“P200 wage hike + P20 subsidized rice”—labor group

The group Partido Manggagawa called on the government to complement the roll out of the P20 subsidized rice with certification of the P200 wage hike if it is serious in responding to worsening hunger and poverty in the country.  “Offering cheap rice is not enough, as Malacanang seems to think. P200 wage hike plus P20 subsidized rice are initial steps to alleviate the conditions of poor and hungry Filipinos. We ask President Bong Bong Marcos to certify as urgent the pending P200 salary increase bill in Congress,” stated Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary general.

Labor unions and workers groups are all set for nationwide rallies tomorrow to push their demand for a legislated wage hike.

·        Manila: Groups comprising National Wage Coalition will assemble along various points in España then march at 7:00 am to Mendiola for a joint program. PM and allied groups will assemble at Petron Blumentritt at 6:30 am

·       Cebu: Various labor groups will converge at Fuente Osmeña, Cebu City at 9:00 am for a joint program

·        Bacolod: Sugar farm workers and allied groups will hold an indoor assembly in the morning. In the afternoon, they will assemble at Rizal Elementary School then march to Bacolod Plaza afternoon

·        Iloilo: The coalition United Labor will hold a program at 1:00 pm in front of UP Visayas then march to the Provincial Capitol for a joint program

·        Iligan: Unions will hold a rally in the morning at the plaza with the city’s tripartite industrial peace council

Miranda insisted that “Filipino workers are amplifying their demands for higher wages, regular employment, and accessible public services amid worsening economic conditions. Recent surveys reveal the deepening crisis: over one in four Filipino families experience involuntary hunger, the highest rate since the pandemic, while more than half consider themselves poor, the worst in 21 years.”

She added that “Reality on the ground contradicts the government’s rosy economic claims of low inflation and unemployment. The reality is stark: minimum wages remain below the poverty threshold, endo is rampant, and public services like PhilHealth are being gutted to fund political patronage.”

Many of the Labor Day events tomorrow will be joint activities of different workers groups. “While political dynasties like the Marcoses and Dutertes battle for power and loot public coffers, workers face hunger and exploitation. Enough of elite theatrics—Labor Day must unite workers across factions, regions, and generations behind a shared platform. On Labor Day, labor groups will be rallying together despite electoral divides, prioritizing workers’ demands over partisan loyalties,” Miranda ended.

April 30, 2025

Workers commemorate Bonifacio Day with call to “endo” political dynasties

Amid intense political infighting between the camps of President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. and Vice Sara Duterte, the militant group Partido Manggagawa (PM) stated that workers choose no sides and will not join any “fake people power.” “The House of Labor does not support either the House of Polvoron or House of Fentanyl, both of which are merely interested in retaining political power for its own sake. In contrast, the House of Labor demands social justice and social change,” explained Judy Miranda, PM secretary general.

 

Members of PM joined the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition mobilization that assembled in front of Ramon Magsaysay High School in Espana, Manila this morning. The workers then marched to Mendiola at about 9 AM for a program that lasted until 12 noon.

 

PM also held rallies in Cebu City and Bacolod City. In Cebu, PM members marched around the city and held a program at Metro Gaisano in Colon St. In Bacolod, farm workers and women’s groups affiliated to PM launched an indoor gathering and later a march to the public plaza.

 

The nationwide commemoration of Bonifacio Day by PM and Nagkaisa raised the call for ending endo jobs, low wages and political dynasties. “The dominance of political dynasties is a key factor in the mass poverty and economic underdevelopment of the country. In the coming 2025 elections, we see the perverse evolution of fat dynasties into obese ones and the almost total capture of the partylist system—which was meant for representation by workers and other marginalized sectors—by power-hungry trapos. I-endo ang dynasties ng mga trapo hindi ang trabaho!” asserted Miranda.

