to dramatize the dire plight of women, especially those who are displaced by the deepening global economic crisis. The mock stretcher and wheelchair, the group said, depict the urgent need of women for a life support system to cushion the impact of massive layoffs, high cost of living and tuition fee increases. The protesters also carried dextrose- and pill-shaped placards listing their 6-point call for a bailout.
“More than anybody else, it is the women workers who shoulder the heavy burden of the ongoing economic crisis due to lack of social protection from the state and the weak observance and implementation of core labor standards in the country,” stated Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of PM.
Job and security, Miranda said, is very important for a woman since having a regular job “is her first and major step in the long journey away from the dark world of domestication.” She also criticized the government’s theme in this month’s women day celebration that focuses more on entrepreneurship rather than job protection and job creation. “The theme ‘Babae, Yaman ka ng Bayan’ highlights the women’s exceptional role in poverty alleviation, but this merely stresses the self-help economic activities that they have already been doing since time immemorial because of lack of employment,” she added.
In particular, the Partido ng Manggagawa is demanding unemployment subsidy for women workers, tax refund for wage earners, health care coverage for displace workers, a reformed public employment program for displaced and unemployed women, and moratorium on demolitions and evictions. It is also calling for the reversal of liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies which women blame for the high prices of goods and the deterioration of public services.
According to Miranda, the immediate and harsh impact of the global crisis hit the women workers first since most of them work in electronics and garment industries, the country’s top export to the US and Europe.
Marites Manjares, a leader of the United Cavite Workers Association who joined the protest reported more layoffs in the Cavite Economic Zone in the town of Rosario. “The overwhelming majority of those laid off and about to be retrenched are women since they are workers in electronics factories,” she emphasized.
The country’s top export is electronics with revenues of $2.6 billion as of September last year. Manjares enumerated the recently affected electronics factories in the ecozone as:
Clarion: more than 200 to be retrenched this March
P. Imes: more than 100 laid off last February but the separation pay to be released only this month
Dyna Image: 400 jobs cut last January
N.T. Phils: 400 workers terminated last Dec
“With the crisis deepening, the double burden of women workers becomes heavier. The traditional coping mechanism of the workers and the poor is the safety net of family relations but this unduly relies on the unpaid work of women. The double burden means women are exploited as cheap labor in the factories and then utilized as unpaid workers in the home,” argued Manjares.
She explained that “The government must provide the safety net of social protection so that workers and the poor do not rely exclusively on the coping mechanism of family relations and women are not weighed down by the heavier double burden.”
The labor party is also calling for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill now pending before the Congress.
“The RH bill answers the problem of high maternal mortality that is bound to escalate in times of crisis. Without the RH bill, reproductive health services are presently beyond the reach of poor working women,” Miranda concluded.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Women workers renew demand for bailout package
Press Release
March 2, 2009
With the advent of women’s month, women workers are renewing the call for a bailout package for workers and the poor. “In times of crisis, the usual coping mechanisms of the workers and the poor would be the safety net of family relations. This traditional safety net unduly relies on the unpaid work of women family members. Thus the double burden of women workers will be heavier as the crisis deepens,” argued Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).
She added that “The grave impact of the crisis on women in general and women workers in particular is the urgent theme of women’s month for this year. The government must provide the safety net of social protection so that workers and the poor do not rely exclusively on the coping mechanism of family relations and women are not weighed down by the heavier double burden. In this double burden, women are exploited as cheap labor in the factories and then utilized as unpaid workers in the home.”
PM is campaigning for a 5-point bailout package for workers and the poor that consist of (1) subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; (2) tax refund for wage earners; (2) expansion and reform of the public employment program; (3) extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and (5) moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
Many of the tens of thousands that have fallen victim to permanent layoffs, work rotations and other flexibility schemes are women workers. In the two industries that have been greatly affected by the global crisis—electronics and garments—women workers are the overwhelming majority.
The country’s top two exports are electronics and, apparel and clothing accessories accounting for $2.6 billion and $181 million in revenues as of the September 2008 data of the National Statistics Office. About 18% of exports are sent to the US and then 14% to Japan, both of which are in recession.
