Workers protest factory closure in Laguna

 

Workers of a glass factory in Laguna protested in front of the company gates last Wednesday. Some 200 employees, about a dozen of whom are women, were terminated as Arcya Glass Corporation in Calamba, Laguna filed for permanent closure in November 16. However, the Arcya Glass Employees Union is accusing the company of union busting as the factory continues to operate with a reduced workforce.

 

“We believe that Arcya Glass is feigning closure as a way to bust the union and replace regular workers with contractual employees who will work for less wages and benefits. In fact last Wednesday, three trucks from Pedraja Trucking came out of the factory and we think they carried bottles for delivery to Arcya’s customers,” stated Joseph Legada, president of the Arcya Glass Employees Union.

 

“The mass layoffs in Laguna and Cebu are symptomatic of the pandemic of job loss that is happening without effective intervention by the government. This ties in with news reports that 4.5 million are unemployed this year and 2.2 million are also out of work but are not officially jobless only because they stopped looking for work. The restricted definition of unemployment limits it only to the jobless who are actively looking for work in the last six months,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

He added that “Moreover, we are seeing that capitalists are exploiting the covid-19 crisis to bust unions and shift to contract work. This is shown by the experience of the Arcya Glass Employees Union and the First Glory labor union in the Mactan ecozone.”

 

Last Friday the garment firm First Glory Apparel in Cebu fired 300 workers, including the union president. The union has a pending petition for certification election. A rally of terminated First Glory workers last November 30 was broken up by police and led to the arrest of five union officers and labor organizers. The so-called MEPZ 5 were later released as their cases for “disobedience to person in authority” were dismissed.

 

Arcya Glass put workers on one-month forced leave in March 15 as the covid lockdown started. The company then filed for temporary closure until October 15. Finally the company declared permanent closure in November 16. The Arcya Glass Employees Union has a pending case for unpaid benefits at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and a complaint for illegal closure and union busting at the National Labor Relations Commission.

 

Magtubo insisted that “We demand that Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello convene a dialogue with labor groups on the continued hemorrhage of jobs inside and outside of the ecozones. We also ask Secretary Bello to remind police that existing DOLE-PEZA-PNP rules on labor disputes prohibit security personnel from harassing workers’ concerted actions.”

 

Photos of the Arcya workers protest can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10158678405269323.

December 4, 2020

Cigarette firm lost P4.5B in production due to month-long strike--union

 

Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. has lost some P4.5 billion in production due to a month-long strike, according to the union. The Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Labor Union (PMFTCLU-NAFLU) has been on strike since September 28 and has maintained picketlines at the factories in Parang, Marikina and Vigan, Ilocos Sur.

“We estimate that in every shift, some P60 million worth of cigarettes have not been produced as scheduled. In three shifts per day, that is a total of P180 million. In the 25 lost production days since the start of the strike, that is about P4.5 billion,” declared Rey Almendras, PMFTCLU president.

Workers unrest is rising with a series of labor strikes in recent months and the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco strike is the biggest yet. Another mediation meeting is scheduled by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on November 9 in Marikina near the picketline.

In contrast, NutriAsia announced in July that it had lost P200 million in income in the course of one month due to the strike at its Marilao plant.

In August 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.

“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.

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.

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

November 5, 2018

DOLE Usec could have helped resolve biggest strike yet--union

Fired DOLE Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod found an ally in the workers of the biggest strikebound factory to date. The Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Labor Union (PMFTCLU-NAFLU) declared that Maglunsod could have helped resolve the labor dispute at the leading cigarette firm. Maglunsod was dismissed by President Rodrigo Duterte last Tuesday for the series of strikes that have broken out in the last few months.

“Duterte has nobody to blame but himself since his broken promises of ending endo, abolishing regional wages and jailing errant employers are the reasons why workers are launching strikes. Maglunsod has done a good job of trying to resolve the labor disputes. His only sin is making sure that workers are protected as mandated by the Labor Code and Constitution,” averred Rene Magtubo, chair of Partido Manggagawa and former union president of PMFTC.

