Women workers hail long-delayed victory on violence-free workplace

Women workers picket Senate to demand C190 ratification

Partido Manggagawa (PM) together with NAGKAISA Women picketed the Senate of the Philippines to witness the hearing for the final stage of the ratification of ILO Convention 190. C190 recognizes the right of everyone to a world of work that is free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment.

 

“Matapos ang mahigit dalawang taong pagsusulong ng ratification ng C190, bagama’t long-delayed, ay natutuwa kami na nagbunga na rin ang aming tuloy-tuloy na kampanya para dito,” said PM General Secretary Judy Ann Miranda.

 

Miranda added that after the ratification, PM will then push for necessary laws and policy measures to be put in place to address violence and harassment in the world of work. In the Philippines, one in seven women experience sexual harassment at least once every week, according to a study. Sexual harassment in the workplace is prevalent but underreported because victims fear reprisal.

 

“Kalakhan ng biktima ng sexual harassment ay kababaihan, lalung-lalo na ‘yaong rank-and-file, casuals at job order. Gusto naming makapag-trabaho ang mga manggagawang kababaihan nang walang agam-agam at may dignidad, kaya babantayan namin ang pagpapatupad ng mga kaakibat na batas at polisiya kaugnay ng C190. Makaka-asa ang kapatid naming mga manggagawang kababaihan, maging ang LGBTQI+ community, na hindi magpapabaya ang PM sa usaping ito,” Miranda ended.

Access photos here:  https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/pfbid0296km3ouqrVzcAbe3DzE9oKEeQZ8o6AxgfNjzxmmcGMpJpyN4facYmbdDjQxtWCaKl

Partido Manggagawa

28 November 2023

 

Labor group slams PEZA and PNP for JIPCO IRR

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the signing of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Joint Industrial Peace and Concern Office (JIPCO) between the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority last Monday.

 

“The signing of IRR of the JIPCO between the PNP and PEZA will mean further militarization of ecozones, harassment of labor unionists and escalation of the union busting. As far as workers are concerned, police presence in the ecozones has been to harass labor protests, disperse picketlines and arrest organizers,” stated Rene Magtubo, Partido Manggagawa (PM) national chair.

 

He added “The hugot line about forming JIPCO and sending police to the ecozones as mechanisms to promote industrial peace is just doublespeak. It is no different from the lie about police rescuing lumad children in the bakwit school in Cebu and police killing nanlaban suspected drug addicts.”

 

PM, a member of the country’s biggest labor coalition Nagkaisa!, had earlier demanded that the PNP and PEZA 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. In fact, almost exactly a year ago today, DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello already wrote to both the PNP Chief and the PEZA Director General to express concern about the formation of the JIPCO in Central Luzon.

 

Magtubo cited a series of PNP and PEZA collaboration in suppressing workers’ activities within the last year or so. First, the arrest by the Cebu PNP of five labor organizers and their dispersal of a rally of retrenched workers of First Glory at the gate of the Mactan ecozone last November 30. Second, the dispersal of the picketline of workers of Sejung Apparel in the First Cavite Industrial Estate by Dasmarinas police together with security guards and barangay tanods for allegedly violating quarantine rules. The dispersal happened in the dead of the night during Black Friday of 2020. Finally, soldiers and police harassed union leaders, sent threatening letters to labor organizers and held anti-union meetings with workers of the FCF Manufacturing Corp., a factory in the Freeport Area of Bataan that makes high-end leather bags.

 

He 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 employers are mere bystanders in workers’ exercise of their labor rights, more so the PNP and PEZA,” Magtubo insisted.

 

He concluded that “JIPCO 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. But we will not be cowed and we will continue to organize.” 

February 17, 2021

Strikers being starved using covid lockdown as cover

Workers of garments factory Sejung Apparel Inc. have been on picket-protest since December. In recognition of the need to maintain social distancing, the number of people at the picketline was reduced by the union. From March 27 until today, all attempts to bring food and water to Jackie Elorde and Amer Taluba, the two workers at the picketline, have been stopped by security guards.