 

She added that “If Bonifacio were alive today, he would lead the Katipunan in a fight to end political dynasties as a pathway for true independence and real development.” Miranda pointed to stark contrast between the inaction of the House of Representatives on the P150 wage hike bill and its fixation on Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war and Sara Duterte’s confidential funds. “Of course, we want Digong to be held accountable for the murder of alleged drug users and Inday Sara for her plunder of people’s money. But we know that Congress is motivated by factional infighting not good governance. And that is why Congress is deadma to proposed reforms favorable to workers,” Miranda elaborated.

 

Other demands highlighted by PM in the Bonifacio Day commemoration are Palestine solidarity and climate justice. “Stop the genocide in Palestine and arrest Banjamin Netanyahu. Robust not token funding by the Global North for climate mitigation and adaptation in the Global South which is bearing the brunt of climate change. These are our Christmas wishes,” Miranda concluded. ###

Labor yearender: Incomes and jobs crisis pummeled workers in 2022

 

Despite the economy sustaining its recovery from the recession induced by the pandemic, workers nonetheless faced a worsening incomes and jobs crisis in 2022. Thus, while small businesses were slowly recuperating, formal and informal workers continued bleeding from wage and income erosion, job losses, and a fall in employment quality.

 

Inflation ratcheted up for the whole year, from 3.0% in January 2022 to 8.0% in November. No doubt prices rose even more in December. By October 2022, the 7.7% inflation had cut P76 off the P570 minimum wage of workers in Metro Manila since the latest wage order was implemented on June 4, 2022. This meant that the P33 minimum wage increase in June had effectively been eradicated by year’s end and further that workers were owed more. Inflation was even worse outside Metro Manila. This led to the clamor from the labor movement by the last quarter of 2022 for a new salary hike.

 

Partido ng Manggagawa called for a P100 nationwide across-the-board legislated increase while the labor group Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa filed a petition for a P100 minimum wage hike in the NCR wage hike early this month. The Employers Confederation of the Philippines opposed a wage hike using the disingenuous argument that MSMEs cannot afford it. Despite runaway inflation, the government played deaf to the demand and stuck to the myth that there was no supervening condition that existed to warrant a new round of wage hikes.

 

The government trumpeted the return of employment figures to pre-pandemic levels. By October 2022, unemployment was at 4.5%, exactly the same rate as in October 2019 before COVID-19 struck. But while the quantity of jobs may have returned, the quality of jobs worsened. More people were working part-time instead of full-time. Underemployment—or the people wanting more hours of work—jumped from 13.0% in October 2019 or 5.62 million Filipinos to 14.2% in October 2022 or 6.67 million. This translates to more than a million Filipinos working as casual, contractual or informal in 2022 or a rise of 19% compared to pre-pandemic levels of underemployment.

 

As part-time employees working as casual, contractual or informal, they would be suffering from lower remuneration, not enough benefits, less job security, lack of social security and unsafe working conditions. In other words, these employed but vulnerable workers in the post-pandemic context are still harmed by decent work deficits. More Filipinos are back to work but in bad jobs.

 

A reflection of this phenomenon is revealed in the plight of delivery riders. No doubt, there were more of them as essential workers during the pandemic. But an upsurge of protests among delivery riders express the decent work deficits of Filipinos working as independent contractors rather than as full-time regular employees. Almost all of these protests originated from grievances over steep declines in incomes as app arbitrarily cut their “commissions” while the cost of fuel rose continuously. This contradiction exposes the risks of app-based work where part of the business costs has been passed on to so-called freelancers while platforms continue to exercise control over their work. This year, Grab riders in General Santos, Cebu and Pampanga, together with Grab cyclists in Metro Manila, all held mass actions to highlight their demands. In a pioneering initiative, the Iloilo Grab Riders Union was formed in November, which will test the employee-employment relationship between workers and the apps.

 

While the unemployment may have been to normal—which is not saying much—the hemorrhage of jobs continues. In September 2022, some 4,000 workers across the five factories of the Sports City group of companies in the Mactan Economic Zone were laid off, arguably the biggest mass termination this year. That the mother of all layoffs at Sports City was not a one-time, big-time event was confirmed by the industry association CONWEP which stated in October 2022 that up to 4% of the 270,000 apparel workers have been laid off this year.

