Hustisya para sa mga manggagawang biktima ng pagguho ng gusali

 

Photo from Bureau of Fire Protection Central Luzon

Kinokondena ng Partido Manggagawa sa Central Luzon ang naganap na trahedya ng pagguho ng itinatayong gusali sa bahagi sa Pampanga kung saan dalawa na ang kumpirmadong patay.

 

Ayon sa huling mga ulat, 26 pa lamang sa mahigit 40 katao na pinaniniwalang na-trap sa gumuhong gusali ang na-rescue. 

 

“Malinaw na may pananagutan dito ang may-ari, kontraktor, DOLE, at maging ang lokal na pamahalaan, dahil ito ay malinaw na kapalpakan, bukod sa kapabayaan sa occupational health and safety (OSH) standard na dapat pinaiiral sa lahat ng workplace, lalo na sa construction sites,” pahayag ni Ver Estorosas, tagapangulo ng Partido Manggagawa sa Bulacan. 

 

Pangunahin aniyang layunin ng OSH law na pigilan ang workplace accidents sa manggagawa kaya nangangahulugan ito ng regular na inspeksyon lalo na mga construction sites.

 

Dapat magkatulong ang DOLE at LGUs sa enforcement ng OSHS standards sa kanilang nasasakupan dahil ang aksidente ay palaging risko sa construction sites. 

 

“Pero kung parehong natutulog sa pansitan, ang kapahamakan ng manggagawa ay palaging naisusugal,” dagdag pa ni Estorosas.

 

Nananawagan din ang PM sa mabilisang imbestigasyon sa naging sanhi ng aksidente, gayundin sa agarang medikasyon at kompensasyon para sa mga biktima. 

 

Nangangamba rin ang grupo na kung walang SSS coverage ang construction workers dito, na siyang kalakaran sa industriya, hindi sila masasaklaw ng benepisyo ng Workmen’s Compensation Act. 

 

“Ang kawalan ng SSS at iba pang benipisyo ng manggagawa sa konstruksyon ay dagdag na pananagutan sa batas ng mga employer,” diin ni Estorosas.

PRESS STATEMENT

Partido Manggagawa-Bulacan

25 May 2026

Group calls for safety committees in the wake of BPO violations during Cebu earthquake

 

Photo by Lokal Cebuano

A group of call center workers demanded that safety committees be immediately formed in all BPO companies with worker members to be elected in the wake of occupational safety and health violations by companies during the recnt earthquake. “Workers must have voice and participation in the workplace, especially with regard to safety and health concerns. This will save workers’ lives,” Gilbert Romo, spokesperson for the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW), asserted.

 

The Republic Act No. 11058 or Occupational Safety and Health Law  mandates the establishment of safety committees with employee representatives. The same law stipulates fines of up to P100,000 for OSH violations. “These are two ways to ensure that this hazardous behavior does not happen again,” Romo added.

 

Thus, ICCAW is calling on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to levy fines on BPO companies which put employee lives at risk during the earthquake. Romo stated that the majority of BPOs at the Cebu IT Park and Cebu Business Park did not allow their employees to leave the premises at the height of the earthquake or called them back to work after just a couple of hours despite the risk of aftershocks. Some BPO employees resigned on the spot out of fear for their lives. “Call centers put profit above people’s lives and safety. This is unacceptable. We call on the DOLE for urgent action on this blatant violation of the OSH Law,” Romo said.

 

ICCAW called on fellow BPO workers to come forward with testimonies of the unsafe actions of the management of call centers amid the earthquake. “BPO workers are not immortal. We are humans. Similar to how BPOs ask employees to go to work despite heavy rains and widespread flooding, these companies prioritized smooth running of operations over the welfare of their employees. Working in the graveyard shift—which is common in BPOs—is already a health risk but keeping employees at work during an earthquake is too much. Hanapbuhay ang kailangan naming manggagawa, hindi hanappatay,” Romo insisted.  

