Press Release: Cavite workers call on Congress to investigate ecozone investors

Workers embroiled in a labor dispute in a Korean-owned factory in Cavite called on Congress to investigate violations of workers’ rights and labor standards by foreign investors in economic zones. The demand by workers of Sejung Apparel Inc. coincided with a solidarity visit this morning by Sen. Risa Hontiveros to their picketline.

“When foreign investors violate our labor laws with impunity, then Filipino workers are second-class citizens in our own land. We ask Congress to make incentives to foreign investors conditional on their respect for workers’ rights,” asserted Josephine Odchimar, union president.

The proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Act (CITIRA) removes incentives to foreign investors in ecozones. The Department of Finance and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority are openly debating the provisions of the bill. Labor groups on the other hand take an independent position and ask that incentives be tied to labor rights.

Odchimar added that “We welcome Sen. Risa and her staff to our picketline which has served as our home for the holidays. Similar to the story of Jesus being born in a lowly manger, we spent Christmas in a humble picketline.”

Sejung workers are demanding the release of the mandated 13^th month pay, the latest salary due workers, a stop to the removal of machines and an end to the outsourcing of production to other factories.

Meanwhile the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for lack of action in enforcing labor standards at Sejung.

“December 24 has come and gone but the DOLE still refuses to use it powers to enforce the payment of wages and 13^th month pay for workers of a ‘Grinch’ company. While DOLE officials in the national and regional offices are enjoying their happy holidays, Sejung workers had a sad Christmas and are facing a bleak New Year since labor standards are not being enforced,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

Odchimar explained that DOLE had already conducted a factory inspection last December 19 and promised to issue an order if management does not release the 13^th month pay on December 24 as mandated. However, she added that DOLE did not issue an order and instead is trying to schedule another inspection.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. What’s keeping the DOLE regional office from issuing a compliance order? Even during the mediation hearings, Sejung maintained its illegal and hardline stance that it will grant the 13^th month pay in March not December. Yet the DOLE dare not lift a finger even as Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello issued press releases reminding employers about the payment of the 13^th month benefit,” Magtubo averred.

Photos of the solidarity visit can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/donnaescueta.nano/posts/10216599085550453 and https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157724749314323?__xts__[0]=68.ARAFRCJop2H-p1EpVO643elmAgPyuPLojo7ntrHEok9UjAnCbDRsjazTpvQJm0pOiw3Wfm0l6iKYQ5Q03Vs7ihV5zCyKl8BgsZFOXd5pSU9fFxGrBdZ_S4GKz0Qe8yVlMYyIPvgF_i8ey4XOWl_VWQfSgq-sJFXCJ4PRVJdlEP1CgdDpj8hx3A8HLDjSdLHA440vlGYjhsarXPUVO5agzpTrGtquexNdTLPtKnD8bt6Ff5JZgoLW8cgz7GbQyrvhBL9Hld2mWolWi53ktLpYXMFCyOafGQOKwT0FoYiW0RCfqbzKtiLb13VfIPRj3XGPe_9iEzhpmb9zgFsP8u8N&__tn__=-R

December 30, 2019

Media Advisory: Sen. Risa to visit workers picketline vs 'Grinch' firm in Cavite

WHAT: Sen. Risa Hontiveros to hold solidarity visit to workers picketing Cavite firm

WHEN: Today, 10:00 am, Dec. 30, 2019

WHERE: Sejung Apparel Inc., First Cavite Industrial Estate, Dasmarinas, Cavite

Contact Person: Josephine Odchimar, union president, 09755769603

DETAILS: Sen. Risa has answered the appeal for solidarity for workers whose management has refused to pay the mandated 13th month benefit and also not released their latest salary too. Workers of Sejung have been on picket-protest since Dec. 12. The militant Partido Manggagawa has slammed the DOLE for inaction in enforcing labor standards.

