Labor groups hold Global Day of Action vs Lululemon brand

A Global Day of Action was held at the Boy Scout Circle I Quezon City this morning to apply more pressure against a global brand Lululemon, an activewear, loungewear and footwear products manufactured in the Philippines by Metrowear, a manufacturing firm inside the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Cebu.

 

Metrowear is embroiled in a prolonged dispute with workers who it prevented from organizing a union and then refused to recognize and negotiate CBA with the latter when they succeeded to unionize. 

 

Unions and solidarity groups joined hands in denouncing the anti-union policies of Metrowear and the Lululemon brand. As an expression of international worker solidarity, the action in Quezon City was joined by activists in garment producing countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, and also from Taiwan where Metrowear's owner is based.

 

The internationally coordinated action is joined by unions and labor organizations from around the world, including the Asia Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), Workers United, Solidarity International (SI), Australian People for Health, Education and Democracy Abroad (APHEDA), and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC).

 

In Canada, labor groups such as the Canadian Labor Organization have also joined the movement by organizing protest actions at Lululemon retail outlets, highlighting the company's alleged labor rights violations.

 

Protests was also held yesterday at the gates of MEPZ 1, led by local solidarity groups including the Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO Cebu), Partido Manggagawa (PM), and the Organization of Metrowear Employees for Emporwoerment ang Genuine Advoaciy – Pinag Isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anak Pawis -OMEGA–PIGLAS Union, who stand in firm support of the MetroWear workers and their fight for union recognition and workplace justice.

 

Student organizations have also lent their voices to the cause. Groups like Students for International Labor Solidarity (SILS) called on their educational institutions to review and reconsider their partnerships with Lululemon and to impose sanctions in response to the reported labor abuses in the Philippines.

 

Photos can be accessed at the FB pages of Partido Manggagawa (https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa) and Listen Up Lululemon (https://www.facebook.com/ListenUpLululemon). 

Group slams DOLE intervention to stop strike at power plant

The group Partido Manggagawa slammed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for imposing an assumption of jurisdiction (AJ) order that stopped the union at the KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation) Cebu coal power plant from staging a work stoppage. The union has been deadlocked in its collective bargaining (CB) negotiations with the company.

 

“The DOLE’s AJ is favorable to the company as it prevents workers from exercising leverage to achieve its reasonable demands. Moreso, DOLE violated its own DO 40-H-13 in imposing an AJ without the following the required procedure. Both KEPCO and DOLE are pasaway (misbehaving) labor relations actors!,” stated Dennis Derige, union organizer of SENTRO and spokesperson for the PM chapter in Cebu.

 

The KEPCO union is an affiliate of SENTRO and its members voted overwhelmingly for a strike, as required by law. DOLE’s AJ was handed down on the eve of the planned strike . “Since the union could not legally go on strike, KEPCO remains hardline in its bargaining position as it felt relieved of the pressure of an impending work stoppage,” Derige added.

 

The deadlocked CB provisions included wage increase, medical allowance, signing bonus, union security, grievance procedures, agency fees and the formation of a just transition committee composed of the union and management.

 

Derige explained that “None of the union’s economic and political demands are controversial or excessive. In fact, the union has shown flexibility by reducing its initial demands. But KEPCO—despite being stable and profitable—has been intransigent and just disrespects the union.”

 

He added that DOLE DO 40-H-13 requires that an AJ can only be ordered if either both parties requested for an AJ or the DOLE first called for a conference of the two parties prior to the issuance of the AJ. Derige said that neither of these two conditions were satisfied.

 

According to latest information posted on the National Conciliation and Mediation Board’s website, the DOLE has already issued three AJ’s as of February this year. In comparison seven AJs were imposed for the whole year of 2024. The Philippine government has been the subject of complaints to the International Labour Organization for its indiscriminate use of AJs that results in the effective prohibition of the right to strike, aside from the killings of trade unionists and other forms of repression of the freedom to unionize.

April 4, 2025

Duterte must be held accountable for drug war and labor-related killings

  

The workers group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that former President Rodrigo Duterte must be held accountable for the widespread killings that transpired under his administration. “Duterte must face the music for all the killings during his bloody regime, from drug war killings to the murder of labor leaders and activists,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and Marikina City councilor.

 

He added that “For all intents and purposes, Duterte admitted to his culpability for the drug war deaths in his testimony yesterday at the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing. But we must also remember that the drug war extended into a war against human rights defenders. His violent rhetoric not just against drug addicts but also against human rights activists enabled the security forces and vested interests who consider labor and environmental rights defenders as enemies or terrorists. Justice must be served to the 68 victims of labor-related killings under Duterte.”

 

Labor groups put the number of labor leaders and activists killed at 68 from 2016 to the end of Duterte’s term. For 2024, the Philippines slipped in the Labour Rights Index compared to its 2022 score because of the lack of protection for freedom to unionize and bargain collectively. The Labour Rights Index is maintained by the WageIndicator Foundation and the Center for Labor Research based in Amsterdam.

 

“The Philippines got a zero score for Freedom of Association which is to be expected given the unsolved labor-related killings. The Human Rights Watch counted four more union leaders and activists killed under the current administration bringing the total to 72. Moreover, the recommendations of the International Labour Organization’s High-Level Mission in 2023 remain remain pending due to the government’s lack of social dialogue with workers’ groups,” Magtubo explained.