 

Workers in export zones such as garment and electronics are especially at risk due to global supply chain disruptions. With the threat of a government dipping its fingers on their pension funds and prospects of a global recession ever higher, Filipino workers should brace for bad rather than good tidings next year.

Partido Manggagawa

December 27, 2022

Labor standards violations at garment export firm

FCO is a garments manufacturer in the Cebu Economic Zone that supplies to brands Victoria's Secret, Champion and Black/Pink. The company retrenched more than a hundred workers last September without paying separation benefits due them according to law. Aside from this, FCO also did not grant holiday pay to its workers. The firm likewise hires workers on short-term contracts then rehires them on new ones to avoid the regularization of its employees. All of these are in violation of Philippine labor laws or regulations.

Bato hit for indifference to 11K ABS-CBN workers

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today slammed Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa for his indifference to the predicament of some 11,000 workers of ABS-CBN who will be affected by a shutdown of the network.

“Wag pagmatigasan ni Bato ang mga manggagawa ng ABS-CBN. If Senator Bato is does not care about 11,000 ABS-CBN workers losing their jobs then he also does not care about the Filipino people. The plight of 11,000 ABS-CBN workers are a microcosm of the the conditions of some 26 million wage and salary workers in the country who together with their families definitely comprise a majority of the Filipino people,” argued Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

On Monday, PM and other groups like Kalipunan and I-Defend are mobilizing to call for resistance to the repression of democratic rights and defense of freedoms such as a critical press and the right to unionize. Unions are being red-tagged and strikes are being dispersed around the country, the group observed.

Magtubo made this remark in answer to Senator dela Rosa’s contention that the interests of the Filipino people trump concern over the livelihood of the ABS-CBN workers. He added that “It is obvious that the threat to shutdown ABS-CBN is rooted in President Duterte’s personal grudge and does not have anything to do with the national interest. Bato himself said that he lives or dies with President Duterte so his loyalty is just to one person not the entire nation.”

“Higher wages and better working conditions for ABS-CBN workers and the regularization of some 10,000 so-called talents in the network are the same popular demands of Filipino workers. Survey after survey reveal that regular jobs and decent wages are desired by the Filipino people,” Magtubo explained.

The group joined the clamor against the threat to shutdown ABS-CBN. “Stop the threat to end the franchise of ABS-CBN but the company must also stop endo among its workers,” demanded Magtubo.

The group called on regular and contractual ABS-CBN workers to forge an alliance and for the talents to organize so that they have voice and representation. “Neither the Lopezes nor Duterte, or his lackeys like Bato, can be relied upon to treat ABS-CBN workers fairly. Whatever happens to ABS-CBN, the workers are protected if they are united and organized,” stated Magtubo.

February 19, 2020

Strike paralyzes leading cigarette firm

Production at the leading cigarette firm in the country is paralyzed as a strike started last night. Several weeks of mediation called by the Department of Labor and Employment failed to produce a settlement as the management of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC) refused the demand of the union for the reinstatement of retrenched workers. Workers at the giant Marikina factory walked off the job around 6:00 pm last night, marched around the factory and started building a picketline.

“If the company wants to resume operations then management must reinstate the workers terminated due to the sudden closure of the Vigan redrying plant and the mass layoff at the Marikina factory,” stated Rey Almendras, union president of the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Labor Union (PMFTCLU-NAFLU).

The labor dispute at the leading cigarette manufacturer is part of a rising wave of workers unrest. Scores of notices of strike have been filed and strikes are erupting in various companies.

“The Constitution mandates that workers receive their fair share of the fruits of production. But at PMFTC, retrenchment was the company’s reward for increased labor productivity and workers meeting key performance indicators,” argued Almendras.

Last month the Lucio Tan Group announced a P3.63 billion total income for the first quarter of this year. Some P2.35B or 65% of the total income of the Lucio Tan Group came from its tobacco business.

