Workers from the Cavite Economic Zone, together with their
supporters, staged a rally at the main gate of the zone in protest at the
continuing harassment of striking women workers of electronics company
Lakepower Converter Inc. Yesterday, there was another incident of ecozone guards
trying to prevent strikers from entering the ecozone. Another mediation meeting
is scheduled tomorrow between the union and management.
The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) also called for the resignation
of the head of the Cavite Economic Zone for being responsible for the harassment
of striking women workers that resulted in injuries to two strikers and the
imposition of “martial law” in the country’s biggest export processing zone. The
picket today was the second solidarity action since last Friday.
“The violent attacks on women strikers by armed security guards
contracted by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) lie squarely in the
hands of Atty. Norma Tañag, head of the Cavite
ecozone. We demand her resignation,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.
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 last Thursday
night. Lakepower workers went on strike that afternoon 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.
Magtubo added that “Tañag has imposed martial law in
the Cavite ecozone with guards of the Jantro security agency and the PEZA
police as her goons and thugs. Workers and supporters who want to bring food,
water and supplies to the strikers are stopped and prevented from proceeding to
the picketline. Jantro guards repeatedly intimidate strikers who put up protest
placards and signs at the picketline. All of these are blatant transgressions
of the DOLE-PEZA-PNP Guidelines on the Conduct of Personnel During
Labor Disputes.”
PM assailed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for
inaction despite the incidents of violence at the Lakepower picketline. “While
the DOLE celebrated its 84th anniversary yesterday in Bulacan,
Cavite workers were facing violent repression by PEZA personnel. DOLE has the
power to assign a peacekeeping team at the Lakepower picketline and the
responsibility of convening an inter-agency committee to prevent violence
during labor disputes. Pero natutulog sa pansitan ang DOLE habang dinadahas ang
kababaihang manggagawa,” insisted Magtubo. ###
Video of PEZA guards harassing women workers can be accessed here: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/videos/10155838242124323/?hc_ref=ARTTkrYEnSNaX8zLsqvJjTHW0fqVZkd0rLkd6ZcJXEG5KWCuqBd6VZCyyY7SaWbQRbY&pnref=story
Photos of the picketline can be accessed here:
Photos of the rally at the Cavite ecozone can be
accessed here:
December 11, 2017
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