  

ICCAW is an industry-wide group of BPO employees that was founded in 2013 in Cebu in solidarity with workers of a call center that abruptly shut down. It currently has members in different call centers in the Cebu IT Park. In 2014 it came out with an 8-point agenda of pro-labor reforms in the BPO industry. These include tax breaks, bond to indemnify workers in case of closure, quick reaction teams in case of sudden shutdown, hospitalization insurance, above minimum salary, regular labor inspections, elected workers representatives in a grievance machinery, and regularization of employees.

Press Release

October 7, 2025

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers

Council Resolution filed for local probe on Armscor explosion

 

Photo from TV5

A city council resolution to conduct an inquiry was filed by Marikina City Councilor, Renato Magtubo, following a deadly explosion that occurred yesterday at the Armscor Global Defense Manufacturing facility in Marikina, resulting in the death of two workers and other reported injuries.

 

In his resolution, which is scheduled to pass first reading today, Magtubo is asking the City Council to direct several committees, including the peace and order, public safety and security, and labor and capital relations, to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation to ascertain the cause of the explosion as well as the level of accountability the company is liable to - for workers and the community.

 

Magtubo, who is also the chairperson of Partido Manggagawa (PM), noted that this was the second time that fire and explosion occurred at the same facility. “On February 29, 2024, a fire also occurred at the same facility, causing significant damage and injuring four people,” stated Magtubo.

 

“Huwag din nating kalimutan ang nangyari sa Kentex dahil habang nauulit ang mga ganito, makikita na hindi tayo nagbabago,” he added.

 

The resolution demands thereafter the submission of the Inquiry Report to the City Council with findings and recommendations, including:

 

1.           Amendments to existing ordinances on industrial safety, the handling of hazardous materials, and emergency response;

2.           Policy recommendations to national agencies for stricter enforcement of safety regulations, and;

3.           Measures to enhance corporate accountability and community protection.

 

Earlier, the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition also called on concerned government agencies to conduct the same inquiry, saying the recurrence of such deadly workplace accidents is unacceptable.

PRESS RELEASE

Partido Manggagawa

Renato Magtubo

National Chairperson

City Councilor, Marikina City 

Reforms demanded in wake of deadly QC factory fire

Photo from Inquirer.net

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called for stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection in response to the deadly industrial fire at a small garment factory in Quezon City. The fire in the early morning of Thursday last week at MGC Wearhouse Inc. killed 15 people, 12 of whom were stay-in workers.

 

"Heads must roll and justice must be served for the needless deaths and injuries to workers,” insisted Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

 

PM lambasted employers for cutting corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the lax implementation of labor and safety standards. The deaths of MGC workers recall the Kentex factory fire which killed 74 people, the country’s worst industrial tragedy. Further, over the years workers have also been killed or injured in several construction sites amidst the current real estate boom.

 

“While capitalists were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying in the workplace,” Magtubo elaborated.

 

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

 

“We propose that the DOLE deputize labor leaders as labor inspectors. In so doing the number of inspectors and inspections can be increased several fold overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers' lives and limbs can be saved,” Magtubo recommended.

 

He noted that the DOLE’s “Labor Laws Compliance System” (LLCS) inaugurated in 2013 and the hike in the number of labor inspectors to almost 600 is still not working. An audit by the International Labor Organization in 2009 revealed that with only 193 labor inspectors to inspect 784,000 companies, an establishment gets inspected only once every 16 years.

 

“A big loophole in the so-called LLCS is the focus on ‘voluntary compliance’ and ‘self-assessment’ by employers. Voluntary compliance and self-assessment mean that the government is asking the wolf to guard the sheep. No wonder the sheep gets slaughtered,” Magtubo criticized.

 

He added that “The DOLE has again been caught sleeping on the job. DOLE must check firms for compliance not just with safety regulations but labor standards such as payment of minimum wages and benefits, observance of working hours and remittance of social security among others. Non-unionized workers are among the most overworked yet underpaid since they do not have the protection of an organization.”

Press Release

September 4, 2023

BPO workers group propose options to RTO

 

With two days to go before the April 8 deadline by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for BPO companies to apply for exemption from the Return-To-Office (RTO) order, an industry workers group proposed several alternatives to full on-site work. The Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) called on the Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to convene a social dialogue so that the options they are presenting can be discussed.