PMFTCLU is alleging unfair labor practice over the closure and retrenchment. The union slammed the bad faith and deceit attending the so-called right-sizing plan of management. The group believes that union busting is the real agenda as the non-union sister factory in Sto. Tomas, Batangas just regularized 100 contractual employees. In contrast, the Marikina and Vigan plants are both unionized factories. Moreover, the Vigan plant is now being operated by a new entity but with contractual workers.

“Management has been absolutely opaque behind the misnamed right-sizing plan. When management first discussed the plan before the union, they withheld the names of workers affected, they did not disclose how the termination process will proceed and finally they did not give any solid basis for the closure and redundancy. And then just hours after the meeting with the union, management unveiled its surprise gift to unsuspecting workers who were cajoled into signing separation without the presence of union officers who barred from entering the factory,” Almendras elaborated. ###

Photos of the strike can be accessed at PMFTCLU’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/zpipsamonte/

29 September 2018

Assistance, justice asked for victims of Cavite EPZA factory fire

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called for immediate assistance to victims of the massive factory fire in the Cavite ecozone. Members of PM and the Katipunan ng Manggagawang Pilipino (KMP) trooped to the Cavite EPZA this morning to demand a transparent investigation and justice for workers injured or killed in the industrial tragedy reminiscent of the Kentex fire in 2015.

“We condole with the victims of the fire at House Technology Industries (HTI). We ask too the Singaporean owners for prompt aid for the victims and a thorough probe of the accident. Justice must be served for casualties among HTI workers,” stated Dennis Sequena, PM-Cavite coordinator.

He noted that there was a previous fire at HTI in 2012 and so it seems occupational health and safety standards may not be up to par. There was a 10-hour fire that started at the boiler department of the HTI factory in October 19, 2012 and lasted up to early the next day.

Sequena insisted that “Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead, accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards.”

“Stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection are needed in response to the deadly industrial fires at HTI and Kentex, and loss of lives at several construction sites amidst the current real estate boom,” he argued.

PM reminded employers not to cut corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and called the attention of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the lax implementation of labor and safety standards inside the ecozone.  “While capitalists were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying and being injured in the workplace all around the country,” Sequena elaborated.

He added that “HTI and its sister companies Wu Kong and SCAD employ thousands of workers but a lot of them are contractual even though they do the job of regular employees. Due to their short-term employment, contractual workers may not be properly informed of health and safety procedures, and probably not participate in fire drills. The proliferation of contractual workers from manpower agencies and labor coops must be stopped not just to advance decent working conditions but also workplace health and safety.”

2 February 2017

Cavite workers continue months-long picket as garments brand admits it didn’t cancel orders

As their labor dispute entered its third month, workers of the biggest garments factory at the Cavite economic zone vowed to win their fight against union busting. They have maintained a picketline outside the main gate of the factory Faremo International Inc. since 1,000 workers were laid off last October 27, 2016.

“Faremo shutdown allegedly due to lack of orders, a claim that has been debunked by the admission of its major client, the global garments brand Gap, that purchases have in fact been increased. We are not on strike and want to work but have been locked out. We have sustained a 24/7 picket at the factory to guard against machines being taken out of Faremo. We have survived Undas, Christmas and New Year on the picketline and we are ready for the Chinese New Year,” explained Jessel Autida, president of the Faremo workers union.

Gap made this public statement last November upon inquiry from international labor rights groups that are waging a solidarity campaign for Faremo workers. Faremo’s other customers, US-based companies JC Penney and Kohl’s, did not respond to letters. Faremo is owned by the Korean multinational Hansoll. [ [Gap's statement is posted at https://business-humanrights.org/en/philippines-faremo-intl-factory-closure-leaves-over-1000-without-work-union-suspects-shutdown-was-meant-to-suppress-organizing]

Autida insisted that “Since Faremo’s reason for closing has been exposed as lie, it is now obvious that the motive is to bust the union and destroy the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA was concluded last June and just after four months the factory was shutdown.”

He explained that they formed a union in order to improve pay, benefits and working conditions and stop mistreatment like verbal abuse. Workers at Faremo, despite years of seniority, receive just the mandated minimum wage of P356.50, well below the daily cost of living which PM estimates at P1,100 per day. Pioneers at Faremo, who have worked since the factory started in 2003, receive just P1 higher than the rest of the workers.