March 2, 2009
With the advent of women’s month, women workers are renewing the call for a bailout package for workers and the poor. “In times of crisis, the usual coping mechanisms of the workers and the poor would be the safety net of family relations. This traditional safety net unduly relies on the unpaid work of women family members. Thus the double burden of women workers will be heavier as the crisis deepens,” argued Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).
She added that “The grave impact of the crisis on women in general and women workers in particular is the urgent theme of women’s month for this year. The government must provide the safety net of social protection so that workers and the poor do not rely exclusively on the coping mechanism of family relations and women are not weighed down by the heavier double burden. In this double burden, women are exploited as cheap labor in the factories and then utilized as unpaid workers in the home.”
PM is campaigning for a 5-point bailout package for workers and the poor that consist of (1) subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; (2) tax refund for wage earners; (2) expansion and reform of the public employment program; (3) extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and (5) moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
Many of the tens of thousands that have fallen victim to permanent layoffs, work rotations and other flexibility schemes are women workers. In the two industries that have been greatly affected by the global crisis—electronics and garments—women workers are the overwhelming majority.
The country’s top two exports are electronics and, apparel and clothing accessories accounting for $2.6 billion and $181 million in revenues as of the September 2008 data of the National Statistics Office. About 18% of exports are sent to the US and then 14% to Japan, both of which are in recession.
Monday, February 23, 2009
End Trade Union Repression in Guadeloupe!
The Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor-Party Philippines) is petitioning the French government to end its brutal repression of the workers’ strike in the island of Guadeloupe.
We firmly uphold that a strike is a just and rightful act of pursuing legitimate demands by the working class. And we were informed that in this particular case, the strike is mainly about the demand for an increase in minimum wage – which is a very legitimate demand by workers around the world in the face of the raging global economic crisis. Hence, suppressing the workers’ right to strike is a major violation of core labor standards guaranteed by international laws and conventions.
We are therefore saddened by the reports that instead of meeting some demands of our fellow workers in Guadeloupe, the French government sent in the police force and a battalion of troops to quell the strike, arresting several trade union leaders and injuring many strikers in the process.
Trade union repression and all other forms of suppressing legitimate actions by the people we believe is the hallmark of colonial rule and therefore have no place in the modern and civilized world. But the brutal action against the Guadeloupe workers made Sarkozy no different from King Louis XVI, and Jogo from De Launay, the ruthless governor of Bastille then who treated the workers’ uprising of 1789 as mere angry mob.
All governments around the world must recognize the fact that it is the workers who toiled in creating this unprecedented wealth the world had for the last century and onwards. But we also are the ones who suffer the most during crises. Capitalists have their yachts to weather this storm, while workers don’t even have life vests to stay afloat.
It is therefore the right of every worker to demand relief against job loss, wage cut and work flexibilization. For workers, surviving this crisis will never mean surrendering the rights they have won since the last millennium. The crisis did not give the capital the right to undercut labor rights.
What happened in Greece in December, in France in January, and now in a small island of Guadeloupe is a portent of things to come. In the Philippines, local strikes are building up in export zones as foreign and local companies resort to closures and production slowdown displacing tens of thousands of workers. Like the workers in Guadeloupe, Filipino workers are also campaigning for a ‘bailout package’ for the workers and the poor.
We are hoping that the French government heeds the international call for it to refrain from using brute force in dealing with the strike in Guadeloupe. We also demand that arrests must be stopped and those who were arrested released unconditionally. And most importantly, for this strike and the future strikes to be averted, the workers’ demands must be addressed.
In Solidarity,
Judy Ann Miranda
Secretary General
Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party-Philippines)
We firmly uphold that a strike is a just and rightful act of pursuing legitimate demands by the working class. And we were informed that in this particular case, the strike is mainly about the demand for an increase in minimum wage – which is a very legitimate demand by workers around the world in the face of the raging global economic crisis. Hence, suppressing the workers’ right to strike is a major violation of core labor standards guaranteed by international laws and conventions.