Sejung Apparel is a Korean-owned garments factory at the First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE) in Dasmarinas, Cavite (part of the industrial region just outside the capital Metro Manila). Guards have maintained a 24/7 cordon sanitaire around the picketline in violation of the 2011 Guidelines on the Conduct of Security Personnel During Labor Disputes which mandate that police, military and guards should be 50 meters away and not interfere in peaceful picketing. It appears that FCIE wants to starve Jackie and Amer into submission so as to dismantle the picketline.

On the morning of March 27, the union president Jopay Odchimar was prevented by FCIE guards from returning to the picketline to bring food. The guards said that this was upon the orders of FCIE estate manager Raffy Malanyaon and alleged due to the covid quarantine. However, workers continued to go in and out of the FCIE that day as the export processing zone was not shuttered.

After a standoff from morning to afternoon, the union president agreed not to proceed to prevent further argument. That night, FCIE guards stopped water from being given by friends from nearby factories allegedly upon the orders of the estate manager.

This is a clear case of harassment by the FCIE estate manager under the cover of the covid lockdown. Freedom of association and labor rights—including the guidelines on the conduct of security personnel—have not been revoked or suspended just because a quarantine is in effect. From a labor dispute the case has morphed into humanitarian issue.

The labor dispute is due to union busting and also non-payment of 13^th month pay and last salary. For more than four months, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) provincial and regional office has not acted on the clear case of labor standards violation despite undertaking an inspection. The case has dragged on for so long that the covid pandemic and the resulting quarantine has further aggravated the sufferings of the workers.

Sejung Apparel has declared temporary shutdown for three times since October. The first shutdown occurred just one week after the union submitted a collective bargaining proposal and just three weeks after the union won the certification election. Again, the circumstances point to union busting by management. But action by the DOLE has been lacking to protect freedom of association at the export processing zones.

We call on the DOLE to act immediately to bring food and water to Jackie and Amer. Further, we call on FCIE to stop the harassment of the Sejung workers and respect the right to peaceful picketing. ###

April 8, 2020

Cavite workers gear up for strike anew

Workers of an electronics factory in the Cavite ecozone are preparing to go on strike once more due to the mass termination of all union officers. The all-women labor union at the Lakepower Converter Inc. filed a notice of strike after mediation talks last Wednesday broke down due to the refusal of management to reinstate eight union officers who were terminated.

The Lakepower women workers went on a five-month strike that started in December 2017 to demand a stop to the harassment of union officers and members. The strike was settled last April due to the intervention of the Department of Labor and Employment. As part of the agreement, 64 union officers and members were to return to work.

“However, Lakepower reneged on the agreement. It reinstated union members but immediately suspended union officers. After a month-long suspension, they were then terminated. This is obviously a case of union busting,” declared Rene Magtubo, chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM), which is assisting the Lakepower women workers.

Lakepower is a Taiwanese-owned parts supplier to global electronics companies like Recom Power, Arrow Electronics, Asus and Texas Instruments. To avert another strike, the National Conciliation and Mediation Board is calling the management and union to conciliation meetings next week.

Magtubo asserted that union busting and harassment of unionists in Lakepower is not an isolated case in the export processing zones. Last week, PM condemned the posting of a “wanted list” of unionists at the gate of the Mactan, Cebu Economic Zone and its security office. Also last week, in the middle of negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), a union president and vice president were arrested due to a criminal complaint in Valenzuela.

“We are alarmed at this disturbing pattern of unionists being treated as criminals. Unionism is not a crime. But with the prevailing culture of impunity, employers are emboldened to criminalize unionists and treat them as terrorists,” asserted Magtubo. A global union body had listed the Philippines as among the worst countries for workers in its 2018 Global Rights Index.

Names and pictures of Myra Opada, Luzelie Gesta and Aurelia Parangan were on the “wanted list” in the Mactan ecozone. Opada is union president at Philippine Light Leather Corp. (PLLC), Gesta is secretary of the union and Parangan is an active member. All three have been terminated by PLLC management but the workers have filed cases of union busting, unfair labor practice and illegal dismissal.