Workers are calling on Sen. Risa to investigate the labor rights violations of locators in ecozones and make the incentives for investors conditional on respect for workers' rights. The CITIRA bill pending in Congress provides for the removal of incentives for foreign investments. ###

Labor Yearender: The end endo promise died in 2019

Photo by Rappler

The mass of Filipino workers will look back and remember 2019 as the year that President Duterte’s famous promise to end endo dies ignominiously. With the stroke of his presidential veto of the Security of Tenure bill, Duterte shamelessly killed his pledge to abolish contractualization. End endo became another victim of EJK under the administration.

The dispute around the Security of Tenure bill pales in comparison to other labor related issues in 2019 like the expanded maternity bill (EML) or the influx of Chinese workers. While there were debates between workers’ and employers’ group about EML benefits, such reforms were low hanging fruits in contrast to the long-running struggle around contractualization.

Since the time that Duterte vowed to end endo during the campaign period up to the eve of the presidential veto, millions of workers held on to belief that those words would become deeds. For four long years, the labor movement engaged with the government for the implementation of the promise. Through the twists and turns of the campaign against contractualization, labor groups kept up the pressure.

It took more than a year into the administration’s term for DO 174 to be released by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Since DO 174 merely recycled the provisions of Aquino’s DO 18-A, the labor coalition Nagkaisa instead directly petitioned Duterte for a new rule that will make regular jobs the norm in employment relations. Thus came EO 51 in May 2018 which again fell short of workers’ demands. Upon the labor movement’s sustained demand, Duterte called on Congress in his 2018 SONA to pass the Security of Tenure bill on the argument that only a revision of the law could implement his promise. Then an open letter by all the employers associations appealed to Duterte to veto the bill. On the eve of the Security of Tenure bill lapsing into law last July, Duterte heeded the employers’ call and betrayed his promise to workers.

Pundits may say that it was too much for the labor movement to actually expect that such a radical populist promise will actually be fulfilled. As the saying goes, nangako na nga, gusto nyo pa tuparin. But for Partido Manggagawa, Duterte’s fake promise—which unfortunately the masses of workers believed in—can only be exposed not through denunciations but through experience. Thus the whole campaign to demand the realization of Duterte’s end endo promise ended in the veto but it also led to a significant drop in his popularity. In a Pulse Asia survey, Duterte’s performance ratings dropped by seven points from June to September 2019.

Despite the veto, the labor movement should be relentless in the end endo campaign in the coming year. But the anchor of the continued campaign will not anymore be the broken promise of Duterte but the real movement of contractual workers demanding regularization. In the last few years, labor unrest has been on the rise with the number of strike notices and actual strikes increasing. A majority of these labor disputes are due to regularization. Besides high profile cases like the NutriAsia, PLDT and Philippine Airlines, there are lesser known struggles by workers of the Sejung garments factory in Cavite and ES Transport firm in Cubao whose issues include regularization. Workers in Sejung spent their holidays on the picketlines while the workers in ES Transport had to end their strike due a mysterious assumption of jurisdiction order served on December 22 despite being a Sunday.

Encouraged by the presidential promise of end endo and the labor movement’s visible campaign, workers in these firms have not waited for the reforms from above but instead are claiming their rights by action from below. It is upon these grassroots initiatives and struggles, that the labor movement should base its campaign to abolish contractualization in 2020 and beyond.

Aside from the fight against contractualization, the labor movement should also open a new front in 2020—the struggle to end regional wages. Duterte again made a promise—not as prominent as end endo—but a pledge nonetheless to stop ‘provincial rates.’

In July this year, DOLE announced that it will undertake a study on the propriety of the regional wage system given the demand for wage increases and the clamor against provincial rates. Partido Manggagawa has consistently asserted that regional rates are a system to cheapen wages and boost profits. Thus wages in the NCR are double the rates in ARMM despite the fact that the price differential is nowhere as large. In Calabarzon, there are different wage rates even among contiguous cities and municipalities even though the cost of living is basically the same throughout the region.