We are therefore saddened by the reports that instead of meeting some demands of our fellow workers in Guadeloupe, the French government sent in the police force and a battalion of troops to quell the strike, arresting several trade union leaders and injuring many strikers in the process.
Trade union repression and all other forms of suppressing legitimate actions by the people we believe is the hallmark of colonial rule and therefore have no place in the modern and civilized world. But the brutal action against the Guadeloupe workers made Sarkozy no different from King Louis XVI, and Jogo from De Launay, the ruthless governor of Bastille then who treated the workers’ uprising of 1789 as mere angry mob.
All governments around the world must recognize the fact that it is the workers who toiled in creating this unprecedented wealth the world had for the last century and onwards. But we also are the ones who suffer the most during crises. Capitalists have their yachts to weather this storm, while workers don’t even have life vests to stay afloat.
It is therefore the right of every worker to demand relief against job loss, wage cut and work flexibilization. For workers, surviving this crisis will never mean surrendering the rights they have won since the last millennium. The crisis did not give the capital the right to undercut labor rights.
What happened in Greece in December, in France in January, and now in a small island of Guadeloupe is a portent of things to come. In the Philippines, local strikes are building up in export zones as foreign and local companies resort to closures and production slowdown displacing tens of thousands of workers. Like the workers in Guadeloupe, Filipino workers are also campaigning for a ‘bailout package’ for the workers and the poor.
We are hoping that the French government heeds the international call for it to refrain from using brute force in dealing with the strike in Guadeloupe. We also demand that arrests must be stopped and those who were arrested released unconditionally. And most importantly, for this strike and the future strikes to be averted, the workers’ demands must be addressed.
In Solidarity,
Judy Ann Miranda
Secretary General
Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party-Philippines)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Laid off regular workers face tough times in years ahead, study says
PRES RELEASE
15 February 2009
Workers who lose regular jobs in the current crisis are in for tough times—with or without a recovery in the job market. Displaced workers face low re-employment rates and significant wage losses in the short and medium term as they compete with younger workers over mostly non-regular work, contractual, casual and piece-rate jobs.
The dismal prospects faced by workers displaced by the global recession that has already claimed tens of thousands of local jobs can be gleaned from a study of displaced workers done in 2008 by the Angelo King Institute of the De La Salle University.
The study, authored by Clarence Pascual, an economist, was presented yesterday at a forum held at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City. The forum was organized by the Partido ng Manggagawa as part of its 8th founding anniversary celebration.
The study surveyed some 150 production workers of a local garments company that closed shop in November 2003. It looked into the employment experience and current labor force status of displaced workers five years after layoff. Extensive interviews with displaced workers from four other companies were also conducted to gather qualitative data and insights on life after layoff.
While the study was done in relation to the impact of globalization on workers welfare, the findings are relevant to the current situation.
According to the case study, the likelihood of displaced workers finding any kind of wage employment is dismally low while the chances of landing a regular full-time employment similar to what they have lost is nil to zero.
“Less than a third (32 %) of the workers found a wage job at anytime in the next five years after layoff. When the survey was taken in mid-2008, a mere 16% of the displaced workers were holding on to a wage job. Five years after losing their jobs, over 60% of the workers were still unemployed or have exited from the labor force,” explained Pascual.
Pascual added that an overwhelming majority of those who found a new wage job after displacement took up temporary, non-regular jobs that paid lower wages. Non-regular jobs were also marked by unemployment spells in between contracts or jobs. The unemployment and earnings losses suffered by displaced workers did not improve over time.
The study also finds that job loss can have dire consequences on the worker’s health and well-being as well as that of the worker’s family. Being laid off from work raises the risk of the worker’s family falling into poverty. The loss of a major source of income for the family is compounded by equally serious problems.
Displaced workers are also vulnerable to illnesses of varying seriousness, from frequent headaches to hypertension or strokes (cerebro vascular accident). In more than a few cases, these illnesses lead to workers’ death. With the loss of work-related health insurance, laid off workers cannot afford the high cost of drugs and health care. Loss of health insurance can also impact on young children.