Meanwhile, the president and vice president of the labor union at the Nation Paper Products and Printing Corp. (NAPPCO) were arrested and detained at a Valenzuela police station for two days. The CBA negotiations were cancelled as a result of the arrest and detention.

July 6, 2018

PEZA slammed as 2 women workers hurt in picketline attack

Security guards contracted by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) joined surprise attacks on a picketline at the Cavite Economic Zone that resulted in injuries to two women workers. Maricar Orque and Magdalena Peña, both workers of Lakepower Converter Inc., a Taiwanese-owned electronics company, were hurt in the commotion that followed the dismantling of the picketline around 11:30 pm last night. The workers union and the group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the PEZA for conniving with management in four separate instances of violent harassment of the strike.

“Company guards, personnel of the Jantro Security Agency hired by PEZA and other men wearing ski masks but clad in PEZA police uniforms repeatedly tore down placards and makeshift tents at the picketline last night and early morning. They first attacked at 7:00 pm, again at 11:30 pm, once more at 1:00 am and finally at 5:00 am. The men arrived in motorcycles and bearing side arms. Two of the motorcycles used had plate numbers DA 21752 and DC 86314,” explained Mercy Tanginan, president of the Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Lakepower Converter Inc.

The strike at Lakepower started at 3:00 pm yesterday after mediation meetings convened by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board collapsed as management refused workers demands that the termination and suspension of union officers and members be stopped.

Tanginan added that “A PEZA firetruck along with Jantro guards went to the picketline area. The Jantro also set up barricades at two points leading to the factory and refused entry to workers going to the picketline.”

Rene Magtubo, PM national chair, declared that “All these are violations of the DOLE-PEZA-PNP Guidelines on the Conduct of Personnel During Labor Disputes. We hold the PEZA and Atty. Norma Tañag, administrator ng Cavite ecozone, responsible for the violent attacks on the women workers strike. Aside from the direct involvement of PEZA police, firefighters and Jantro guards in the harassment and attacks, PEZA has administrative control of the ecozone and is liable for such repeated incidents of violence.”

Unrest has festered at Lakepower for the last few months. Among workers grievances is the removal of the door of the women’s restroom so that the company can spy on workers. Almost all of the 200 workers in the factory are women. They are also outraged at the unreasonable limits on the use of the restroom which has led to cases of workers suffering from urinary tract infection. Workers are also complaining of excessive quota and the exclusion of unionists from receiving Christmas packages.

Last November 16, the Lakepower workers held a protest at the Cavite ecozone against company abuses. The protest was the third such picket over the last month at the country’s biggest export processing zone. Earlier, garments workers held protest actions against “factory shutdown-cum-union busting.” After two protests and a strike threat, the union leaders at the Korean-owned garments factory Sein Together Phils. Inc. were eventually accepted back to work.

“Workers are unionizing to improve their working conditions but are being met by extreme interference from capitalists unwilling to share the fruits of production,” asserted Magtubo.

December 8, 2017

Welga ng kababaihang manggagawa inatake, 2 sugatan

Tatlong beses na inatake kagabi at ngayong madaling araw ng mga gwardiya at naka-ski mask na kalalakihan ang welga ng mga kababaihang manggagawa sa Cavite ecozone. Sugatan sina Maricar Orque at Magdalena Peña, parehong manggagawa ng Lakepower Converter Inc., isang Taiwanese-owned electronics company sa loob ng Cavite Economic Zone sa bayan ng Rosario.

“Pinagtulungan ng mga gwardiya ng kompanya, Jantro Security Agency at kalalakihang nakatakip ang mukha pero nakasuot ng uniporme ng pulis na hablutin ang mga placards at trapal sa aming picketline. Una silang sumugod noong 7:00 ng gabi, umulit uli ng 11:30 ng gabi at muli nitong 1:00 ng madaling araw. Nakasakay sila mga motor, may dalang mga baril at umatras lang nang kinuhanan ng litrato ng mga manggagawa. Ang isa sa motor na ginamit ay may plakang DA 21752,” paliwanag ni Mercy Tanginan, presidente ng Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Lakepower Converter Inc.