The week-long strike at the Marikina and Vigan, Ilocos Sur factories of the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco remains pending as the mediation called by the DOLE-NCMB last Monday ended without any agreement. Management refused the union demand that retrenched workers be reinstated and the mass layoff be reviewed. Another mediation is set on October 10.

“If Usec Joemag were still around, we would definite seek his intervention. Too bad he was a victim of the hunt for Red October, which is really a fairy tale spun by the government to divert attention from the sufferings of the workers and the poor due to inflation, TRAIN and the rice shortage,” declared Rey Almendras, PMFTCLU president.

Workers unrest is rising with a series of labor strikes in recent months and the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco strike is the biggest yet. The Marikina factory of the leading cigarette firm remains paralyzed since workers walked off the job in the middle of the shift on Friday last week. Picketlines have also been set up in the Vigan, Ilocos Sur redrying plant.

“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,” reiterated Almendras.

In August 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. “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.

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.

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

October 4, 2018

Cigarette firm on brink of strike as workers march in Marikina today

The leading cigarette firm in the country is on the brink of a strike as the mandated seven-day notification period is about to lapse. This afternoon a big march of workers and their supporters will proceed from the Marikina factory to the Concepcion Church to advocate their cause to city residents and to build up support for the strike.

The Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Labor Union (PMFTCLU-NAFLU) submitted last Saturday the results of the strike vote to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Some 73% of workers in Vigan, Ilocos Sur and Marikina City voted to strike.

“It is not too late for the company to resolve the dispute. We call on management to heed the workers’ demand for the reinstatement of 184 workers terminated as a result of the sudden closure of the Vigan redrying plant and the mass layoff at the Marikina factory,” stated Rey Almendras, union president of PMFTCLU-NAFLU.

The countdown to the strike began last Tuesday with workers holding a picket while DOLE convened another mediation hearing that ended without any resolution. There were protests at the Marikina factory every change of shift yesterday.

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. Last week employees of the big Japanese pharmaceutical firm Takeda Healthcare Philippines in Rockwell, Makati went on strike over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations.

“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.

The 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.

“PMFTC 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 protests can be accessed at PMFTCLU’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/zpipsamonte/

September 6, 2018

Countdown to strike at cigarette firm begins with protest at DOLE today

The countdown to the looming strike at the leading cigarette firm in the country begins today with workers holding a picket while the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) convenes another mediation hearing. Protests at the Marikina factory of the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. are scheduled every change of shift tomorrow. On Thursday afternoon, workers will march from the factory to the Concepcion, Marikina church to advocate their cause to city residents.

The company is on the brink of a strike as a large majority of members of the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp Labor Union (PMFTCLU-NAFLU) voted yes in strike balloting. In a vote conducted last Friday at Vigan, Ilocos Sur and Marikina City, 73% of union members authorized a strike. According to the rules, an actual strike can be launched seven days after the vote was submitted to the DOLE last Saturday.

“It is not too late for the company to resolve the dispute. We call on management to heed the workers’ demand for the reinstatement of 184 workers terminated as a result of the sudden closure of the Vigan redrying plant and the mass layoff at the Marikina factory,” stated Rey Almendras, union president of 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. Last week employees of the big Japanese pharmaceutical firm Takeda Healthcare Philippines in Rockwell, Makati went on strike over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations.

“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.

This 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.

The 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.

“Management told the union that the Vigan plant will be closed and sold to another entity. No other details were given. This raises the suspicion that this is another outsourcing program similar to the contractualization scheme at Philippine Airlines,” declared Gerry Rivera, president of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA-TUCP) and head of the newly formed Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa. Both PALEA and PMFTCLU are members of the Kapatiran.

He declared that “We express support for the fight of PMFTCLU for job security and against union busting. Ang laban ng isa ay laban ng lahat.”