 

“BPO workers are appealing to the government that our voices be heard and that we be given a seat at the table since this concerns the safety and well-being of employees. BPO workers are the ones who will get sick in case of infections, will endure hours in traffic even as public transportation remains broken, and will have their lives disrupted as they relocate back to cities and business districts from the provinces,” stated Bryan Nadua, ICCAW spokesperson and works in a BPO in Metro Manila.

 

ICCAW also expressed its support for the groups BPO Employees for Leni and Kiko and the Coalition of IT-BPO for Leni-Kiko which are having a press conference tomorrow to air their grievances over the implementation of the RTO. The RTO order took effect last Friday, April 1, as the Department of Finance and the Fiscal Incentives Review Board insisted that BPOs as economic zones must be “exclusively conducted or operated within the geographical boundaries of the zone or freeport.” In a press conference attended by several BPO workers last March 27, ICCAW called the RTO an “April Fools’ prank on BPO workers.”

 

ICCAW is proposing the following alternatives to the RTO or full on-site work:

 

1. Hybrid setup where workers are 3 days on-site (workplace) and 2 days off-site (home)

2. 50/50 ratio: 50% of the workforce are on-site and 50% are working from home

3. Compressed work week: 4 days on-site on 11 hours shift (which includes 1-hour lunch and three 15-minute breaks)

4. Conversion of existing benefits like internet or electric allowance to transportation allowance once workers go on-site

5. 70/30 ratio as proposed by PEZA but the 70% of the workforce should be on hybrid set-up (3 days on-site at 2 days off-site)

 

Nadua emphasized that “Dialogue is key and workers participation is imperative. At the national level, BPO workers seek a meeting with Secretary Bello. At the sectoral level, the IT-BPO industry tripartite council must table options presented by workers. And at the firm level, management must hear the concerns of employees and their representatives.”

 

The Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) is a DOLE-registered workers’ association that was formed in 2012 out of the struggle of 667 employees of a call center in Cebu City which unceremoniously closed down. ICCAW has core groups in Metro Manila, Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo. ICCAW FB page: https://www.facebook.com/Inter-Call-Center-Association-of-Workers-ICCAW-649423938410656

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers

April 6, 2022

Media Advisory: BPO workers presscon today vs April 1 RTO

Media Advisory

March 27, 2022

Inter Call Center Association of Workers

Contact Bryan Nadua @ 09569778484

 

“April Fools’ Prank”: BPO workers shout out against April 1 Return-to-Office Order

 

What: Calling the government’s April 1 Return-to-Office order (RTO) for some 1.4 million BPO employees an “April Fools’ prank” that endangers safety and health, and work-life balance,

BPO workers are appealing against implementation of the RTO

 

When: Today, March 27 (Sunday), 11:00 am

 

Where: 766 Edsa ALAB Leni-Kiko Volunteer Center (formerly Victory Liner) near Kamias

 

Details: BPO workers and friends will speak about their concerns on the impending RTO on April 1. Aside from issues over occupational safety and health, and work-life balance, they are raising the question of social dialogue and asserting that BPO workers were not consulted on the RTO.

Labor group opposes gov’t order for BPO workers to return to office

                                                        

Photo from The Guardian

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) supported the call of BPO workers against the government order for all of them to return to their offices by April 1.

 

“Dapat balik trabahong ligtas para sa BPO workers. Mandating the return to office of 1.4 million IT and BPO workers on the sole basis of economic and tax reasons disregards the issue of health and safety of employees. This is a recipe for disaster,” stated Bryan Nadua of PM. Nadua is also a BPO worker.

 

The groups BPO Employees for Leni-Kiko and IT&BPO Professionals for Leni and Kiko started a petition on Change.org opposing the return to officer order by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) of the Department of Finance. The FIRB cited the CREATE Law that provides that BPO as economic zones must “exclusively conducted or operated within the geographical boundaries of the zone or freeport.”