Nagsimula kahapon ng 3:00 ng hapon ang welga ng mga manggagawa matapos na walang kasunduang maabot sa miting na ipinatawag ng Labor Department. Hiling ng mga manggagawa na itigil ang tanggalan at suspensyon ng mga officers at members ng unyon. Subalit ayaw pumayag ng management.

Dagdag ni Tanginan, “Pumunta din sa picketline ang firetruck ng PEZA at Jantro guards na inuupahan ng PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority). Nagbarikada din ang Jantro sa paligid ng pabrika at tinaboy ang mga manggagawang pupunta sa picketline.”

“Paglabag sa DOLE-PEZA-PNP guidelines ang mga ito. Pananagutan ng PEZA at ni Atty. Norma Tuñag, administrator ng Cavite ecozone, ang marahas na pag-atake sa mapayapang welga ng mga kababaihang manggagawa. Bukod sa tauhan ng PEZA ang Jantro guards, sila ang may kontrol sa lahat ng nangyayari sa loob ng ecozone,” giit ni Rene Magtubo, tagapangulo ng Partido Manggagawa (PM), na sumusuporta sa mga kababaihang manggagawa.

Ilang buwang nang kumukulo ang diskuntento ng mga kababaihang manggagawa sa Lakepower bunga ng mga pang-aabuso. Nirereklamo nila ang pagtanggal sa pintuan ng banyo upang tiktikan ang mga manggagawa. Gayundin ang mahigpit na patakaran sa pag-ihi na naging sanhi ng maraming kaso ng urinary tract infection. Halos lahat ng manggagawa sa Lakepower ay kababaihan.

Ayon kay Magtubo, “Nagbubuo ng unyon ang mga manggagawa upang mapabuti ang kanilang kalagayan sa paggawa. Subalit tinatapatan sila ng walang habas na union busting ng mga kompanya na ayaw partihan ang mga manggagawa ng bunga ng kanilang pagpapawis.”

December 8, 2017

Labor group urges MIAA employee, manager to sue Cam using PAL employee case as precedent

Sandra Cam’s impending appointment to the President’s cabinet should not only be reconsidered, the dignity of both the MIAA employee and her manager should likewise be restored, according to labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM).

Cam reportedly made a show by threatening people, dropping names and arrogating imminent power at the airport’s VIP lounge, particularly against a MIAA employee and his/her manager.

“If accounts in news reports were true, then the injured parties particularly the MIAA employee and the manager should file appropriate charges against this narcissistic whistle-blower,” said PM Secretary General, Judy Ann Miranda.

Miranda added: “Workers are trained to abide with established protocols in the workplace. They were not hired to suffer indignity from powers-that-be or worse, from a VIP wannabe.”

PM disclosed that last February, a member of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association, Ms. Sarah-Bonnin Ocampo won a favorable settlement of a case of slander and serious misconduct against former AVE Partylist Rep. Eulogio Magsaysay.  The ex-congressman was forced to make a formal apology as resolution of the case with Ocampo before a municipal trial court in Pasay.

  

The case stemmed from a 2011 incident where Ocampo, PAL’s customer representative during that time at the check-in counter, was berated and offensively called a ‘menopausal bitch’ by the congressman after she refused to grant the latter’s request based on company protocols.

PM welcomed the settlement as a victory for labor and women's rights and a cause for celebration during the obeservance of women's month. "Even more, this resolution sets a precendent and warning against erring government officials or abusive customers against verbally abusing workers who are just doing their job," Miranda explained.

For others the Magsaysay-Ocampo case was ‘too small a thing’ to warrant court action or public attention. But for women activists in the labor movement, any misuse or abuse of power which either arise from the use of brute force by the mighty or from the blind acceptance of the weak should be opposed.

“In the case of Sandra Cam, it is the exploitation of non-existent power against the lowly airport workers.  She can be more dangerous with an official ID from Malacanang,” concluded Miranda.