“PMFTC 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 protests can be accessed at PMFTCLU’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/zpipsamonte/

4 September 2018

Ecozone workers protest series of factory shutdowns

At the height of the transport strike yesterday afternoon, workers in the Cavite ecozone held a protest against the management schemes of busting unions by shutting down factories. One garments factory temporarily shutdown last month and there are rumors of an electronics firm closing next month, both located at the Cavite Economic Zone in the town of Rosario.

Workers are alleging that the shutdowns are motivated by union busting. Workers of the garments factory Sein Together Phils. Inc., which shutdown last month, led the mass action where respect for freedom of association, and better wages and benefits were demanded.

“We call on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to intervene as these unfair labor practices by foreign capitalists are engendering workers discontent and labor disputes. 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 Rene Magtubo, national chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM), which has been assisting the ecozone workers.

Almost four hundred Sein Together workers were terminated after accepting a separation offer. Meanwhile at the electronics firm Lakepower Converter Inc., overtime was cancelled and the workweek was reduced to only five days starting last week.

Dennis Sequena, PM-Cavite coordinaor explained that “The common denominator between Sein Together and Lakepower is that workers exercised their right to unionize so they could better their wages and working conditions. In the Korean-owned Sein Together, the response of management was to harass workers and force them to accept separation during the shutdown.”

Last month, media reported the exodus of Korean companies from the Philippines to Vietnam due allegedly to the high cost of doing business. Magtubo insisted though that some of the companies may just be relocating to avoid unionization.

Sequena cited that “The biggest garments in the Cavite ecozone, Faremo International Inc.,  shutdown in October last year, just four months after signing a collective bargaining agreement with the then newly-formed union. More than seven hundred workers were laid off because of the factory closure but the union maintained a picketline for three months inside the Cavite ecozone to demand the reopening of the factory. The dispute ended with the workers accepting an improved separation offer from Faremo, including the grant of sewing machines for a livelihood project.”

He added that “Also Seung Yuen Technology Industries Corp., an electronics supplier at the Cavite ecozone, filed for closure after the workers voted yes to a  union in April 2016. After the union accepted an improved separation offer, the factory reopened immediately under a new name but with contractual and non-union workers.”

“This modus operandi of closing a factory to bust the union and reopening under a new name is also practiced in the Mactan Cebu ecozone as can be gleaned from the very recent case of electronics factory Cebu Nisico Corp. Before negotiations with the union could begin, it shutdown last August, offered separation to almost 200 workers and then reopened after just two weeks with a new name,” Magtubo averred.

Protest of the protest can be accessed at: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10155697433684323

and

https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10155699315004323

October 17, 2017

Months-long Cavite EPZA labor dispute settled

After more than three months, the labor dispute surrounding the closure of the biggest garments factory at the Cavite economic zone was finally settled. As the massive fire at the factory of the House Technology Industries burned last week, the management and union of Faremo International Inc. signed an agreement at the Cavite ecozone administration office to end the labor row.

“The deal provides for the rehiring of the workers if the factory reopens, a substantial financial assistance on top of the separation pay and the grant of several sewing machines for a livelihood project of the displaced employees. It was a resounding win for the workers,” declared Rene Magtubo, chairperson of Partido Manggagawa (PM).

PM assisted the Faremo workers in their months-long picketline inside the Cavite ecozone. Last October 26, some 1,000 workers of Faremo, majority of them women, were laid off when the factory closed down allegedly due to lack of orders. However, one of its customers, a major global garments brand, admitted that orders were increased not cancelled. This disclosure emboldened the resistance of the workers and bolstered the accusation of the union that the closure was illegal and meant to bust the union and break the collective bargaining agreement.

“Illegal closure is a weapon of last resort by employers in their union busting bag of tricks. Faremo is not the first and probably not the last. Last May, the Cavite ecozone electronics firm Seung Yeun Technology Industries Corp. filed for shutdown when its workers unionized but is still operating under a new name. The same modus operandi was done by the Mactan ecozone factory Blaze Manufacturing Corp. in 2011 to bust the two unions of its regular and contractual workers. We have reported these violations to the International Labor Organization Direct Contact Mission (DCM) that is in the Philippines at the moment,” Magtubo clarified.