Interviews with displaced workers reveal that a consequence of job loss than can have long term repercussions on the worker’s family is the risk of children taken out of school. Surprisingly, production workers despite minimum level wages were able to send children to college, relying on loans from employers, friends and informal lenders. Their regular job was their biggest asset, a gold-standard collateral in the eyes of creditors. The loss of a regular job means loss of access to credit, which could mean children dropping out of school or the inability to meet costly contingencies.
The study finds low re-employment rates and significant earnings losses and which persists over the medium-term as a significant cost of job loss. It traces these to the surrounding economic conditions, namely, the decline of the garments industry, high youth unemployment, and the proliferation of temporary and contractual employment. To improve re-employment possibilities, it calls for a strategic focus on generating adequate productive employment, including public employment programs.
While there were more self-employed workers than wage workers among the displaced workers in the survey, self-employment was more often than not considered as employment of last resort by the workers. Self-employment is marked by low and irregular earnings and lack of long-term sustainability. Moreover, the study covered the period 2004-2008, a period of respectable economic growth. Promoting self-employment and micro entrepreneurship in the context of a growing economy may have some merit, but not during a slow down or recession.
To avoid the more drastic consequences of job loss, the study recommends expansion of new and existing social protection schemes to cover workers laid off in the current crisis. This may include, according to the author, free extension of PhilHealth membership for displaced for a period of five (5) years after layoff.
The government may also consider giving out scholarships or education loans for displaced workers with children in tertiary level. Yet another option is automatic inclusion in the government’s conditional cast transfer program for displaced workers with children in primary and secondary levels. The government and the Social Security System may also need to explore some form of income support for workers laid off by the global crisis.
In the same forum, the Partido ng Manggagawa presented its campaign for a bailout package for workers and the poor which consist of (1) direct subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; (2) Tax refund for workers; (2) Reforms on public employment program; (3) Extension of health coverage for displaced workers, and (5) Moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
15 February 2009
Workers who lose regular jobs in the current crisis are in for tough times—with or without a recovery in the job market. Displaced workers face low re-employment rates and significant wage losses in the short and medium term as they compete with younger workers over mostly non-regular work, contractual, casual and piece-rate jobs.
The dismal prospects faced by workers displaced by the global recession that has already claimed tens of thousands of local jobs can be gleaned from a study of displaced workers done in 2008 by the Angelo King Institute of the De La Salle University.
The study, authored by Clarence Pascual, an economist, was presented yesterday at a forum held at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City. The forum was organized by the Partido ng Manggagawa as part of its 8th founding anniversary celebration.
The study surveyed some 150 production workers of a local garments company that closed shop in November 2003. It looked into the employment experience and current labor force status of displaced workers five years after layoff. Extensive interviews with displaced workers from four other companies were also conducted to gather qualitative data and insights on life after layoff.
While the study was done in relation to the impact of globalization on workers welfare, the findings are relevant to the current situation.
According to the case study, the likelihood of displaced workers finding any kind of wage employment is dismally low while the chances of landing a regular full-time employment similar to what they have lost is nil to zero.
“Less than a third (32 %) of the workers found a wage job at anytime in the next five years after layoff. When the survey was taken in mid-2008, a mere 16% of the displaced workers were holding on to a wage job. Five years after losing their jobs, over 60% of the workers were still unemployed or have exited from the labor force,” explained Pascual.
Pascual added that an overwhelming majority of those who found a new wage job after displacement took up temporary, non-regular jobs that paid lower wages. Non-regular jobs were also marked by unemployment spells in between contracts or jobs. The unemployment and earnings losses suffered by displaced workers did not improve over time.
The study also finds that job loss can have dire consequences on the worker’s health and well-being as well as that of the worker’s family. Being laid off from work raises the risk of the worker’s family falling into poverty. The loss of a major source of income for the family is compounded by equally serious problems.
Displaced workers are also vulnerable to illnesses of varying seriousness, from frequent headaches to hypertension or strokes (cerebro vascular accident). In more than a few cases, these illnesses lead to workers’ death. With the loss of work-related health insurance, laid off workers cannot afford the high cost of drugs and health care. Loss of health insurance can also impact on young children.