March 11, 2017

Laidoff workers march at Cavite harassed by PEZA

A protest march by laidoff workers of the biggest garments factory at the Cavite export processing zone pushed through today despite harassment by representatives of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

Some 100 workers of Faremo International Inc. marched from their picketline to the main gate of the Cavite ecozone but was told to stop by PEZA police and ecozone security guards led by PEZA industrial relations department head Allan Datahan. When the marchers proceeded with the protest, Datahan said to union president Jessel Autida they will not be allowed back in to the ecozone.

“We decry the harassment by the local PEZA of our peaceful protest against union busting and contractual work. The DOLE-PEZA-PNP guidelines of September 2011 explicitly protects the right to peaceful assembly and expression of workers involved in labor disputes,” Autida insisted.

The Faremo workers were met at the Cavite ecozone main gate by scores of supporters from community organizations and chapters of Partido Manggagawa (PM) where they held a program. Tomorrow another mediation meeting is scheduled by the DOLE-NCMB in Imus, Cavite to resolve the Faremo dispute.

“Faremo is shutting down to get rid of the union but will open again but with endo workers. This is not the first and last time that this union busting scheme was done by companies at the Cavite EPZA,” asserted Autida.

Autida cited the recent case of Seung Yuen Technology Industries Corp. (SYTIC) which filed a notice of closure last April to force workers who had formed a union to accept separation pay but which is presently still in operation with agency employees. SYTIC is a Korean-owned plastics company that supplies to eletronics factories. [See DOLE-NCMB record at http://co.ncmb.ph/ncmb-region-iv-a-settles-dispute-at-seung-yeun-technology-industries-corp/?print=pdf]

Autida clarified that Faremo workers are not on strike and want to work but have been locked out. He explained that they are maintaining a 24/7 picket at the factory to protest the illegal closure and union busting, and to guard against machines being taken out of Faremo. According to Autida, the union at Faremo was formed last year in a bid by workers to improve pay, benefits and working conditions and stop mistreatment like verbal abuse.

“Faremo has not presented any evidence to back its allegation that it lacks orders from its customers and so has to shutdown. It is just feigning lack of customers and financial losses. Thus we suspect that Faremo will reopen using workers who are contractual and without a union,” averred Autida.

He added that “Faremo declared multimillion losses from 2011 to 2013 without ever shutting down. But just months after a collective bargaining agreement with the union was concluded last May, it suddenly closes.”

“When Faremo first broached that they may shutdown temporarily and layoff workers, the union responded by proposing that work be rotated so that workers need not be retrenched. But such doable measures from the union fell on management’s deaf ears. It replied with a hardline position—close the factory and bust the union,” argued Autida.

The management of Faremo filed a notice for permanent closure in October 21. In response the labor union filed a union busting complaint. Faremo is a subsidiary of the Korean textile multinational company Hansoll and supplies to global garments brands. ###

Protests of the protest march can be accessed at:

https://www.facebook.com/reynalin.coronel/posts/2149988331893412?pnref=story

https://www.facebook.com/gina.ensano/posts/1290918490981012?pnref=story

November 7, 2016

PALEA 300 moves for the dismissal of PAL harassment case

Press Release

February 2, 2012

PALEA

The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) will move today for the dismissal of the case filed by the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) for alleged violation of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines law arising from the September 27 protest at the Manila International Airport.

Hundreds of PALEA members also held a rally this afternoon at the Pasay Hall of Justice to coincide with the court hearing on what the union describes as a “harassment case” by PAL regarding supposed destruction of equipment during the airport protest.

“It behooves the court to dismiss this apparent harassment case because of a fatal flaw. PAL’s lawyers do not have any clearance from the Department of Labor and Employment in filing the case. Any complaint arising from a labor dispute requires such a clearance before civil courts can take jurisdiction,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president.

Last January 11, the 258 PALEA members who are respondents to the case, appeared at the Pasay regional trial court for the first hearing. The respondents are called PALEA 300 since PAL in previous press releases has claimed that some 300 PALEA members joined the September 27 protest. The next hearing is scheduled for February 9. In an allusion to the mythical Spartans, Rivera declared that “The respondents to the case, the PALEA 300 are brave men and women who will die fighting instead of surrendering to tyranny by PAL.”