The ILO DCM is a follow up to the High Level Mission conducted in 2009 to investigate the Philippine government’s violations of Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. The ILO DCM is holding a briefing this afternoon in Manila.

Jessel Autida, president of the Faremo labor union, said that “We owe this victory to the determination to fight of our members, and the solidarity of fellow trade unions and international labor rights advocates. We also thank our management for granting the demands of the union and even Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglungsod whose office patiently mediated the dispute until it was resolved.”

Autida revealed that the union will continue to exist as an organization for mutual aid and protection and to manage the garments production that they will undertake as a livelihood project. “We are asking the Department of Labor and Employment to help us in our garments making project. This is one way to sustain the livelihood of former Faremo employees and other displaced garments workers in the Cavite ecozone,” he explained.

The union has dismantled its picketline outside the Faremo factory and also withdrawn its pending cases at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and the National Labor Relations Commission as part of the settlement agreement.

February 10. 2017

Advisory: Possible confrontation today at Cavite ecozone picketline

Media Advisory

December 29, 2016

Contact Jessel Autida @ 09124749243

Possible confrontation today at Cavite ecozone picketline

Early this morning the management of the garments factory Faremo International Inc. at the Cavite ecozone in Rosario told workers at the picketline that two trucks loaded with machines will leave the factory today for shipment to Vietnam. The workers asserted that such will violate an agreement reached at the mediation meetings that no machines are to be taken out of the factory. The workers also asked for documents and permits for the shipment but none were presented by management.

Last December 16, a tense confrontation occurred when Faremo management also tried to spirit away machines. The PEZA police and industrial relations head Allan Datahan came to factory and threatened the workers with dispersal using a firetruck which was parked a corner away from the picketline. The workers insisted that the PEZA police cannot intervene in the dispute as per provisions of the DOLE-PNP-PEZA guidelines of 2011.

Tension at Cavite ecozone picketline

There was an hours-long standoff inside the Cavite economic zone in the town of Rosario yesterday as protesting workers stopped a container truck loaded with machines from leaving a dispute-bound factory. The tense situation ended only when the truck left early last night without its container load.

Workers of the garments factory Faremo International Inc. slammed its Korean owners for attempting to spirit away computerized sewing machines. They also condemned the industrial relations (IR) head of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority for conniving with management.

“We caught Faremo violating an agreement that it will not take out machines from the factory. Runaway shop is an unfair labor practice and illegal. Faremo closed down its organized factory to bust the union and is relocating to an unorganized plant whether in the Philippines or abroad,” averred Jessel Autida, president of the Faremo workers union.

Faremo is the biggest garments factory at the Cavite ecozone that shutdown last October 27 allegedly due to lack of orders, a claim that has been debunked by the admission of one of its clients that purchases have in fact been increased. 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 guard against machines being taken out of Faremo.

Faremo is owned by the Korean multinational Hansoll and supplies to global garments brands Gap, JC Penney and Kohl’s. Faremo workers have been on the picketline for more than a month now. 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.

Autida also denounced PEZA IR official Allan Datahan and the PEZA police for threatening the protesting workers with criminal charges and dispersal using a firetruck for preventing the shipment of machines out of the factory.

He explained that “We are not scared with Datahan’s threats and we stood our ground for we are on the side of reason and law. It is Datahan and his PEZA police minions that are in breach of the DOLE-PNP-PEZA guidelines of 2011 that ban police, security guards and military from intervening in labor disputes.”

Meanwhile the militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) for the suspension of Datahan for his role in the tense standoff at the Faremo factory. “Once more Datahan, who is a public official, has been caught conniving with foreign investors who are trying to transgress our labor laws,” insisted Dennis Sequena, PM-Cavite coordinator.

December 16, 2016

Media Advisory: TENSE STANDOFF AT FAREMO PICKETLINE

ATM: TENSE STANDOFF AT FAREMO PICKETLINE

Contact Dennis Sequena @ 09301803072

A container van leaving the garments factory Faremo International Inc. (located at the Cavite export zone in Rosario, Cavite) was found full of computerized sewing machines after it was inspected by picketing workers. Two container vans had already left the factory earlier today.