 

In contrast the BPO workers argue that “The occupational safety and health committees, with employee representation, are in the best position to evaluate safety in our workplaces and recommend a safe full RTO or to maintain the present hybrid setup - not a government that ignores real-life conditions.”

 

Nadua emphasized that the Philippines subscribes to the principle of tripartism and social dialogue and yet the return to office order was without the benefit of consultation and discussion with BPO workers.

 

Jodelle Villanueva, a former Customer Service Representative before becoming an HR Manager in a BPO in one of her previous engagements, argued that COVID-19 is very transmissible in the enclosed office setting of BPOs. “Even before the pandemic, if one BPO employee gets a cough or cold, in a day or two, someone else will show similar symptoms due to infection. Headsets too are sometimes shared among employees and are another way by which COVID-19 might be easily transmitted in a 100% fully operational scenario,” Villanueva described.

 

Both Villanueva and Nadua are suggesting that alternatives be considered such as 50 to 75% of BPO workers returning to the office and implementing a compressed work week while maintaining the work for home or anywhere for the rest of the week.

 

PM is calling on Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to initiate a tripartite social dialogue, that must include representatives of BPO workers, to come up with an acceptable solution to the return to office in BPOs.

March 14, 2022

Provide free covid tests for workers—labor group

 

Photo from DTI

With the daily COVID-19 infections at a record high and the active cases topping 100,000, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) renewed the call for free testing of workers who are mandated to work onsite. A dialogue between the labor coalition Nagkaisa and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is scheduled this week to discuss workers’ demands. Ahead of the dialogue, PM called on employers and the DOLE to ensure that safety committees are operating in workplaces, health protocols are being followed and occupational safety and health (OSH) standards are being enforced.

 

“A lot of factories and workplaces are operating and numerous workers are reporting onsite under the Alert Level 3 protocol. Thus, the necessity of ensuring workplace safety. Workers should assert that OSH regulations are implemented. Hanapbuhay ito hindi hanap patay,” Rene Magtubo, PM chair explained.

 

He repeated the call of Nagkaisa chair and senatorial candidate Sonny Matula for the government to subsidize the testing of workers who have symptoms or are unvaccinated but reporting for work.

 

“Workers are trapped in a catch-22 situation that is not of their own making. Antigen tests are cheaper than RT-PCR but still too expensive for minimum wage earners who are among the working poor. There are at least a million minimum wage workers in the NCR and half a million in Calabarzon, both areas facing the brunt of the new COVID-19 wave. Once workers are positive from antigen tests, they are immediately barred from working but cannot get sickness benefits from the Employees Compensation Commission (ECC) which only accepts RT-PCR test results. The way out of this trap is for the government to provide free RT-PCR tests for workers,” Magtubo explained.

 

PM and Nagkaisa have been calling for “balik trabahong ligtas” since the lockdowns were relaxed in late 2020 and the economy re-opened. Senator Risa Hontiveros championed this call by filing an eponymous bill that guarantees provision of PPE’s for workers and enforcement of OSH standards. The demand for free testing however has not been heeded as the recent national budget conspicuously does not explicitly provide funds for it. Still the free tests and paid quarantine leaves can be provided as benefits from ECC, Philhealth, the Social Security System as an alternative.

 

Magtubo asked workers to collectively negotiate with employers for the provision of PPE’s, enforcement of OSH rules and the formation of safety committees. “All of these are guaranteed in the OSH Law. Workers just need to claim our rights. Ang karapatan ay ipinaglalaban. Batas ini!,” he added.

January 10, 2022

DOLE, PEZA asked to strictly enforce covid protocols with reopening of ecozones

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the Department and Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to strictly enforce covid-19 health and safe protocols for workplaces as tens of thousands of workers are going back to work with the reopening of industrial zones in the Calabarzon.

“We demand balik trabahong ligtas. We know that ecozone workers are eager to go back to work since they have suffered from the no work, no pay policies of employers and the insufficient aid provided by the state. But workers should not be risking their lives just to avert death from hunger,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “In the new normal, the ecozones are again acting like independent republics with their own laws. The occupational risks for workers will be heightened by the silence of the DOLE-DTI guidelines on enforcement and monitoring of the protocols that it specified. The guidelines have no teeth!”