Interviews with displaced workers reveal that a consequence of job loss than can have long term repercussions on the worker’s family is the risk of children taken out of school. Surprisingly, production workers despite minimum level wages were able to send children to college, relying on loans from employers, friends and informal lenders. Their regular job was their biggest asset, a gold-standard collateral in the eyes of creditors. The loss of a regular job means loss of access to credit, which could mean children dropping out of school or the inability to meet costly contingencies.
The study finds low re-employment rates and significant earnings losses and which persists over the medium-term as a significant cost of job loss. It traces these to the surrounding economic conditions, namely, the decline of the garments industry, high youth unemployment, and the proliferation of temporary and contractual employment. To improve re-employment possibilities, it calls for a strategic focus on generating adequate productive employment, including public employment programs.
While there were more self-employed workers than wage workers among the displaced workers in the survey, self-employment was more often than not considered as employment of last resort by the workers. Self-employment is marked by low and irregular earnings and lack of long-term sustainability. Moreover, the study covered the period 2004-2008, a period of respectable economic growth. Promoting self-employment and micro entrepreneurship in the context of a growing economy may have some merit, but not during a slow down or recession.
To avoid the more drastic consequences of job loss, the study recommends expansion of new and existing social protection schemes to cover workers laid off in the current crisis. This may include, according to the author, free extension of PhilHealth membership for displaced for a period of five (5) years after layoff.
The government may also consider giving out scholarships or education loans for displaced workers with children in tertiary level. Yet another option is automatic inclusion in the government’s conditional cast transfer program for displaced workers with children in primary and secondary levels. The government and the Social Security System may also need to explore some form of income support for workers laid off by the global crisis.
In the same forum, the Partido ng Manggagawa presented its campaign for a bailout package for workers and the poor which consist of (1) direct subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; (2) Tax refund for workers; (2) Reforms on public employment program; (3) Extension of health coverage for displaced workers, and (5) Moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Cebu workers end strike, declare victory in struggle
Press Release
February 17, 2009
The workers of a furniture factory in Mandaue who were the first to launch a strike against layoffs since the onset of the present crisis announced in a press conference today that they are lifting their picket lines after the successful conclusion of protracted negotiations yesterday. The workers of Giardini del Sole went on strike last February 3 and paralyzed operations of the firm for two days which forced the management to return to negotiating table. The first two days of the strike was filled with tension as management alleged that striking workers were preventing the free ingress and egress of other employees, and even defying the Mandaue mayor who interceded in behalf of management.
“If we had not launched a strike that paralyzed the company, then we would have been without jobs and would have been lucky to receive a separation pay after six months. But because we fought for our rights, we got from management and the government a ‘bailout package’ that is more than what they were initially willing to give,” explained Primitivo Ginoo, Jr., president of the Nagkahiusang Puwersa nga Mamumuo sa Giardini (NPMG), the union at the Giardini del Sole.
In negotiations that ended yesterday, management and government offered the following forms of assistance to the workers:
1. Immediate payment of separation pay of 13 days per year of service
2. P5,000 assistance previously released by management will not be charged to the separation pay
3. Refund by management to workers of unremitted SSS payments since July 2008 and other similar benefits
4. Grant of P360,000 in employment assistance from the city government of Mandaue to workers who are residents of the town
5. Capitalization for a worker-owned and managed furniture-making cooperative from the Department of Labor
“In times of crisis, the workers will have to fight for every centavo that they deserve in wages, benefits and assistance. Workers should learn the lessons of our struggle. We will be treated like disposable rags and worn out machines by capitalists bent on passing the burden of the crisis on workers. Instead of meekly receiving what little they offer us, workers should fight with their heads up high for jobs and rights,” argued Eulito Fin Jr., vice president of NPMG.
Renato Magtubo, chairsperson of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), stated that the Giardini workers struggle can serve as a model of the “pro-labor bailout scheme” that the group is pushing for. “The Giardini model of militant struggle and workers assistance can be replicated wherever workers are victims of retrenchment and rotations,” he insisted.