He claimed that “PAL is blindly shooting nuisance cases at PALEA members in a desperate bid to force them to accept the separation package and sign up for the illegal labor contractors Sky Logistics and Sky Kitchen.”

Rivera asserts further that PAL services deteriorated sharply after September not because of damaged equipments but due to lack of skilled and experienced manpower after PALEA members, in opposition to outsourcing, refused to transfer to assigned service providers.

PALEA insists that PAL’s waning reputation and deteriorating quality service can only be saved by getting its regular workers back. Supporters of PALEA are calling for a boycott of PAL and its sister company Air Philippines until the laid off workers are reinstated to their regular jobs.

On Monday, hundreds of PALEA members will join retrenched flights attendants of PAL in a rally at the impeachment trial since the president of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association is expected to testify for the prosecution.

“PALEA 300” seeks dismissal of violation of CAAP law case

PRESS RELEASE

11 January 2012

PALEA

In a hearing yesterday at the Pasay Hall of Justice, members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) asked the city prosecutors to dismiss the violation of Civil Aviation Authority (CAAP) law case filed by the management against them in the aftermath of the September 27, 2011 protest that crippled the operations of Philippine Airlines (PAL). In an allusion to the mythical Spartans, PALEA President Gerry Rivera declared that “The respondents to the case, the PALEA 300 are brave men and women who will die fighting instead of surrendering to tyranny by PAL.”

The PAL management alleged in its complaints that PALEA members caused the destruction of some airline equipments during their September 27 protest, a charge vehemently denied by the union. The actual respondents to the case are 258 but PAL in previous press releases has claimed that some 300 PALEA members joined the September 27 protest.

In a picket to coincide with the hearing, PALEA insisted that the case was part of the many harassment cases thrown at PALEA members after the union strongly opposed PAL’s outsourcing plan. The next hearings are scheduled for February 2 and 9.

“We eat PAL harassment cases for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” stated Rivera. He claimed that “PAL is blindly shooting nuisance cases at PALEA members in a desperate bid to force them to accept the separation package and sign up for the illegal labor contractors Sky Logistics and Sky Kitchen. Some of the 258 named respondents were active participants in protests before and after September 27 but were on day off that fateful day.”

The union asserts that no company equipment was ever damaged during the September 27 protest. Instead the union knows that it was the improper use of an airstep by an inexperienced and unskilled scab that caused an accident where an Airbus A340 with aircraft ID 3430 plane door was dented.

Rivera asserts further that PAL services deteriorated sharply after September not because of damaged equipments but due to lack of skilled and experienced manpower after PALEA members, in opposition to contractualization/outsourcing, refused to transfer to assigned service providers.

“Up to now, more than three months after the outsourcing, passenger complaints of faulty services by  contractual scabs working at PAL are piling up.  It is therefore not the equipments but the flag carrier’s reputation that is being badly damaged,” declared Rivera. 

PALEA insists that PAL’s waning reputation and deteriorating quality service can only be saved by getting its regular workers back. Supporters of PALEA are calling for a boycott of PAL and its sister company Air Philippines until the laid off workers are reinstated to their regular jobs.

Blacklisted PALEA member returns from US, rejoins protest

Press Release

November 12, 2011

PALEA

A member of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) who was refused boarding by Philippine Airlines (PAL) for allegedly being on a “blacklist” of protesting employees, returned from the United States today and vowed to rejoin the fight against contractualization. Belle Savellano and her family arrived from Taipei on an Eva Airways flight around noon today. Last November 6, PAL denied to fly Savellano and six members of her family despite holding tickets for the Los Angeles-Manila flight.

“It is good to be back home even after the petty persecution I experienced at the hands of PAL. My husband and children who should have been at work and school early this week, and even my 80-year mother suffered from PAL’s harassment of its protesting employees,” stated Savellano.