PM joined the labor coalition Nagkaisa in expressing concern that a second wave of covid infection may occur without mandating companies to institute robust health and safety measures for the workers the moment they leave their homes to report for duty.

Echoing Nagkaisa’s position, Magtubo said that “While the DOLE and the DTI issued joint guidelines on preventing covid-19 infection among the workforce, the guidelines fall short of ensuring a safe environment for workers. It doesn’t even prescribe penalties for any violations.”

“Instead of guidelines, a Department Order should have been issued to compel employers to negotiate with their workers a comprehensive set of protocols to prevent covid and deal with it effectively should it occur,” Magtubo explained.

Nagkaisa identified other major lapses of the joint DTI and DOLE Guidelines as:

> Failure to identify Sars-Cov-2 as an occupational hazard and Covid-19 as an occupational disease.

> No mandatory inspection of companies to ensure their compliance, especially in terms of providing physical distancing.

> No provision for paid 14-day quarantine leaves for workers who may end up being suspected of having Covid-19.

“For the sake of the hundreds of thousands of ecozone workers in the whole Calabarzon region, we ask that the DOLE-DTI Guidelines be revised to make it more effective and with penalties for violations,” Magtubo insisted.

May 16, 2020

Loopholes in DOLE-DTI guidelines will imperil workers

Photo from SCMP

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) stated that loopholes in the DOLE-DTI workplace guidelines on covid will put masses of workers in danger when they return to work. “Weak enforcement instruments and the lack of penal provisions in the guidelines will incentivize non-compliance by employers and thus imperil the health and safety of millions of workers and of the population as a whole,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He explained that “The government has imposed an iron fist policy on ordinary people violating quarantine rules on the streets but in contrast is using kid gloves on capitalists. This is a stark double standard or social distancing in a bad sense. Compliance with occupational health and safety is an expense for employers and thus a deduction on their profit. Thus penalties on non-compliance will deter employers from their default behavior.”

Last Labor Day, one of the main demands in the online protest was for #BalikTrabahongLigtas. PM also announced its support for the proposed bill by Sen. Risa Hontiveros entitled the Balik Trabahong Ligtas bill which seeks to augment health care coverage for all workers regardless of employment status.

The group insisted that with more than 90% of establishments comprised of MSME’s which even before the covid pandemic are notorious for violating labor standards, strict monitoring and enforcement is needed to ensure occupational safety and public health when millions of workers return to work.

“Employers cannot be relied upon to voluntarily comply with labor and safety standards while the DOLE is sorely lacking in its record of enforcement. We propose that a mechanism be setup comprised of representative of DOLE, DTI, employers and workers to monitor compliance and enforcement, and to propose amendments to the guidelines,” Magtubo elaborated.

Further the group proposed the following changes to the guidelines:

1.      Coverage by Philhealth of the full cost of hospitalization of workers infected with covid.

2.      Provision by employer of wage subsidy for workers who are put on 14-day quarantine.

3.      Payment of hazard pay for workers in workplaces with imminent danger.

4.      Right to refuse by workers if working conditions are unsafe.

5.      Consultation with unions in enterprises that are organized.

3 May 2020

BPO workers group calls for stronger labor enforcement after NCCC fire

Photo from Philstar.com

A BPO workers association today called for stronger labor enforcement and inspection in response to the deadly fire at the NCCC Mall in Davao City that claimed the 37 employees of the call center SSI. The group also expressed condolences to the families of the victims.

“Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead, accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards,” Rossie Hong, chairperson of I-Shield (Secured and Healthy Initiative Enabling Labor Defense). I-Shield was formerly named the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW).

Hong added that “Heads must roll and justice must be served for the needless deaths and injuries to our fellow BPO workers. While employers were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying in the workplace.”

I-Shield lambasted employers for cutting corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for lax implementation of labor and safety standards. The deaths of SSI workers comes on top of the loss of lives in the industrial fires at Kentex in Valenzuela and HTI in Cavite ecozone.