“Faremo workers are paid so cheap they cannot buy the clothes they make yet Hansoll is a billion dollar global company. Hansoll declared USD 1.27 billion revenues in 2016 and targets a net profit of 10%,” Autida elaborated.

He added that “We also suspect that another garments factory in the Cavite ecozone is the runaway shop of Faremo. Both before and after Faremo’s closure, truckloads of machines were taken out and we know these equipment are now being used in this factory. Most of Faremo’s former managers have also transferred to this company.”

“Faremo’s spiriting way of machines is in violation of an agreement reached during mediation meetings called by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and also of a Philippine Economic Zone Authority board resolution,” Autida averred.

January 20, 2017

Workers doubt DOLE claim of new regulars

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) expressed doubt on the announcement of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that 25,000 contractuals have been regularized. DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello made the claim in a press conference in Malacanang.

“As much as we welcome thousands upon thousands of endo workers becoming regular employees, we are skeptical of DOLE’s claim because our own experience is that employers are extremely resistant to regularization,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

Meanwhile PM, together with other groups like the Philippine Airlines union PALEA and the labor center SENTRO, today held a rally at the DOLE main office to push for an “end endo” formula of regulation and prohibition of subcontracting of regular jobs. The protest today is a buildup for the big nationwide mobilization by workers on November 30 to highlight the call to stop all forms of contractualization, including outsourcing.

Magtubo added that “We know for a fact that the DOLE has not been able to enforce regularization of workers in numerous instances. To cite a few examples. One is a Japanese-owned electronics factory in the Cavite ecozone that has refused to regularize hundreds of its agency workers despite an order from the DOLE. Second is the PALEA 600 who have not been reinstated by Philippine Airlines as regular workers despite a settlement agreement that provides for it. Finally the case of 149 Pizza Hut contractual workers who were retrenched when they sought regularization but have been reinstated only as agency workers.”

“The contagion of contractualization is spreading instead of being contained. In Toledo City in Cebu province, a large mining company is laying off workers who will then be hired as contractuals in agencies to do the same work. So we ask DOLE: Show us the 25,000 new regulars!,” Magtubo averred.

He quipped that “It seems that the news of 25,000 newly regularized workers is fake similar to posts in Mocha Uson's controversial blog,” he insisted.

Magtubo also slammed Bello’s endorsement of the employers’ “win-win” formula on contractualization. “The so-called win-win formula of the employers and now the DOLE will not end endo. The ‘win-win’ scheme is a scam that will lead to the utter proliferation of outsourcing and contracting out of regular jobs in the principal employers. The Labor Secretary is turning his back on the participants to the three Labor Summits convened by the DOLE in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao who resolved to end all forms of contractualization,” insisted Magtubo.

November 24, 2015

DOLE’s win-win will not end endo—labor group

The militant labor party Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello’s endorsement of the employers’ “win-win” formula on contractualization. In a press conference yesterday, Bello claimed regularizing workers in the agencies will deliver the administration’s promise to end contractualization.

“The so-called win-win formula of the employers and now the DOLE will not end endo. It is a blatant betrayal of the campaign promise of then-candidate Rodrigo Duterte to eradicate contractualization. The ‘win-win’ scheme is a scam that will lead to the utter proliferation of outsourcing and contracting out of regular jobs in the principal employers,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

PM announced that they will hold a rally tomorrow at the DOLE main office to protest Bello’s endorsement of the “win-win” scheme and to push for an “end endo” formula of regulation and prohibition of subcontracting of regular jobs. Also PM, the Nagkaisa labor coalition and workers groups are gearing for a big mobilization on November 30 to highlight the call to stop all forms of contractualization, including outsourcing.