 

The High-Level Mission was the result of outrage at the brutal daylight murder of union organizer Dennis Sequeña just a couple of days before the International Labour Conference of 2019. Sequeña’s killing remains unsolved despite a finding by the AO 35 national task force that it is labor-related. “Justice for Dennis Sequeña will partly be achieved if Duterte is punished for the thousands extra-judicial and labor-related killings under his administration,” Magtubo concluded.

October 29, 2024

Government asked, “Where is the concrete action on labor-related killings”?

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the administration of President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. for action on the case of union organizer Dennis Sequeña who was killed five years ago. “It has been five long years of seeking justice for our friend and comrade Dennis who was shot to death on June 2, 2019 while speaking at a labor rights seminar for Cavite export zone workers in Tanza. We call on President Marcos Jr. to pursue the case as part of his administration’s commitment to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) which conducted a probe last January 2023,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and a Marikina city councilor.

 

Sequeña’s fatal shooting days before the annual ILO conference in 2019 sparked outrage among delegates and led to the decision to send the HLTM to the country to investigate the series of labor-related killings and other violations of the right to unionize in the country. It however took more than four years since that ILO decision for the HLTM to actually conduct its probe. Still, the ILO HLTM concluded that the “presence of a ‘mindset linking’ unions to the insurgency without the benefit of due process, [which] has led to a climate of impunity and violations of workers’ rights” and recommended the formation of a presidential body to resolve the 72 unsolved cases of labor-related killings as of the end of 2023.

 

“The government’s submission to the Committee on the Application of Standards which is going to review the complaints against the Philippine state at the ongoing ILO annual conference states that concrete action has been undertaken by the concerned agencies. We know that there has been none regarding the case of Dennis. This despite the fact that the provincial tripartite monitoring body resolved that the killing of Dennis was labor-related and that the AO 35 Committee headed by the Department of Justice acquired jurisdiction of the case years ago,” Magtubo explained. The ILO annual conference is currently in session in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

PM is calling on the ILO to reject the government’s request that the Philippines be taken off the list of countries that need to be examined by the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards regarding compliance with international labor standards, including freedom of association and right to collective bargaining.

 

“The brutal murder of Dennis has become a cold case after five years because of inaction by the government despite the presence of leads and findings by bodies such as the provincial tripartite body and the AO 35 Committee. His case reveals the disconnect between words and actions by the government on the prevailing impunity against union leaders and activists,” Magtubo ended. 

June 4, 2024

PM joins human rights groups in village education and candle-lighting at CHR

 

The Partido Manggagawa (PM) is one with the human rights community in seeking justice for all the victims of human rights violations in the country, and for the countless victims of wars, including  those from Israel’s continuing campaign of genocide against the Palestinians.

 

Here in the Philippines, we join the In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (IDEFEND) today in celebration of the Human Rights Week and International Human Rights Day on December 10 through a village march and candle lighting at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in UP Diliman.

 

Workers continue to face human rights violations in many forms such as contractualization, violation of freedom of association and the right to a living wage, red-tagging, and worse, killing.

 

Palestinians, on the other hand, are suffering the worst kind of oppression known to humankind. They are denied all basic rights - the right to life, food, water, shelter, etc.

 

PM will continue to stand with all the oppressed people and uphold the principles and values of human rights and a life with dignity.

 

Photos can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/pfbid0u8RRJ56RGVXJ65Rho1oxg9Qij4q3Koh6y5NAdi8au7gpPGQKZrucEpDZRzxxKQ9Dl

Press Statement

07 December 2023

Nagkaisa Labor Coalition Urges Gov't to Take Bold Steps to Address Workers' Issues

Photo from PhilStar

The largest labor coalition in the country is calling on the Marcos administration to take concrete actions to address the issues and concerns of workers, as the country is among the 24 shortlisted countries for examination during the upcoming International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva in June. This comes as the Philippines marks its 75th year of membership in the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The Nagkaisa Labor Coalition highlights that the Philippines is included in the long list of ILO Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) due to 69 reported killings of trade union leaders and organizers, and about 400 other violations of Convention 87.

Nagkaisa holds that the lack of representation from workers and employers in the current Executive Order 23 (EO23) signed by President Bongbong Marcos also contributed to the Philippines' inclusion in the list.

While it is a positive step forward, the current EO23 fails to address the significant problem that workers face in exercising their freedom to form unions or associations. To address this issue, the coalition proposes its amendments to transform it into a tripartite commission, consisting of representatives from the government and representatives from workers’ and employers’ groups in accordance with the principle of "tripartism and social dialogue" of ILO Convention 144 and the principles of "shared responsibility" and "participation in decision-making' under the Constitution and the Labor Code. This body would serve as the primary mechanism for addressing worker issues and seeking justice for the countless victims of violations of Freedom of Association (FOA) and Trade Union (TU) rights.

Trade unions heard Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma on his call to proposed solutions or positive actions. Thus, Nagkaisa urges him to schedule a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for trade union leaders to present personally the proposed amendments to the EO and other suggestions in order to improve the situation of workers and hold those accountable for violations of FOA and TU rights.

