A newly established labor group, the
Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa, condemned the violent dispersal
of the picketline of striking workers of condiments giant NutriAsia. Yesterday
some 200 police arrested scores of strikers and wounded several more as they
enforced a court order against the picketline.
“The dispersal of the NutriAsia
picketline exposes the double standard of the so-called justice system and also
of the present administration. A court order to allow free ingress and egress
at the factory is forcibly enforced while a DOLE order to regularize workers remains
unimplemented. We have an administration that promised to end endo yet police
violence is inflicted upon workers fighting against contractualization,” averred
Gerry Rivera, head of the Kapatiran.
The group is calling on the public to
boycott products made at the factory until the workers’ demands for
regularization is met. NutriAsia manufactures Datu Puti, Silver Swan, UFC
Ketchup and Mang Tomas among others.
Kapatiran was formed by several unions
and workers associations as a “solidarity space” for unaffiliated and federated
organizations. It aims to complement ongoing labor unity efforts even as it plans
to campaign for urgent labor reforms.
“We call on the police to observe the
DOLE-PEZA-PNP Guidelines on the Conduct of Security Personnel During Labor
Disputes. Police are not allowed to escort scabs into a strikebound factory and
they should maintain a 50 meter distance from the picketline,” argued Ver
Estorosas, chair of the Bulacan chapter of Partido Manggagawa (PM).
Estorosas also warned the administration
against a bloody confrontation in the Kadamay occupation of NHA housing units
in Rodriguez, Rizal. Yesterday President Duterte issued an ultimatum for the
urban poor to leave the NHA site by noon today or be killed as they are
evicted. He asked “Why is it that under this administration the poor and
workers are killed in the war on drugs and hurt in violent dispersals of
strikes and occupations?”
PM-Bulacan and Kapatiran are supporting
the strike of contractual workers of NutriAsia. Several PM-Bulacan members are
among the strikers in the factory.
Rivera called on the labor movement to
close ranks in solidarity with the workers of NutriAsia and other labor struggles.
He recalled that another workers strike in the Cavite export processing zone in
Rosario was also harassed by security guards.
“Solidarity among workers is necessary
to defend the right to peaceful concerted actions, including strike,” argued
Rivera. Rivera is also union president of the Philippine Airlines Employees
Association (PALEA) which has waged a bitter struggle against
contractualization at the national flag carrier. PALEA and Kapatiran are
calling on the DOLE to expedite the release of the results of a labor
inspection of PAL and its sister company PAL Express.
Kapatiran
June 15, 2018
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