Unfortunately, DOLE’s study of regional wages has been outsourced to UP’s School of Economics (UPSE) which is a known bastion of the neoliberal doctrine of the so-called free market. It is entirely possible that the DOLE-UPSE study will end up recommending not just the abolition of regional wages but also minimum wages itself. If so, this will mean throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Minimum wages have served as protection for workers since its enactment in 1936. President Quezon’s social justice program was an evident response to the labor and agrarian unrest of the period. At present, the minimum wage is not just the floor but it is also the average wage rate in country. Due to union decline and low collective bargaining coverage, wages above the minimum are an exception rather than the rule.

A Department of Finance study has revealed that from 2001 to 2016, labor productivity has doubled but real wages have remained stagnant despite repeated nominal wage orders by regional boards. In other words, the pie has become bigger but capitalists have monopolized the fruits of workers’ labor.

It is high time that the system of wage fixing be fixed. Thus PM’s call to abolish the regional wage boards and setup a National Wage Commission with the mandate to set a national minimum wage at the level of the cost of living. This will be in consonance with the Constitutional provision for a living wage. Next year, the fight for a living wage should begin in earnest.

December 29, 2019

DOLE slammed for inaction on 13th month pay issue of “Grinch” company in Cavite

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for lack of action in enforcing the mandatory payment of the 13^th month benefit for workers of a garments factory in Cavite.

“December 24 has come and gone but the DOLE still refuses to use it powers to enforce the payment of wages and 13^th month pay for workers of a ‘Grinch’ company,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair. Workers of Sejung Apparel Inc. in the First Cavite Industrial Estate have been on picket-protest since December 12.

Tomorrow, Senator Risa Hontiveros is set to visit the Sejung picketline to bring moral and logistical support to the workers.

“While DOLE officials in the national and regional offices are enjoying their happy holidays, Sejung workers had a sad Christmas and are facing a bleak New Year since labor standards are not being enforced,” Magtubo insisted.

Josephine Odchimar, president of the labor union at Sejung, stated that DOLE had already conducted a factory inspection last December 19 and promised to issue an order if management does not release the 13^th month pay on December 24 as mandated. However, she added that DOLE did not issue an order and instead is trying to schedule another inspection.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. What’s keeping the DOLE regional office from issuing a compliance order? Even during the mediation hearings, Sejung maintained its illegal and hardline stance that it will grant the 13^th month pay in March not December. Yet the DOLE dare not lift a finger even as Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello issued press releases reminding employers about the payment of the 13^th month benefit,” Magtubo averred.

Workers set up a picketline outside the factory to guard against machines being taken out of the factory and prevent a runaway shop. Sejung workers are also demanding a stop the transfer of machines and an end to subcontracting of production. “The company’s argument of lack of buyers is just an alibi. The truth is that production is being subcontracted by Sejung to other companies,” Odchimar asserted.

Workers believe management is maneuvering to bust the union. The union won the certification elections in August. The company temp closed down in October, a week after the union submitted a proposal for a collective bargaining agreement. After a month, the company reopened.

“The pattern of companies inside ecozones shutting down to bust unions is well documented. It appears that Sejung is following this modus operandi of union busting,” Magtubo asserted.

Photos of the company memo about the 13^th month pay and the workers protest can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157676136334323?__xts__[0]=68.ARBGx-zVbDCc8zj4NMSQA7GQZzAcPSgrdNybQuh8TDrUfgPoGL0ifqHsC1shGb5r2mUeM6OC4LpkuDtw0LdTEh7KBQlilRY_iXcLklX-Vfq6LbKMnlp7xtpdf1JMLKpSrmYbkSeR1kwkomnr5RLkideH5PsxzoAloxtaDTdzpFDTKp4P_r4XmggowFpw-YSXCTnkmrTtD8eUslR-4IFoREjmkuHzUSd8E6lbMV1Gpp9DF69t0eZLnLiTdp_1_HXmiB4qiZiza_RhwNSXxgs9EVYTJ_o2EFKqMqtjRoEfd-SvYOgk5nkwSe_ZrGfHS-R5a6SFOAuf4E6QAF3x_cux&__tn__=-R

December 29, 2019

Riders’ appeal to President Duterte: Don’t send us back to pre-Angkas status

Members of nationwide umbrella of motorcycle riders’ clubs and organizations, the Riders of the Philippines (ROTP), joined fellow bikers who gathered at Mendiola Bridge Friday morning to bring their grievance directly to the attention of the President.