The coalition emphasizes that unless the government takes substantial steps to demonstrate its intention to heed the recommendations of the ILO High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) beyond the issuance of  EO23, the country will undoubtedly face scrutiny by the ILO.

It is time for the government to act and demonstrate its dedication to upholding the principles of decent work and social justice for all. 

PRESS RELEASE
May 7, 2023
Nagkaisa

Laguesma wants the accused to be the judge

Photo from Pag-ibig

 

                                                                                                             

The militant labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma’s rationale for excluding workers’ representatives in the newly created Inter-Agency Committee for the Protection of the Freedom of Association and Right to Organize of Workers.

 

“Secretary Laguesma wants the accused to be the judge in labor rights cases. If we follow Laguesma’s faulty logic that complainants cannot be the judge then more so the accused. Laguesma’s logic betrays his class war framework that pays lip service to social dialogue principles. The demand that workers’ representatives sit in the Inter-Agency Committee is aligned with the normative tenet of tripartism in resolving labor cases and disputes,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

On the eve of Labor Day, an Executive Order signed by President Bongbong Marcos created the Inter-Agency Committee with Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin as chair, Laguesma as vice chair and includes other government agencies but excludes trade unions and employers’ groups. The security sector, specifically the Department of National Defense, National Security Council and the Philippine National Police, sits in the Inter-Agency Committee.

 

“Security forces are the usual respondents, along with several employers, in the 380 cases involving killings, abductions, arrests, harassments and red-tagging of unionists detailed in the report of the workers to the International Labour Organization’s High-Level Tripartite Mission (ILO HLTM) last January,” Magtubo elaborated.

 

He added that “Laguesma’s slip is showing. What can workers expect from a Labor Secretary that makes lame excuses for banning trade unions? This behavior may be expected of the government’s security forces but cannot be the attitude of a Labor Secretary.”

 

The creation of the Inter-Agency Committee was the government response to the ILO HLTM recommendations. The annual ILO conference next month will consider if the Philippine government had adequately responded to the recommendations.

 

Magtubo insisted that “We ask the government to heed fully the ILO HLTM recommendations, especially for a Presidential Commission that includes workers’ representatives. The clock is ticking as the ILO annual conference is due to open in a month’s time.”

 

Some 10,000 workers in last Monday’s huge Labor Day rally in Manila and similar labor unity protests in other cities called for respect for the right to unionize along with demands for a wage hike and an end to contractualization. 

Press Release

May 4, 2023

“Chi-cha not cha-cha” top nationwide Labor Day calls

Kababaihang manggagawa nanguna sa hiling na P100 dagdag-sahod 

 

Demands for a salary hike and ayuda for the poor instead of changing the Constitution were among the workers’ issues highlighted in the nationwide protests today. “We endured the heat of marching under the sun because the burning issue of low wages and high prices is a priority concern. Chi-cha not cha-cha,” declared Rene Magtubo, national chair of the militant group Partido Manggagawa (PM) and a city councilor in Marikina, in reference to an urgent response to the economic crisis instead of politicians tinkering with charter change.

 

PM also lambasted a newly drafted Executive Order (EO) creating an inter-agency committee on labor rights. The group argued that the EO falls short of the recommendations of the International Labour Organization (ILO) high-level tripartite mission (HLTM) for the President to personally direct the committee and was crafted without dialogue with workers and employers. “Where is the President? The fact that President Bongbong Marcos is abroad today mirrors his absence in the inter-agency committee and reveals his utter disregard for improving the rights and welfare of workers,” Magtubo stated.

 

PM members assembled at 7:00 am at the Petron Blumentritt along Espana in Manila before marching towards Mendiola. The main Labor Day mobilization in Manila was led by the coalition All Philippine Trade Unions which brings together the groups Nagkaisa, Trade Union Center of the Philippines, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP). Similar rallies were held in the cities of Cebu, Bacolod, Davao, Iligan, General Santos, Cotabato and Tagum.

 

“Sahod, Trabaho, Karapatan” was the theme of the nationwide protests. “We call for a P100 minimum wage hike to recover the lost purchasing power of workers. Also, we demand an end to endo and the return of regular employment as the norm. Finally, we ask the government to heed the ILO HLTM proposals on protecting labor rights in the country,” Magtubo explained.

 

In Metro Cebu, PM assembled at the Plaza Independencia at 8:00 am before marching to Metro Gaisano in Colon for the joint rally of the coalition Sugbuanong Mamumuo Nagkahiusa Alang sa Living Wage (SANA AL). Some 1,000 workers marched for the demand for wage hike and regular jobs. The highlight of the protest was the destruction of a makeshift statue of Sen. Robin Padilla by a giant hammer (maso) to symbolize the workers’ fight against cha-cha.

 

In Iloilo City, the coalition United Labor led the march of some 1,500 workers at 2:30 pm to the Capitol grounds. The unions at Pepsi, Coke, URC and Iloilo Doctors were among the participants together with a contingent from the Iloilo Grab Riders Union (IGRU). The IGRU is the first union established among Grab riders in the country.