The group also expressed doubt on Bello’s statement that 25,000 contractual workers have been made regular. Instead PM revealed that the DOLE has not been able to enforce regularization of workers in numerous instances. The militant group said that there is a Japanese-owned electronics factory in the Cavite ecozone that has refused to regularize hundreds of its agency workers despite an order from the DOLE. It cited the case of the PALEA 600 who have not been reinstated by Philippine Airlines as regular workers despite a settlement agreement that provides for it. Finally PM also pointed out the case of 149 Pizza Hut contractual workers who were retrenched when they sought regularization but have been reinstated only as agency workers.

Magtubo said “It seems that the news of 25,000 newly regularized workers is fake similar to posts in Mocha Uson's controversial blog.”

He insisted that Secretary Bello is revising the promise of Pres. Duterte by arguing that the latter’s marching order is only to end “illegal contractualization.” Magtubo also countered that the Bello his turning back on the participants to the three Labor Summits convened by the DOLE in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao who resolved to end all forms of contractualization.

November 23, 2016

Advisory: Workers protest today vs. DOLE's "win-win formula"

MEDIA ADVISORY

November 24, 2016

Contact: Rene Magtubo @ 09178532905

Workers to push "end endo" vs DOLE's "win-win formula"

WHAT: Workers to hold protest rally vs. "win-win" formula on endo announced by Sec. Bello

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

WHERE: DOLE Intramuros

DETAILS:  Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello announced the other day that Pres. Rodrigo Duterte's marching order is only to end "illegal contractualization" and thus the DOLE is conceding to the proposal from employers for a "win-win" solution of merely regularizing workers in the agencies not the principal employers.

Labor groups however are opposing the "win-win" solution and pushing for the "end endo" formula that entails prohibiting all forms of contractualization, including outsourcing. Participants to the three Labor Summits convened by the DOLE in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao all resolved to end all forms of contractualization.

Aside from the rally today, the November 30 mobilization of workers will highlight the call "end contractualization."

PM also expressed doubt on the DOLE's statement that 25,000 contractual workers have been made regular. The group said that they know of an electronics factory in the Cavite ecozone that has refused to regularize its agency workers despite an order from the DOLE. PM also cited the case of Pizza Hut contractual workers who were retrenched when they sought regularization but have been reinstated only as agency workers. Finally the militant group cited the case of the PALEA 600 who have not been reinstated as regular workers despite a settlement agreement that provides for it. PM calls the 25,000 newly regularized workers fake news similar to Mocha Uson's controversial blog.

Workers to Sec. Bello: Is DOLE really ending endo?

 

Restless over the likelihood of getting a watered down rules governing the conduct of contractualization, members of Palea, Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Church-Labor Conference (CLC) held another rally Wednesday at the DOLE offices in Intramuros Manila.  The action is part of Nagkaisa labor coalition’s week-long protest to demand an end to all forms of contractualization.

 

The rally coincides with the holding of another mediation conference between PAL and PALEA on the long-delayed implementation of the flag carrier’s commitment to re-employ Palea members under the 2013 Settlement Agreement. Said agreement ended the labor dispute over the massive outsourcing program unleashed by PAL in 2011.

 

Also on Thursday, the last leg of regional labor summits will be concluded in Cebu and after which, a new Department Order on endo is expected to be issued by DOLE.  

 

Partido Manggagawa Chair, Renato Magtubo, said consultations were already conducted where diametrically opposed positions between labor and capital were laid down. “Now is the time for the government to take side. Kaninong panig ba ang mas papaboran ng gubyerno? Ang end endo para sa manggagawa o ang win-win solution para sa kapitalista?”

 

According to Magtubo, a Department Order that deviates from the Labor Summit’s position on endo is unacceptable.  “The President has even threatened to kill endo lords. How can a new DO go softer than the President’s order of licking the plague of endo?”

 

Workers are apprehensive of DOLE’s likely preference for win-win solution due to the strong lobby of business groups, including the service providers/contractors who made big bucks under the previous regime of legalized contractualization and outsourcing.

 

“DOLE has a very bad record in regulating endo, hence, a stricter rule for prohibition is the best option to pursue,” said Magtubo. 

