Laid off electronics workers camp out at Cavite export zone

Press Release
May 19, 2010

The laid off workers of Dyna Image Corp. Phils., an electronics factory at the Cavite Economic Zone (CEZ) in Rosario, Cavite, with supporters from the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) picketed the export zone early this morning then setup a campout before noon. More than a hundred women members of the Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Dyna Image Corp. Phils. together with another hundred PM members started the protest as early as 7:00 a.m. at the main gate of the CEZ. The campout, the first ever setup at the CEZ, is an escalation of the series of protests conducted by the Dyna Image workers.

“The heat and humidity of the campout is small sacrifice for we are fighting for our jobs and our families. The meetings at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) have remained inconclusive since management refuses to consider workers demands for layoffs as a last option. We vow to continue the fight until our demands are met,” declared Virgielita Morite, president of the Dyna Image union.

The workers setup a makeshift tent outside the main gate of the CEZ after an impromptu intervention by Rosario Mayor Nonong Ricafrente proved futile. Mayor Ricafrente called the leaders of the Dyna Image union to his house upon learning of the picket. After he heard the workers’ grievances he called up the CEZ administrator to relay the workers demands to management.

“Mayor Ricafrente’s appeals to management however went unheeded as Dyna Image said that they can only offer 17 days per year of service as separation pay. They even blackmailed not just the workers but also Mayor Ricafrente by saying that Dyna Image will close shop if they accede to the workers demands,” explained Morite.

Dennis Sequena, a leader of PM in Cavite, explained that “We thank Mayor Ricafrente for his effort to mediate. The workers demand is reasonable; it is management that is being hardheaded.”

He also called on the police to respect the workers right to peaceful assembly and redress of grievance. Police mobile units have been checking on the campout although no attempt has been made to dismantle it. Another mediation meeting at the NCMB is scheduled on Friday.

The workers are demanding that management implement a last in, first out policy as regards the retrenchment. They also propose that working hours be reduced from the present 12-hour shift so that the 127 laid off workers can share the workload with the 450 workers inside the factory.

“The fact that workers are on overtime and production is in full blast belies management’s arguments that it is losing and so must dismiss workers,” Sequena insisted.

Last May 13, the workers picketed the factory premises inside the CEZ before marching out for a bigger protest at the main gate of the export zone with supporters from PM. Before that, the Dyna Image workers practically took over the NCMB extension office in Imus last April 27 in protest at their dismissal.

Also on April 26, the Dyna Image workers walked out of their factory after they were forced to receive separation pay from the company. Dyna Image is a Taiwanese-owned factory that produces parts for cellhone cameras. ###

Last-minute effort today to mediate Alta Mode dispute

Press Release
March 10, 2010

The administration of the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) called for a meeting today between the management and union of Alta Mode Inc., a garments exporter for such global brands as Abercrombie & Fitch. The Alta Mode workers had requested the MEZ administration for a last-minute effort to mediate the almost month-long dispute as the permanent shutdown of Alta Mode looms Monday next week.

“We remain steadfast in our view that the closure of the Alta Mode factory is merely a desperate attempt to bust the union. Supposed losses and the global crisis are simply alibis to cover up management’s union busting and unfair labor practice. Even Alta Mode’s own financial statement for the years 2007 and 2008 belies its claims,” insisted Renante Peliño, president of the Alta Mode Workers Union (AMWU), an affiliate of the labor party-list Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

Early this morning a commotion broke out at the campout of the Alta Mode workers at the MEZ II main gates when security guards tried to close the entry and exit to the protest site using steel fences. The guards backed down in the end as the workers resisted and picketed the main gates in protest.

In the meeting at the MEZ administration office, AMWU demanded that the workers be allowed to return to work pending an investigation of the real cause of Alta Mode’s shutdown. The union also called on the MEZ administration not to give a clearance to Alta Mode.

“While nobody can force an employer to continue its business, the government is not totally powerless to intervene. The export zone administration has the power to block Alta Mode’s closure by refusing to give it a clearance. The DOLE too has the power to investigate the workers’ grave allegations of management’s unfair labor practice,” Peliño argued.

AMWU refused to accept management’s offer of separation package although it demanded the payment of the workers wages for the almost one month period that management has disallowed workers to report for work. Only 15 contractual workers and office employees of Alta Mode have received the separation pay while none of the 91 union members have accepted.

Representatives of the DOLE Regional Office 7 and the National Mediation and Conciliation Board (NCMB) also attended the meeting at the MEZ. Mediation hearings called by the NCMB in the middle of February resolved nothing as management remained steadfast on closing the factory.

Since February 15, 2010, AMWU has camped out at the MEZ II after workers were refused entry and not allowed to go to work. Scores of supporters from unions in Cebu and other allies have trooped to the campout in solidarity with the Alta Mode workers. Even Women’s Day was commemorated in the Alta Mode campout last Monday by urban poor and working class women.