 

In Bacolod, some 3,000 workers joined the United Labor of Negros rally at the city Public Plaza. Sugar workers trooped to Bacolod City for the Labor Day protest of the groups PM, KMU, NACUSIP, BMP, CAILO, BUNYOG and BACOD. Unrest is brewing among sugar workers due to the early onset of tiempo muerto (dead season) as a result of the sugar crisis.

 

In Iligan, the Federation of Democratic Labor Organizations (FDLO) led the Labor Day march around the city which ended at the city plaza. PM, Mindanow, and other civil society organizations joined the FDLO rally. 

Press Release

May 1, 2023

“Chi-cha not cha-cha” among nationwide Labor Day calls tomorrow

 

Demands for a salary hike and ayuda for the poor instead of changing the Constitution is among the workers’ issues to be highlighted in the nationwide protests tomorrow. “We will endure the heat of marching under the sun because the burning issue of low wages and high prices is a priority concern. Chi-cha not cha-cha,” declared Rene Magtubo, national chair of the militant group Partido Manggagawa (PM) and a city councilor in Marikina, in reference to an urgent response to the economic crisis instead of politicians tinkering with charter change.

 

PM members will assemble at 7:00 am at the Petron Blumentritt along Espana in Manila before marching towards Mendiola. The main Labor Day mobilization in Manila is led by the coalition All Philippine Trade Unions which brings together the groups Nagkaisa, Trade Union Center of the Philippines, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP). Similar rallies are expected in the cities of Cebu, Bacolod, Davao, Iligan, General Santos, Cotabato and Tagum.

 

“Sahod, Trabaho, Karapatan” is the theme of the nationwide protests. “We call for a P100 minimum wage hike to recover the lost purchasing power of workers. Also, we demand an end to endo and the return of regular employment as the norm. Finally, we ask the government to heed the recommendations of the International Labour Organization high-level tripartite mission on respecting labor rights,” Magtubo explained.

 

In Metro Cebu, PM will assemble at the Plaza Independencia at 8:00 am before marching to Metro Gaisano in Colon for the joint rally of the coalition Sugbuanong Mamumuo Nagkahiusa Alang sa Living Wage (SANA AL). Some 1,000 workers are expected to march for the demand for wage hike and regular jobs. The highlight of the protest will be the hammering of a makeshift statue of Sen. Robin Padilla by a giant hammer (maso) to symbolize the workers’ fight against cha-cha.

 

In Iloilo City, the coalition United Labor leads the march of some 1,500 workers at 2:30 pm to the Capitol grounds. The unions at Pepsi, Coke, URC and Iloilo Doctors are among the participants together with a contingent from the Iloilo Grab Riders Union (IGRU). The IGRU is the first union established among Grab riders in the country.

 

In Bacolod, some 3,000 workers are joining the United Labor of Negros rally at the city Public Plaza. Sugar workers will troop to Bacolod City for the Labor Day protest of the groups PM, KMU, NACUSIP, BMP, CAILO, BUNYOG and BACOD. Unrest is brewing among sugar workers due to the early onset of tiempo muerto (dead season) as a result of the sugar crisis.

 

In Iligan, the Federation of Democratic Labor Organizations (FDLO) will lead the Labor Day march to the city plaza. PM and other civil society organizations will join the FDLO rally. 

April 30, 2023

Partido Manggagawa

Workers to march to Mendiola on Labor Day to demand wage increase, decent work, right to freely unionize

Organized labor, in a display of solidarity, will troop to Mendiola on Labor Day to demand an increase in wages, an end to contractualization and the full recognition of the right to freely unionize.

 

At a press conference today, the All Philippine Trade Unions (APTU) announced that it will gather more than 10,000 workers and march from España to Mendiola in the morning of May 1 to collectively air their demands.

 

The APTU, composed of the Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and a host of other trade union centers and confederations, was established in January 2023 as workers submitted its report on the state of freedom of association in the Philippines to ILO High Level Tripartite Mission that looked into the killings of trade union leaders and other FOA violations since 2016.

 

“Wages should climb together with productivity because it is only right and just that workers, who create the wealth of our nation, get their fair share of our economic growth. Workers cannot wait anymore and workers definitely deserve better,” said Paul Gajes, Legislative Officer of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

 

There are petitions for wage increase in almost all regions, even as proposed measures for wage increase have been filed in both Houses of Congress, ranging from Php 150 to Php 750.

 

“Workers will march on May 1 to press for Malacañang’s position on our demands for an inclusive roadmap to achieve decent work, an immediate action to the popular clamor for immediate wage increase and an end to impunity among other matters. Titiyakin naming maririnig ang sigaw ng manggagawang Pilipino saanman sa mundo,” said Elmer Labog, chairperson of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

 

Protest actions have also been planned in different parts of the country.

 

“Depriving someone of the right to life diminishes us all. We are all part of the greater humanity. As trade unions, we are in solidarity with one another. Thus, we must defend, promote, and protect our individual rights to decent life, security of tenure in our work, as well as our rights to organize and engage in collective bargaining,” said Rene Magtubo of the Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition.

 

Magtubo is referring to the joint workers report submitted by the APTU to the ILO-HLTM that that documented 68 trade union killings and hundreds of violations of the right to freedom of association, thus the need for whole of government approach to better guard labor rights.