I-Shield called on the DOLE activate the trade unionists who were recently trained to be labor inspectors. The deputization of unionists as inspectors was a demand of labor groups in the wake of the Kentex and HTI tragedies as a means to augment the number of inspectors and involve labor groups in enforcement. However months after being trained and deputized, none of the unionists have been given mission orders by the DOLE for actual inspections.

“Is the DOLE waiting for another industrial tragedy before it mobilizes trained unionists for labor inspections?,” Hong insisted.

I-Shield also appealed to the DOLE to immediately hold new batches of trainings for more unionists from different labor groups who are waiting in line to be deputized as inspectors.

ICCAW was formed in 2012 but changed its name to I-Shield this year. I-Shield is the accredited labor representative in the Region VII ICT industry tripartite council. Its website is https://bposhield.com.

I-Shield

December 27, 2017

Cavite women workers all set for strike

The women workers of an electronics factory in Cavite gave the go signal for a work stoppage after a successful strike vote last Tuesday. The strike can be held as early as December 6 and paralyze the production at Lakepower Converter Inc., located at the Cavite Economic Zone.

“We are earnestly preparing for a strike against the union busting and unfair labor practices of management. Only the unity and action of workers can stop the vicious cycle of abuse and repression in our factory,” declared Mercy Tanginan, predisent of the Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Lakepower Converter Inc.

A mediation called by the Department of Labor and Employment yesterday to avert the strike did not push through as the company asked to reschedule. Meanwhile the company stated that the termination of the union president and five other unionists has been temporarily deferred.

Tangian responded that “We demand a permanent stop to the harassment and discrimination of unionists. The pending termination of six unionists and suspension of other officers and members must be totally scrapped. Workers’ grievances must be settled. If not, the strike will push through.”

Dennis Sequena, a Cavite coordinator of the militant Partido Manggagawa (PM), which is assisting the Lakepower workers, averred that the next mediation on December 5 will be a make-or-break meeting. He said that “If management does not respond to workers demands then the strike is a go. PM chapters and Cavite ecozone unions will give 100% support to the Lakepower workers. Ang laban ng isa ay laban ng lahat.”

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 Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

December 2, 2017

Women workers led protest vs abuses at Cavite ecozone

Women workers of the Taiwanese-owned electronics factory Lakepower Converter Inc. in the Cavite Economic Zone held a protest today against company abuses. Among their 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. The dispute over the restroom is just the tip of the iceberg of worker grievances at Lakepower.

Aside from the dispute over the women’s restroom, workers are also complaining of excessive quota, discrimination against unionists resulting in suspensions and their exclusion from receiving Christmas packages.

“Management is reneging on an agreement reached a few months ago to redress our grievances. Before, we complained that the restroom door was always kept open. Through mediation, they agreed to close the door to protect the privacy of workers. But now, they removed the door entirely,” stated Mercy Tanginan, president of the Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Lakepower Converter Inc.

The picket today is the third protest at the Cavite ecozone over the last month. 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.

“ASEAN’s slogan of prosperity for all is just fake news as long as investors from Taiwan, Korea and others abuse and exploit Filipino workers. ASEAN is just facilitating a race to bottom in wages and working conditions with workers in the Philippines made to compete with workers in Vietnam, for example,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM chair.

Media reported the exodus of Korean companies from the Philippines to Vietnam due allegedly to the high cost of doing business. Workers insist that some of the companies may just be relocating to avoid unionization.

The groups are calling on the Department of Labor and Employment and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to intervene. Workers are unionizing to improve their working conditions but are being met by extreme interference from capitalists unwilling to share the fruits of production.

The picket also coincides with a “Global Day of Action against Union Repression” to be participated in by workers in Australia, Asia and North America. ###

Photos of the protest can be accessed at:

https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10155777536464323

https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10155777572314323

16 November 2017

BPO workers welcome standing break for desk employees

A BPO workers group welcomed the order from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) providing for 5-minute breaks for desk employees. The workers organization BPO Secure and Healthy Ideas Enabling Labor Defense or BPO Shield however asked that instead of 5-minute breaks for every two hours as specified in the order, a 5-minute break for every hour would be more appropriate.