PM is campaigning for a 5-point bailout package for workers and the poor that consist of (1) subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; (2) tax refund for wage earners; (2) expansion and reform of the public employment program; (3) extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and (5) moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
The labor dispute at Giardini del Sole started last January 5 when more than 300 Giardini workers held an impromptu protest at the factory gates upon learning that only 100 employees were allowed to work after returning from the holiday break. ###
February 17, 2009
The workers of a furniture factory in Mandaue who were the first to launch a strike against layoffs since the onset of the present crisis announced in a press conference today that they are lifting their picket lines after the successful conclusion of protracted negotiations yesterday. The workers of Giardini del Sole went on strike last February 3 and paralyzed operations of the firm for two days which forced the management to return to negotiating table. The first two days of the strike was filled with tension as management alleged that striking workers were preventing the free ingress and egress of other employees, and even defying the Mandaue mayor who interceded in behalf of management.
“If we had not launched a strike that paralyzed the company, then we would have been without jobs and would have been lucky to receive a separation pay after six months. But because we fought for our rights, we got from management and the government a ‘bailout package’ that is more than what they were initially willing to give,” explained Primitivo Ginoo, Jr., president of the Nagkahiusang Puwersa nga Mamumuo sa Giardini (NPMG), the union at the Giardini del Sole.
In negotiations that ended yesterday, management and government offered the following forms of assistance to the workers:
1. Immediate payment of separation pay of 13 days per year of service
2. P5,000 assistance previously released by management will not be charged to the separation pay
3. Refund by management to workers of unremitted SSS payments since July 2008 and other similar benefits
4. Grant of P360,000 in employment assistance from the city government of Mandaue to workers who are residents of the town
5. Capitalization for a worker-owned and managed furniture-making cooperative from the Department of Labor
“In times of crisis, the workers will have to fight for every centavo that they deserve in wages, benefits and assistance. Workers should learn the lessons of our struggle. We will be treated like disposable rags and worn out machines by capitalists bent on passing the burden of the crisis on workers. Instead of meekly receiving what little they offer us, workers should fight with their heads up high for jobs and rights,” argued Eulito Fin Jr., vice president of NPMG.
Renato Magtubo, chairsperson of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), stated that the Giardini workers struggle can serve as a model of the “pro-labor bailout scheme” that the group is pushing for. “The Giardini model of militant struggle and workers assistance can be replicated wherever workers are victims of retrenchment and rotations,” he insisted.
PM is campaigning for a 5-point bailout package for workers and the poor that consist of (1) subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; (2) tax refund for wage earners; (2) expansion and reform of the public employment program; (3) extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and (5) moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
The labor dispute at Giardini del Sole started last January 5 when more than 300 Giardini workers held an impromptu protest at the factory gates upon learning that only 100 employees were allowed to work after returning from the holiday break. ###
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
GMA’s employment program promotes cheap contractual labor
Press Statement
February 10, 2009
Renato Magtubo
Chairperson
What could have been a good start to alleviate mass layoffs instead became a bad precedent when the government’s employment program promoted the exploitation of cheap contractual labor.
Truly it is imperative to give jobs to the thousands who will be laid off and the millions who were unemployed even before the crisis struck. Since the private sector apparently is not interested in hiring them, then it is the responsibility of the government to establish an employment program.
The government is however joining hands with the capitalists to exploit the economic crisis to institutionalize cheap labor and contractual work, and thereby tear to shreds the already tattered protection for workers.
The NARS program illustrates this clearly. An P8,000 monthly salary for nurses mean paying professionals a minimum wage, if not less. And giving deploying them for two six-month tours of duty instead of a straight one year contract is a deliberate maneuver to avoid making them regular employees. The government is now no different from Henry Sy of SM, or even worse since it is promoting contractualization among professionals.
There are few details on the so-called green collar jobs but we have no doubt that they will any different from the “kamineros” and “oysters” that are hired on a contractual basis for below minimum wages. White collar and green collar labor will now be at par with the worse pay given to blue collar workers. Government is fomenting a race to the bottom in wages and working conditions amidst the crisis instead of raising the bar for labor standards and workers rights.