 

"Milyong-milyon ang walang trabaho, at kung meron man, karamihan ay kontraktwal. Hamon natin sa gobyerno: ibasura ang Department Order 174, iwaksi ang kontraktwalisasyon, at igarantiya ang regular at ligtas na trabaho para sa lahat,” said Atty Luke Espiritu, president of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP).

 

Ending contractualization remains high in the priority list of organized labor.

 

"Low wages, rising prices, contractualization and workplace violence are hitting working women the hardest. Raising the minimum wage would considerably benefit women workers who are disproportionately concentrated in low-wage, precarious jobs and help close the gender wage gap. The current administration should pass the security of tenure bills in both the public and private sectors, and ratify ILO Convention 190 on the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work,” said Annie Geron of Women Workers United (WWU). The WWU was formed parallel to the APTU. 

PRESS RELEASE

All Philippine Trade Unions

26 April 2003

Contact Rene Magtubo @ 09178532905

Nagkaisa Spokesperson

Women Workers United on IWD demands

WAGES, DIGNIFIED WORK, PUBLIC SERVICES, AND FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: THE DEMANDS OF WOMEN THIS INTERNATIONAL WORKING WOMEN’S DAY

Women Workers United (WWU) marks the 112th year of the International Working Women’s Day, when we reaffirm our fight against poverty, injustice, inequality, and exploitation of women in all forms. WWU is currently composed of six major organizations: Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan (KMK), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Partido Manggagawa (PM), Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), and GABRIELA.

Filipino women find themselves in a time of crisis today. Joblessness is at an all-time high: 7 in 10 Filipinos—mostly women—are being driven into informal, precarious work; inflation is soaring at 9.3%; and violence against women (VAW) has seen a dramatic rise with 1 woman every 20 minutes becoming a victim of rape, physical abuse, lasciviousness, and other forms of VAW. 

Since the ILO High-Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM), in which we participated and submitted a subreport on women workers, we have developed a 15-Point Labor Agenda, within which we have expanded on the plight of women in the world of work.

This International Women’s Day, we reassert our call to (1) protect women workers’ rights to freedom of association and their rights to collective bargaining and negotiation; (2) close the gender wage pay gap and institute a national minimum wage closer to the living wage which is at PHP 1,100; (3) ratify ILO Convention 190; (4) strengthen legal framework and policies to address VAWC; and (5) pass the Magna Carta for Workers in the Informal Economy, among others.

This International Working Women’s Day, we remember the historic role women have played in advancing the people’s vision for a world free from exploitation. Today, we march on and carry the torch of the millions of working women throughout history who overcame society’s impositions on women and asserted their rightful place in the struggle for social justice.

Our fight for justice and equality in all forms continues. This International Working Women’s Day, the women workers of the Philippines march on. Women workers rise. Women workers strike. Women workers stand united.#

References:

GABRIELA Vice Chairperson Joms Salvador

Partido Manggagawa Judy Ann Miranda

Federation of Free Workers Women’s Network Vice President Arta Maines

Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) Jillian Roque

Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan (KMK) Spokesperson Jaq Ruiz

Women Workers United

PRESS STATEMENT

08 March 2023

MEDIA ADVISORY: Women workers protest on IWD

MEDIA ADVISORY

for March 8, 2023

Reference: Trish Muli, 0917 865 8720

INTERNATIONAL WORKING WOMEN'S DAY

Women Workers United

1. Women workers dialogue & protest at DOLE

8:00AM assembly at Round Table, Intramuros

8:40AM March to send-off leaders to DOLE

9:00AM–10:00AM Program outside Round Table

10:00AM - Unveiling of WWU challenge, then March to Liwasang Bonifacio

Several women's groups under Women Workers United (WWU) will meet with DOLE officials to get DOLE's support for the ratification of ILO Convention 190, Women in the World of Work, on International Women Workers' Day (IWWD). The groups will also forward cases of labor rights violations against women workers and reiterate ILO-HLTM's recommendations to the PH government.

During the dialogue, around 200 women workers gathered outside will hold a protest action to highlight their issues and demands. WWU will conclude the program with the reveal of the latest unity among the broadest rank of Filipino women workers—their most urgent challenge to the Marcos government.

2. Filipino Women SALUBONGAN

10:30AM at Liwasang Bonifacio

Filipino women workers led by WWU and all other sectors of women will converge at Liwasang Bonifacio. Women leaders from various sectors will hand out roses to women workers to honor their leading role throughout history in the emancipation of women across the world, while women workers will offer bread to women leaders to symbolize the fruits of their labor that feed the peoples of the world.

3. IWWD Program: Women Workers Unite for Wage Hike, Decent Jobs, Accessible Quality Social Services, and Freedom of Association

10:30AM–12:30PM Program at Liwasang Bonifacio

Thousands of Filipino women from several major women's and sectoral organizations will gather for the IWWD program that will register the united call of women for wage, jobs, services, and rights amid severe economic and political crisis in PH. The program will highlight the severe hits suffered by women and Filipinos due to unabated price hikes, anti-people policies that massacres jobs, and the incessant attacks on rights and freedoms led by no less than the highest officials of the land.