 

On his part Palea President, Gerry Rivera, said a decisive and conclusive government push for the implementation of PAL-PALEA Settlement Agreement on endo can serve as preview to the resoluteness of the administration’s anti-endo campaign.

 

“Limang taon na kaming nasa labas gayung kami ay dapat regular na empleyado ng PAL hanggang sa kasalukuyan. Hangad din namin ay hustisya dahil daig pa namin ang natokhang,” lamented Rivera.

 

Other than PALEA, there were also cases pending before DOLE that need immediate resolutions, especially those which are related to endo.

November 16, 2016

Advisory: Workers protest at DOLE today as buildup to national day of action vs endo:

Media Advisory

Contact: Rene Magtubo (PM Chair) 09178532905

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

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

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

A national day of action to end endo is set later this month.

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

Media Advisory

Contact:

Dennis Sequena (PM Cavite) 09301803072

Rene Magtubo (PM Chair) 09178532905

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

Cavite workers to rally at NCMB Imus 

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

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

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

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

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

Workers to Donald Dee: Is ECOP an organization of madmen?

“In today's business environment, there is no such thing as permanent employment.  If they push that, no madman would do business here.”

 

For expressing this view, a worker’s group has turned the table against Donald Dee, the head of Employers' Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), who also has threatened to bring the government to court once it forces companies to make their employees regular or permanent.

 

“ECOP is in business and when Donald Dee said no madman would do business here without endo, it also goes to show that ECOP is, in essence, an organization of madmen.  If that is so, the more the need for the government to take the side of labor,” countered Partido Manggagawa (PM) Chair Renato Magtubo.

 

According to Magtubo:  “Endo or contractualization in its many form is an epidemic that must be purged to save the present and future generation of workers from sinking deeper into the gulf of terminal marginality.”

 

As to Dee’s threat to bring the government to court, Magtubo said: “ECOP should not make the courts its battlefield on endo.  It’s a policy issue.  You shouldn’t bother the court to resolve the issue on whether workers have the right to live a life of dignity over the right of capital to a fair return.”

 

Labor and business are at loggerheads over this issue as the government of President Duterte made it a pledge to end the pervasive practice of endo in the workplace.  The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is soon to come out with a new Order in place of the much criticized DO 18-A that regulates contracting and third party sub-contracting practices.  

 

PM likewise noted that pending bills in the House and in the Senate are more for regulation of allowable contracting rather than on prohibition.

 

Echoing the resounding and unanimous position of the October 17 Labor Summit, Partido Manggagawa under the Nagkaisa labor coalition, is for total prohibition of all forms of contractualization and fixed-term employment. 

 

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), however, is more inclined with the business proposal for a “win-win solution” which prescribes regularization done by third party service providers (manpower agencies and cooperatives) and not by principal companies -- a prescription vehemently opposed by labor.

 

PM is urging DOLE and Congress to principally consider the weight of the position taken by the Labor Summit. 

 

“A good policy may also mean an end of contract with madmen,” concludes Magtubo.

November 3, 2016

Advisory: Undas at picketline: Workers remember their dead by fighting for the living

MEDIA ADVISORY

November 1, 2016

Contact: Dennis Sequena @ 09301803072

Workers remember their dead by fighting for the living

WHAT: Laidoff and locked out workers will spend Undas at the picketline outside the garments firm Faremo

WHEN: Today, November 1 , 2016

WHERE: Picketline at Faremo International Inc., Cavite ecozone, Rosario

DETAILS:  Workers of the garments factory Faremo International Inc. at Cavite EPZA in Rosario are spending undas at the picketline. They are now on their 6th day at the picketline. Some 1,000 workers were laidoff last October 27 as the factory shutdown and have been locked out despite their demand that the factory remain open.

Another mediation meeting is scheduled on Friday, November 4, to resolve the dispute surrounding the closure of the biggest garments factory at Cavite EPZA.

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

Faremo is owned by the Korean textile multinational Hansoll and supplies to global garments brands. A union was formed by workers at Faremo last year in a bid to redress grievances such a low pay, verbal abuse and lack of benefits. A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was concluded just last May.