Militant workers demand a radical reform of the government’s employment program. Minimum labor standards at the very least must be guaranteed. No matter that it is a dirty job as long as it is decent work.
Funneling billions of taxpayers’ money into big-ticket projects and mass employment programs opens the floodgates for plunder and patronage. As a check and balance, the employment program must be placed under the co-ownership if not control of people’s organizations.
Of course GMA will counter that they are no funds to pay higher wages and benefits to untrained nurses and tree planters. But there are hundreds of billions automatically appropriated for debt payment (interest alone is equivalent to 30% of the national appropriations and together with the principal amounts to 70%) which can instead be better used it to finance a reformed employment program. Not paying the banks for the debt, legitimate or otherwise, that we ostensibly owe them is a light punishment for the high crimes of sparking the global crisis.
February 10, 2009
Renato Magtubo
Chairperson
What could have been a good start to alleviate mass layoffs instead became a bad precedent when the government’s employment program promoted the exploitation of cheap contractual labor.
Truly it is imperative to give jobs to the thousands who will be laid off and the millions who were unemployed even before the crisis struck. Since the private sector apparently is not interested in hiring them, then it is the responsibility of the government to establish an employment program.
The government is however joining hands with the capitalists to exploit the economic crisis to institutionalize cheap labor and contractual work, and thereby tear to shreds the already tattered protection for workers.
The NARS program illustrates this clearly. An P8,000 monthly salary for nurses mean paying professionals a minimum wage, if not less. And giving deploying them for two six-month tours of duty instead of a straight one year contract is a deliberate maneuver to avoid making them regular employees. The government is now no different from Henry Sy of SM, or even worse since it is promoting contractualization among professionals.
There are few details on the so-called green collar jobs but we have no doubt that they will any different from the “kamineros” and “oysters” that are hired on a contractual basis for below minimum wages. White collar and green collar labor will now be at par with the worse pay given to blue collar workers. Government is fomenting a race to the bottom in wages and working conditions amidst the crisis instead of raising the bar for labor standards and workers rights.
Militant workers demand a radical reform of the government’s employment program. Minimum labor standards at the very least must be guaranteed. No matter that it is a dirty job as long as it is decent work.
Funneling billions of taxpayers’ money into big-ticket projects and mass employment programs opens the floodgates for plunder and patronage. As a check and balance, the employment program must be placed under the co-ownership if not control of people’s organizations.
Of course GMA will counter that they are no funds to pay higher wages and benefits to untrained nurses and tree planters. But there are hundreds of billions automatically appropriated for debt payment (interest alone is equivalent to 30% of the national appropriations and together with the principal amounts to 70%) which can instead be better used it to finance a reformed employment program. Not paying the banks for the debt, legitimate or otherwise, that we ostensibly owe them is a light punishment for the high crimes of sparking the global crisis.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Labor leader Popoy Lagman remembered
PRESS RELEASE
6 February 2009
Leaders of the Partido ng Manggagawa offered flowers to Filemon “Ka Popoy” Lagman early morning today at the marker inside the UP Bahay ng Alumni where he was assassinated eight years ago.
Lagman was considered a working class hero by leaders and members of the labor unions, urban poor and other marginalized sector. During his late years, Lagman steered the Philippine labor movement away from the maoist and stalinist tradition of the of the Communist Party of the Philippines by setting up a revolutionary working class party, the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP).
Lagman was also the head of the the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino. A week after his assassination, labor leaders launched the Partido ng Manggagawa, his latest project before his death.
“The living ideas, the party’s unwavering desire to emancipate the working class – we offer it back as tribute to Ka Popoy who dedicated his entire life to the working class movement,” said Partido ng Manggagawa chair Renato Magtubo, in a statement sent to media.
Popoy saw this capitalist crisis coming
Magtubo recalled that at the onset of the new millennium in year 2000, Ka Popoy ‘s PMP came out with a paid ad in the print media stating its view on the inevitable collapse of the capitalist system.
“The first decade of the first millennium will be the eve of the socialist revolution in the era of globalization,” Ka Popoy declared in that statement.