4. Filipino Women take the IWWD protest right at the foot of Malacañang

12:30PM March to Mendiola

12:30PM–1:30PM Program at Mendiola

1:30PM Symbolic presentation of Filipino Women's Message to President Marcos Jr.

Women will march to Mendiola to implore Marcos Jr. to finally respond to the crises hounding Filipinos under his reign. Protesters will issue their condemnation of the government's anti-people and pro-foreign capitalist indulgences while Filipinos drown in massive poverty, mounting debts, and growing fascism and militarism.

---

MEDIA COVERAGE IS REQUESTED.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES AND INTERVIEWS WILL BE FACILITATED.#

Labor group to Bello: Deeds do not match words on killings of unionists

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello’s statement that the government is addressing the killings and repression of labor leaders and trade unionists. “Deeds do not match words. Labor Secretary Bello is unfortunately being disingenuous when he says that the government is acting on the complaints. In reality violations of labor rights continue with impunity,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

He added that “Just to cite one case, the murder of union organizer Dennis Sequeña remains unsolved to this day, almost three years after he was shot while facilitating a labor seminar for export zone workers in Cavite. It was the outrage over the killing of Dennis just days before the annual International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2019 that precipitated the current complaint against the Philippine government for systematic violations of Convention 87 and Convention 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining.”

 

Echoing the observation of the ILO committee of experts on the application of conventions and recommendations in its latest report, PM averred that speedy and effective probes of the killings and the conviction of perpetrators are lacking if not absent.

 

“Aside from Dennis, no justice has been served for the killings of PM leaders Orlando Abangan of Cebu, Rolando Pango and Victoriano Embang of Negros Occidental. As the ILO report has noted, the government keeps on repeating that investigations are happening without providing any details,” Magtubo insisted.

 

The group also stated that the government is dragging its feet on a review of the rules governing the conduct of security personnel during disputes and the scrapping of a program on peacekeeping in the export processing zones.

 

“The Philippine Economic Zone Authority in particular has been blocking progress on strengthening the freedom to unionize and the right to protest of workers in export processing zones. Their latest maneuver has been to change the name of the Joint Industrial Peace Concerns Office to Alliance for Industrial Peace and Program Office but the aim of militarizing ecozones by setting up police precincts and suppressing unionism remains in place,” Magtubo explained.

February 14, 2022

Reinstate fired Foodpanda riders--rights group

 

The motorcycle riders’ rights group Kapatiran ng Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong) called for the reinstatement of 43 riders based in Davao City who were suspended for 10 years by food delivery company Foodpanda. The app suspended about a hundred “accounts” attached to the riders for planning a protest concerning the diminution in their income per delivery. Some riders were later reinstated after they allegedly provided information about the scheduled protest.

 

Don Pangan, Kagulong secretary-general, said that “We are one with the members of Davao United Delivery Riders Association Inc. whose members are Foodpanda riders from Davao City in their struggle for just pay and against the suspension of 43 riders for 10 years because they are exercising their right to express their grievances.”

 

The group also welcomed the move by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to call Foodpanda and the 43 riders to a dialogue to thresh out the issue. “We are also calling on the DOLE to deliver its commitment to convene the Technical Working Group represented by rider’s groups, trade unions, worker’s organizations and concerned government agencies to start the research and investigation that would lead to creating policy standards to protect the gig workers,” Pangan insisted.

 

Food panda riders turned offline for two days and staged a 500-strong unity ride last July 16 to protest the app’s wage policy because they noticed they had been earning less lately from each delivery.

 

Grievances and protests by food delivery riders are increasing amidst their high profile as frontliners and essential workers amidst the pandemic. Last November 18, 2020 Kagulong led some 700 Foodpanda riders in Metro Manila in a protest motorcade that ended in the DOLE main office in Intramuros. The riders aired their grievances about reduced pay, imposed penalties and the lack of transparency in their working conditions.

 

Pangan averred that “What happened with our brothers and sisters in Davao City clearly manifested the need to probe the employment status of gig workers to ensure just pay, benefits and job security,” Pangan insisted.

 

In a global study (http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/16880.pdf), labor researchers found out that food delivery riders launched the greatest number of protests among app or platform workers. The most prominent grievance concerned pay although employment status also figured as a secondary issue. In Asian countries such as Indonesia and India, gig workers have formed associations or unions. Similar organizing and struggles by food delivery riders in Europe, Australia and Latin America was also revealed in the study. 

Kapatiran ng Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong)

July 20, 2021

 

Workers slam suspension of union elections at biggest Mactan Ecozone firm

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa slammed the suspension of the proceedings for certification election at three Sports City factories at the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ). The Sports City group of companies employs some 14,000 workers and is the biggest employer at the MEZ.

 

“Sports City is using legal maneuvers to subvert the workers’ exercise of freedom of association and yesterday it succeeded in delaying the holding of an election at three of its factories on the basis of an appeal to the office of the Labor Secretary. We call on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to implement the law and the rules which absolutely guarantee the holding of a certification election despite an appeal by the employer,” stated Dennis Derige, PM-Cebu spokesperson.