BPO Shield also called on the DOLE to consult workers on the drafting of the implementing rules of the order and for coordination on inspections of establishments. Last week the DOLE announced DO 184 that applies to desk-bound workers such as call center workers and also encourages exercises at the offices in the interest of occupational health and safety.

BPO Shield was formerly named the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW). ICCAW was formed in 2012 but changed its name to BPO Shield this year. BPO Shield is the accredited labor representative in the Region VII ICT industry tripartite council. Its website is https://bposhield.com.

Rossie Hong, a leader of BPO Shield, said that “DO 184 is a welcome response to clamor from BPO workers about health risks and for safe working conditions in offices. In call centers especially, agents sit for hours taking calls. However, BPO Shield would like to suggest that 5 minutes per hour would be more appropriate for call centers, since sitting for prolonged period could cause back pains and may lead to severe back problems, aside from hypertension, heart diseases, musculoskeletal disorders and other health problems.”

Hong also reminded the DOLE of their group’s longstanding call for assutrance bonds to be a requirement for the establishment and operation of BPO firms. She added that “BPO’s must put up a bond equivalent to two months worth of salaries of all their workers to defray money claims in cases of sudden closure or declaration of bankruptcy.”

She recalled that “In Cebu City, the BPO bond has been pushed by BPO Shield to the City Council for its approval and implementation. In 2012, Direct Access suddenly shut down leaving around 600 workers with no job and no pay. Several BPO companies did the same thing, like Cordia, Green Wire, Leadamorphosis, Blue Connect and Eziconnect, leaving more than a thousand workers, in the air, unpaid and unemployed. Although the workers have been vindicated in the NLRC decisions, sadly, the owners have already left the country or have opened another BPO but registered under a new name.”

BPO Shield

October 24, 2017

DOLE asked to deputize unionists as labor and safety inspectors

(Photo from Cavite Provincial Government)

In the wake of a third fatality in the massive factory fire at the House Technology Industries (HTI) in the Cavite ecozone, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to deputize unionists as inspectors to ensure enforcement of general labor and occupational safety and health (OSH) standards. Cavite Governor Crispin Remulla confirmed the third death due to the HTI factory fire last February 10.

“We ask DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello to approve the pending proposal that union officers be accredited as labor inspectors to beef up the labor standards enforcement system. With just a twist of Sec. Bello’s pen, labor leaders can be deputized, the number of inspections can be multiplied overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved as a result,” appealed Rene Magtubo, PM national chairperson.

He added that “We take exception to the opinion of Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) head Charito Plaza that HTI has no fault since the fire was caused by an accident. In OSH 101, it is a basic tenet that accidents are not acts of divine providence but are the result of unsafe acts that are preventable by strict enforcement of safety rules. Even if HTI is compliant according to inspection, obviously there are violations of safety rules that led to the recent fire and a previous 10-hour blaze in October 2012.”

Citing deaths of workers in HTI, Kentex in Valenzuela, Hanjin shipyard in Subic and in several construction sites natiowide, Magtubo argued “Government through the DOLE and PEZA must make policy changes regarding enforcement of labor standards and occupational health and safety so that workers do not die in vain.”

“The DOLE only has some 600 inspectors to cover around a million establishments nationwide. In 2013 just around 40,000 enterprises were subjected to inspections, self-assessments and visits. The numbers can easily be increased several fold by deputizing union officers as labor inspectors. Even if just 10% of the 17,000 local union presidents are accredited, this is already thrice the present number of inspectors,” elaborated Magtubo.

PM insisted that the DOLE already allows local government units to undertake technical safety inspections in order to complement its efforts and so there is no reason not to mobilize workers groups in labor enforcement. “All the DOLE has to do is train union officers in the labor inspection and enforcement process and then accredit them appropriately,” Magtubo added.

In the DOLE's Labor Standards Enforcement Framework, unions with collective bargaining agreements are given a role in self-assessment for their enterprises. “If unions play a responsibility in ensuring labor standards and occupational safety in their own workplaces, it does not take a leap of logic to allow them a task in inspecting other enterprises,” Magtubo argued.