Meanwhile PALEA welcomed Savellano back to the protest. “Belle will be warmly received by her PALEA colleagues in the protest camp. Unfortunately, further harassment awaits Belle as the threat to disperse the campout continues to this day. A few days ago, PAL filed criminal charges against the PALEA 41 just to bully them into accepting the separation package and applying as contractuals in the service providers,” said Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

Yesterday the PALEA campout was the scene of renewed tension as a firetruck and scores of police accompanied a shuttle bus of PAL that went inside the In-Flight Center (IFC). But no untoward incident happened as PALEA members simply watched the bus arrive and depart from the compound.

PALEA has been questioning PAL’s insistence in operating the IFC since its in-flight catering and airport services have already been closed down. Rivera asserts that “Evidently PAL will allow Sky Logistics and Sky Kitchen use of the IFC which means the service providers are nothing but illegal labor-only contractors.”

Representatives from PM-USA and Filipino-American groups BANTAY Pilipinas-Los Angeles, Alliance Philippines and Echo Park Community Coalition earlier called on the public especially Filipino-Americans to boycott PAL as the groups condemned the harassment tactics of the company against PALEA members.

Savellano, a PALEA member who worked for PAL for more than 28 years, is one of some 2,400 employees locked out after PALEA’s protest last September 27. Savellano and family flew to the US on October 19 to visit their relatives in San Diego using her employee travel benefit that was approved before the lock out. On October 23, PAL issued a memo that renders Savellano’s return ticket useless.

The Fil-Am groups vowed to increase its efforts to campaign for the boycott of PAL until the flag carrier has heeded the demands of PALEA for the return to their regular jobs. They believe that the fight against corporate greed is exemplified in the struggle of PALEA. They jointly declared that “The oppression of PALEA is a reflection of the plight of ordinary workers all over the world. We have to fight back as we are all PALEAns!”

PALEA member in Los Angeles cry harassment by PAL, PM-USA vows support

Press Release

November 10, 2011

A member of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) is crying harassment by Philippine Airlines (PAL) for being refused boarding on a flight back to Manila from Los Angeles. Belle Savellano, PALEA members and PAL employee for 28 years, was not allowed to board the PAL LAX-MNL flight last November 6 for being allegedly on “blacklist of PALEA members.”

[Link to video clip of LAX incident: http://youtu.be/VakfsiiQtjg]

“We need to go back to the Philippines since my husband should have gone back to work last November 8 and my children also should have started school on the same day. Also my 80-year mother wants to be reunited with her relatives. My family is suffering because of what PAL is doing,” Savellano explained.

Ian Seruelo, liaison officer of PM-USA who is assisting Savellano in her fight, asserted that “We believe this petty persecution is meant to force Savellano to accept the separation offer and sign up for the service provider which is desperately in need of skilled and experienced workers from PALEA. But Savellano refuses to be a scab and is one with the 2,000 PALEA members who have defied the outsourcing plan.”

Seruelo together with representatives of Filipino-American groups BANTAY Pilipinas-Los Angeles, Alliance Philippines and Echo Park Community Coalition accompanied Savellano to the Los Angeles airport last Sunday. The groups also issued an appeal for Filipino-Americans to boycott PAL.

Savellano and family flew to the US on October 19 to visit their relatives in San Diego using her employee travel benefit that was approved before the lock out. On October 23, PAL supposedly issued an “internal memo” that renders Savellano’s return ticket useless.

“We condemn the violence and other harassment tactics employed by PAL against PALEA. Last October 29, goons hired by PAL attacked the PALEA protest camp. Now, PAL issued a memo unjustly rescinding the earned travel benefits of these employees. Clearly all of these are meant to harass protesting workers. We call on the public to continue supporting the struggle of PALEA for decent jobs,” Seruelo insisted.

The Fil-Am groups vowed to increase its efforts to campaign for the boycott of PAL until the flag carrier has heeded the demands of PALEA for the return to their regular jobs. They believe that the fight against corporate greed is exemplified in the struggle of PALEA. They jointly declared that “The oppression of PALEA is a reflection of the plight of ordinary workers all over the world. We have to fight back as we are all PALEAns!”