 

In a pre-election conference yesterday, the DOLE officer handling the petitions for certification election announced that the proceedings are held in abeyance pending the appeal to the Office of the Labor Secretary. Petitions for certification election by rank-and-file unions in Metrowear, Globalwear and Mactan Apparel, and a supervisory union in Globalwear were earlier granted and objections by management dismissed.

 

Derige added that “The certification election at Sports City is a test case for the respect for freedom of association in the ecozones. In MEZ not a single union exists with a collective bargaining agreement due to the pernicious union busting efforts of capitalists. This has led to wage stagnation for workers despite decades of economic growth and productivity rise.”

 

Aside from the four petitions in Sports City, another petition for certification election is pending at First Glory Philippines. All the unions formed at Sports City and First Glory are affiliated to PIGLAS-SENTRO. A labor dispute has erupted at First Glory after the mass layoff of 300 workers, including all of the union officers, last November 27. Last December 22, members of the First Glory labor union voted overwhelmingly to go on strike.

 

“First Glory management has taken a hardline position in all mediation meetings despite being unable to substantiate its claim of losses. We demand that First Glory reinstate all 300 workers that were retrenched as this was done in bad faith and for the purpose of busting the newly-formed union,” declared Cristito Pangan, president of First Glory labor union.

 

The latest mediation hearing yesterday, attended by no less than Lapu Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan, on the First Glory dispute again ended without any agreement. Workers in the Mactan Ecozone have been hit by a series of job losses: Sports City retrenched 4,000 workers, Yuenthai fired 2000 workers, FCO International laid off 100 workers and Kor Landa dismissed 67 workers including union officers.

 

PM however believes that “The mass layoffs and labor disputes at First Glory, Sports City and Arcya Glass in Calamba, Laguna are all symptomatic of the epidemic of labor rights violations during the time of covid. Employers are exploiting the covid-19 crisis to bust unions and shift to contract work.”

January 5, 2021

Signing of anti-terror law and veto of anti-endo bill reveals Duterte’s real color

President Duterte’s signing of the anti-terror law and his veto of the anti-endo bill reveals that he is undeniably an enemy of labor rights. The contrast is remarkable. Duterte made a promise to abolish endo only to drag his feet and at the crucial juncture shoot down the bill that will limit contractualization. Now, labor activists fighting for regular jobs and workers’ rights are threatened by the vague provisions of the anti-terror law.

Even without an anti-terror law, labor rights are already under attack by the agents of the State. In the middle of the lockdown, at the height of Black Friday last April 10, elements of the Dasmarinas police threatened to arrest two workers manning the picketline in the First Cavite Industrial Estate if they don’t abandon the protest. In January this year, the PNP and the Philippine Export Zone Authority launched the Joint Industrial Peace and Concern Office (JIPCO) in Central Luzon to prevent militant unionism in the export zones. Two years ago, photos of three women union leaders were posted under the heading “wanted” at the gate of the Mactan Economic Zone in Cebu.

All these flagrant violations of labor rights by agents of the State will be enabled by the restriction of civil liberties under the draconian provisions of the anti-terror law. Thus workers have a stake in resisting and defying the slide to authoritarianism.

Workers will fight back and push back against the restriction of civil liberties and suppression of labor rights. Last June 30, workers held a global day of action against the anti-terror bill. On July 7, workers will join others sectors in a bigger action to protest the authoritarianism. 

July 4, 2020

Justice for slain union organizer on his first death anniversary—labor group

The labor group Partido Manggagawa reiterated its call for justice for its union organizer who was brutally murdered last year. Dennis Sequeña, Cavite provincial chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM) and veteran labor organizer of ecozone workers, was shot and killed in June 2, 2019 while facilitating a union seminar among workers in the Cavite Economic Zone.

“On the occasion of the first death anniversary of Ka Dennis, we call the attention of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) that justice has not been served and his unidentified killers are still at large. The unsolved murder of Ka Dennis highlights the new normal of impunity characterized by killings of rights defenders, double standard in the enforcement of lockdown rules, restriction of civil liberties and the looming danger of the anti-terror bill,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

The murder of Sequeña was immediately condemned by local and international labor groups and led to a recommendation at the International Labor Organization conference in June 2019 for a high level mission to be sent to the country to investigate the killings of unionists and violations of freedom of association. Later the Technical Executive Committee of the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council made a determination that Sequeña’s killing was extra-judicial and thus was under the purview of Administrative Order 35 (AO 35). In August 2019 the DOJ, as lead agency of AO 35, announced that a special investigative team was formed to probe the killing.

“We thus ask both the DOJ and DOLE: what is the status of the probe on the murder of Ka Dennis? Neither the family nor our organization has been updated of any development,” declared Magtubo.

He added that, “Relatedly, we also call on the DOLE to convene the technical working group for the review of the guidelines on the conduct of PNP, AFP and other security forces during labor disputes and the exercise of the freedom of association in the ecozones, the advocacy for which Ka Dennis gave his life for. The DOLE cannot make covid an excuse for inaction. On the contrary, a workers’ picketline in an ecozone in Cavite was dispersed using the lockdown as an alibi. Two workers of Sejung Apparel in the First Cavite Industrial Estate were threatened with arrest on Black Friday night, April 19, by Dasmarinas police, who refused to identify themselves, for alleging violating the curfew rules since they were manning the picketline.”