“Globalization has unleashed not so much the creative power of capital as its destructive forces. The genie of finance capital has been liberated by the liberalization of trade and investment and has left a path of destruction in its wake. Intensified global competition is the anarchy of production multiplied and the crisis of over production internationalized,” the millennium statement of the party said.
Magtubo said such a bold prediction of Ka Popoy is eventually what is happening right now. “Ka Popoy saw it coming and the global financial crisis is merely a jolt for a bigger, much deeper capitalist crisis to come.”
“Globalization has inaugurated not a post industrial society but the unadorned class rule of the international bourgeoisie and the insatiable pursuit of profit by monopoly capital. And the proletariat is inevitably impelled to revolt by the vicious attacks against their living standards and social right,” Magtubo quotes further from the statement.
Magtubo said the massive job loss in the country and around the globe is sending millions of workers into the world of poverty and destitution and that the powerful strike movement that is happening right now in France, Greece and many countries in Europe, as well as the Americans’ resistance against the pro-capital/pro-market system of bailout that the US government is undertaking, are early signs of a looming revolutionary period.
In the Philippines, Magtubo said, the crisis “will herald the revitalization of the working class movement along with the powerful social movement clamoring for fundamental social change.”
On February 14, 2009, the Party will offer another tribute to Lagman during the party’s eight year anniversary to be held at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani. The highlight of the celebration is a forum on the global crisis and its impact on labor and solidarity presentations from the PM chapters. ###
6 February 2009
Leaders of the Partido ng Manggagawa offered flowers to Filemon “Ka Popoy” Lagman early morning today at the marker inside the UP Bahay ng Alumni where he was assassinated eight years ago.
Lagman was considered a working class hero by leaders and members of the labor unions, urban poor and other marginalized sector. During his late years, Lagman steered the Philippine labor movement away from the maoist and stalinist tradition of the of the Communist Party of the Philippines by setting up a revolutionary working class party, the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP).
Lagman was also the head of the the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino. A week after his assassination, labor leaders launched the Partido ng Manggagawa, his latest project before his death.
“The living ideas, the party’s unwavering desire to emancipate the working class – we offer it back as tribute to Ka Popoy who dedicated his entire life to the working class movement,” said Partido ng Manggagawa chair Renato Magtubo, in a statement sent to media.
Popoy saw this capitalist crisis coming
Magtubo recalled that at the onset of the new millennium in year 2000, Ka Popoy ‘s PMP came out with a paid ad in the print media stating its view on the inevitable collapse of the capitalist system.
“The first decade of the first millennium will be the eve of the socialist revolution in the era of globalization,” Ka Popoy declared in that statement.
“Globalization has unleashed not so much the creative power of capital as its destructive forces. The genie of finance capital has been liberated by the liberalization of trade and investment and has left a path of destruction in its wake. Intensified global competition is the anarchy of production multiplied and the crisis of over production internationalized,” the millennium statement of the party said.
Magtubo said such a bold prediction of Ka Popoy is eventually what is happening right now. “Ka Popoy saw it coming and the global financial crisis is merely a jolt for a bigger, much deeper capitalist crisis to come.”
“Globalization has inaugurated not a post industrial society but the unadorned class rule of the international bourgeoisie and the insatiable pursuit of profit by monopoly capital. And the proletariat is inevitably impelled to revolt by the vicious attacks against their living standards and social right,” Magtubo quotes further from the statement.
Magtubo said the massive job loss in the country and around the globe is sending millions of workers into the world of poverty and destitution and that the powerful strike movement that is happening right now in France, Greece and many countries in Europe, as well as the Americans’ resistance against the pro-capital/pro-market system of bailout that the US government is undertaking, are early signs of a looming revolutionary period.
In the Philippines, Magtubo said, the crisis “will herald the revitalization of the working class movement along with the powerful social movement clamoring for fundamental social change.”
On February 14, 2009, the Party will offer another tribute to Lagman during the party’s eight year anniversary to be held at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani. The highlight of the celebration is a forum on the global crisis and its impact on labor and solidarity presentations from the PM chapters. ###
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)