Philippine Ecozone Authority (PEZA) labor relations head Allan Datahan and PEZA police came to the rescue, drove away supporters from the picketline, threatened the workers with charges for allegedly delaying the shipment and warned them that they would be dispersed by water from a firetruck. Workers stood their ground, insisting on an agreement last October during a Labor Department mediation that Faremo will not take out machines from the factory. The workers are also arguing that the police cannot meddle in a labor dispute as per provisions of the DOLE-PNP-PEZA Guidelines of 2011.

Faremo filed for closure last October due to alleged lack of orders and laid off some 1,000 workers. The workers alleges that the closure was meant to bust the union. A client of Faremo, the global garments brand Gap, has already admitted that it did not cancel orders and in fact, increased its purchase. Faremo also supplies to garments brands JC Penney and Kohl's. The union has been calling on Gap, JC Penney and Kohl's to remediate the code of conduct violations at their supplier factory Faremo.

Workers call on PEZA to suspend Cavite officer

The militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the newly appointed head of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Charito Plaza to suspend its Industrial Relations Department chief Allan Datahan for harassing workers who held a protest march yesterday. PM has learned that the PEZA Board is having a meeting today.

“We call on PEZA Director General Plaza to suspend Datahan for violating the terms of the DOLE-PNP-PEZA guidelines of September 2011 which protects the right of workers’ to freedom of assembly and expression during labor disputes,” asserted Dennis Sequena, coordinator of PM’s Cavite chapter.

The group averred that yesterday 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 Datahan. When the marchers proceeded with the protest against union busting and contractual work, Datahan said to Faremo union president Jessel Autida they will not be allowed back in to the ecozone. After the protest, Faremo workers who tried to enter the Cavite ecozone were barred by guards at the gates.

Faremo is biggest garments factory at the Cavite ecozone that shutdown last October 27 allegedly due to lack of orders. “Management however has not shown any piece of paper to support its claim of lack of orders. Instead we believe that Faremo’s closure is a ruse to bust the union and replace regular workers with contractual employees,” Autida argued.

Sequena stated that “Datahan has a track record of violating workers’ rights. Earlier this year, in a labor dispute at the Seung Yeun Technology Industries Corp. (SYTIC), an electronics subcon at the Cavite ecozone, he interrogated a worker for her union activities. Later in a dialogue with SYTIC workers, he refused their request for a counsel, threatened them with cases for trespassing and negotiated with them as if he was a representative of management.”

He added “Further, SYTIC exposes the modus operandi of union busting via illegal closure that Datahan has mastered. SYTIC filed a notice of closure last April to force workers who had formed a union to accept separation pay. Yet the SYTIC factory is still operating today but under a new name and with agency employees.”

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 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.

“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,” Autida said.

November 8, 2016

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

Advisory:Workers to march at Cavite EPZA today

MEDIA ADVISORY

November 7, 2016

Contact: Dennis Sequena @ 09301803072

Workers to march at Cavite EPZA today

WHAT: Protest march by labor groups and workers of Faremo International, a Cavite EPZA garments factory that shutdown and laidoff 1,000 workers

WHEN: Today, Monday, November 7, 2016, 8:00 am

WHERE: Main gate (Gate 1) of the Cavite ecozone, Rosario town

DETAILS:  Community groups will hold today a solidarity rally outside the main gate of the Cavite Economic Zone (EPZA). They will be joined by workers of the garments factory Faremo International Inc. who will march from the Cavite EPZA.

The workers are demanding the reopening of Faremo as they assert that the closure is just a union busting manuever and a scheme to replace regular workers with contractual or endo employees. The workers have asked management to present proof of lack of orders but Faremo has not presented any.

The Faremo workers have been on picketline for the second week. Some 1,000 workers were laidoff last October 27 as the factory shutdown and have been locked out.

Another mediation meeting is scheduled on Tuesday, November 8, 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 last 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. ###

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.