“Justice for Dennis also means justice for all workers. We ask the DOLE to investigate the dispersal of the Sejung picketline and for the reopening of the garments factory to produce much needed face masks not only to provide employment to the jobless workers and but also assist in the covid response,” Magtubo proposed.

June 2, 2020

Labor group slam PNP for anti-union stations at ecozones, call on DOLE to enforce FOA

PNP, PEZA announce ecozone militarization. Photo by Rappler

The Philippine National Police (PNP), including its commander-in-chief, the President, cannot infringe on the right of workers to form unions. Doing so will be a clear violation of the Constitution, the Labor Code and international conventions that guarantee freedom of association (FOA), the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement sent to media.

The reaction came after the PNP regional office in Central Luzon on Friday launched the Joint Industrial Peace and Concern Office (JIPCO) in the Clark Freeport Zone that will serve, according to Central Luzon police chief Brigadier General Rhodel Sermonia, as “the first line of defense from radical labor infiltration of the labor force and the industrial zones.”

The launching had as guest speakers, presidential adviser on the peace process Secretary Carlito Galvez, newly installed Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Archie Francisco Gamboa, and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director Charito Plaza.

PM, a member of the country’s biggest labor coalition Nagkaisa!, demanded that the PNP, PEZA and OPA withdraw the program and for DOLE to enforce labor laws in ecozones, educate officials of the bureaucracy and security forces on labor rights, and prosecute the violators whether they are state officials or owners of capital.

“These officials were appointed to their offices to promote and defend the Constitution. But the launching of JIPCO is very clear on its purpose – to violate the Constitution. Therefore under the context of ecozones, it is clearly the first line of defense of foreign capital and not of the labor force,” lamented PM chair Renato Magtubo.

He added that “Even before the launching of JIPCO, ecozones in Central Luzon have been militarized. Soldiers and police harassed union leaders, sent threatening letters to labor organizers and held anti-union meeting with workers of the FCF Manufacturing Corp., a factory in the Freeport Area of Bataan that makes high-end leather bags.”

Magtubo reminded the PNP and PEZA that under the law, even employers who own the businesses and exercise direct control over their workforce are considered as mere bystanders, meaning they cannot interfere in labor activities, particularly on the right of workers to form unions as provided under the Bill of Rights and the Social Justice provisions of the Constitution.

“If these officials are ignorant of these basics on labor rights, then this Republic of Endos and cheap labor is really in a deep shit,” declared Magtubo who now sits as a city councilor of Marikina.

“In fact, Central Luzon in recent memory, is no longer a hotbed of insurgents but of ninja cops as shown during the Senate hearings. Contrary to the vicious propaganda peddled by security forces against trade unions, the Filipino workforce, especially in special economic zones or EPZAs, are defenseless not from insurgents but from intransigent anti-union foreign investors.  Indeed, the urgent need of workers inside ecozones are incorruptible labor offices or desks and not PNP detachments.” argued Magtubo.

“Militarization of ecozones is an escalation of the union busting efforts of PEZA. In other regions like Calabarzon and Cebu, PEZA has been conniving with foreign investors by temporarily closing down factories where workers have unionized. The most recent incident of this modus operandi is the closure of Sejung Apparel Inc. in the First Cavite Industrial Estate where workers are currently on protest,” Magtubo explained.

JIPCO, the group said, is hiding under the cover of peace building efforts but in reality it is a declaration of war against the trade union movement in the country. “We will not be cowed. We will continue to organize,” concluded Magtubo. 

24 January 2020

DOLE asked to act on 13th month pay issue of “Grinch” company in Cavite

The labor group Partido Manggagawa today asked the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to act with dispatch on the violation of a garments company in Cavite that is refusing to give the mandated 13^th month pay by December 24. Sejung Apparel Inc., a Korean-owned firm in the First Cavite Industrial Estate in Dasmarinas, issued a memo to its employees that it will give the 13^th month benefit in March.

“DOLE should act now so that Sejung workers will have a merry Christmas. Workers have already brought to the attention of the DOLE the numerous violations of Sejung. A few days ago, DOLE Secretary issued a reminder to employers to abide by the law on granting the 13^th month pay. We call on the DOLE to match its words with deeds,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM chair.

In the conciliation meeting called by the Labor Department last Friday, no agreement was reached as the company remained adamant that it will only give the benefit on March. “The management of Sejung Apparel Inc. is the Grinch,” asserted Josephine Odchimar, president of the workers union in the company.

Workers have put up a picketline outside the factory since Friday night to guard against machines being taken out of the factory and prevent a runaway shop. Sejung Workers are also demanding a stop the transfer of machines and an end to subcontracting of production, which led to workers being furloughed since Friday until late January.

“The company’s argument of lack of buyers is just an alibi. The truth is that production is being subcontracted by Sejung to other companies,” Odchimar asserted.

Workers believe management is maneuvering to bust the union. The union won the certification elections in August. The company temp closed down in October, a week after the union submitted a proposal for a collective bargaining agreement. Workers set-up a picketline during the shutdown and were repeatedly harassed by FCIE guards. After a month, the company reopened.

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

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

December 18, 2019