February 14, 2017

Transparent, tripartite probe asked of Cavite EPZA factory fire

With the massive factory fire at Cavite EPZA finally put out, the group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asked for a transparent probe and the participation of labor organizations as part of the tripartite system.

“Given the conflicting reports from government officials on the number of workers missing after the fire, it is imperative to conduct an investigation that is open and inclusive. It is also necessary to verify numerous eyewitness accounts of workers trapped inside the burning factory,” stated Dennis Sequena, PM-Cavite coordinator.

He noted the fact that yesterday Cavite Governor Crispin Remulla said six workers of House Technology Industries (HTI) were unaccounted for while Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza mentioned only one.

PM members trooped to the Cavite EPZA last Thursday morning to call for immediate aid to HTI workers and justice for the victims. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) later announced financial assistance for HTI workers.

“We call on DOLE and PEZA to form a Task Force Cavite EPZA that includes workers groups. The Task Force Valenzuela convened in the wake of the Kentex industrial tragedy is a good template to follow,” Sequena elaborated.

After the Kentex fire that killed 72 factory workers, the DOLE formed the Task Force Valenzuela to conduct unannounced inspections to ensure compliance with labor, occupational safety and other standards.

Sequena also took to task PEZA head Plaza for pre-empting the probe by announcing that she does not expect any fatality to be uncovered. He argued that “The PEZA head must be more circumspect in her statements given that it is her agency that has jurisdiction over economic zones. What happens if the police and fire personnel uncover facts contrary to Plaza’s declaration?”

PM is also asking for clarification on the compliance certification issued to HTI. “Is HTI’s compliance based on an inspection by DOLE or based on self-assessment by the company? If it was self-assessment, were workers involved and were they handpicked by management given that HTI is not unionized? Regulations allow self-assessment if the establishment has more than 200 workers. Self-assessment however means that the DOLE is allowing the wolf to guard the sheep and thus we should not be surprised that the sheep gets slaughtered,” insisted Sequena.

He averred that despite HTI’s compliance certification, there are apparent occupational health and safety issues since there was a previous fire at HTI in 2012. A 10-hour fire started at the boiler department of the HTI factory in October 19, 2012 and lasted up to early the next day.

February 4, 2017

Labor group dares PNoy to certify bill criminalizing OSH violations

Press Release

May 29, 2015

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today challenged President Benigno Aquino III to certify as priority legislation of his administration the bill providing for criminalization of violation of occupational safety and health (OSH) standards. “PNoy’s declaration that there needs to be an ‘integrated multi-disciplinary approach’ in response to the Kentex factory fire are highfalutin words good for bureaucrats but abstract to workers who want to see concrete action and political will from the government,” averred Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

It was reported that last Wednesday that President Aquino met officials from the Labor Department and other agencies regarding the government’s response to the Kentex fire. Even earlier Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz pushed for the enactment of pending bills that mandate stiffer fines and jail terms for employer breach of workplace safety standards.

“We welcome Secretary Baldoz’s support for bills criminalizing OSH violations but until her boss PNoy certifies as urgent such pending legislation, they remain so much noise signifying nothing,” Magtubo insisted.

PM had been vocal in calling not just for justice for workers killed and injured in the Kentex fire but for labor inspection and enforcement reforms. As an immediate reform, Magtubo called for deputizing labor leaders as additional labor inspectors. PM is also pushing for criminalization of  OSH violations as a potent deterrent.

Magtubo said that “Workers can forget PNoy’s slight of not even visiting the Kentex factory after the fire or the wake of workers killed, but we cannot forgive if in the coming State of the Nation address he will not certify as urgent the bills providing for criminalization of OSH breach and for protection of security of tenure.”

Labor groups have been campaigning for passage of security of tenure bill that will regulate the rampant practice of replacing regular workers with contractual laborers. In the wake of the Kentex fire, it was found out that Kentex not only violated OSH standards but also labor laws, including using an illegal contractor to hire agency workers in the factory.