The action is part of their rolling struggle against the impending dislocation to be imposed by LTFRB next year against the pilot testing operation of motorcycle taxis.

“Nakatawid na po kami sa bagong industriya kaya’t hiling namin sa Pangulong Duterte ay huwag na kaming ibalik sa dating iligal at impormal na paraan ng paghahanapbuhay,” stated Robert Perillo, President of Bulacan Motorcycle Riders ConFederation (BMRF) and one of ROTP core Convenors.

Many bikers who enrolled to Angkas came from organized motorcycle riders’ club affiliated with ROTP. They include some of BMRF’s members from Bulacan and Central Luzon. But prior to Angkas, Perillo explained that most of those who bike for a living were either in the informal and illegal state (habal-habal) or in the formal sub-sector of the services industry, as employees in offices and factories, or in trading and delivery services.

“Bilang bikers and tawag namin sa isat-isa ay ‘kagulong’ pero dahil 99% sa amin ay manggagawa, itinuturing din naming sila bilang ‘kamanggagawa’,” thus as workers,  their principal concern is job security and working conditions as business, competition and profit is to Angkas, Move It and Joy Ride, said Perillo.

Perillo contends that the loss of privilege for Angkas and the gain for Joy Ride and Move It should not be at the peril of workers who by next year, according to LTFRB, will be placed under three masters.

Perillo who is also a member of the National Council of Partido Manggagaw (PM) echoed his party’s view that as workers in a sunrise TNVS sector, government regulations must now go beyond numbers, safety and franchise concerns, but also on labor rights. The government, according to PM, must support the transition of bikers and drivers from the informal to the formal sector.

“Ang mga bagong regulasyon at patakaran sa kompetisyon ay dapat nakabubuti, hindi nakamamatay,” added Perillo.

In its prepared letter to the President, the ROTP also complained about the group’s unexplained removal from LTFRB’s TWG headed by General Gardiola. It was the TWG which came out with a resolution cutting to 10,000 the maximum number of Angkas bikers and assign the remainder of 20,000 for the newcomer Joy Ride and Move It.

“Naging bulag kaming mga rider sa tinakbo ng TWG kaya’t hindi rin namin alam kung may nangyari nga ditong kababalaghan,” concluded Perillo. ###

Photos of the Mendiola rally can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157716183019323?__xts__[0]=68.ARA8VH2oTOYx0MkV7EWU5fG39tJQR49F_pWtNQCikaUgyHrwhKCSwnk3TxAcwEpR_kUhbWUTtv52hMKbkt3n92PUv8lBgC_Rn6KipE9Pix2na3a-lhyQnTGn6z6EFBXF7c3Nul6ItwulSSP9BxrJezwy1utTWcVL3vQ59eJytXG2aS8ZctVF9SXgIbVfXxQn9KMbaRbkkbltFfDpCvHIPN5jmnp9UwnwOtRsz-aLUtzNOT0GIjSxzLfP0qnuciIk2AHWClU-DO7sNxKYLjDBDDzWs1MB98nz68NNomwqi8cJf-lOfgaDiwed3O9PtyvDs75EcK08MugeMnKmuR46&__tn__=-R

Robert Perillo
President, Bulacan Motorcycle Riders ConFederation
ROTP Convenor
27 December 2019

Labor group opposes displacement of Angkas riders

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) expressed support for the riders of Angkas who are facing displacement due to a cap set by the Land Transportation and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). The LTFRB Technical working Group has reduced the number of riders from Angkas to 10,000 from 27,000 by the start of the 2020. Angkas riders launched a massive protest from White Plains to Quezon Circle today.

“We call on the LTFRB to withdraw its decision. Almost 20,000 Angkas riders are facing a sad Christmas and a bleak new year. Fostering competition in the motorcycle taxi sector is good but it should not lead to massive dislocation of riders. These Angkas riders have already went through months of training and practical experience in plying motorcycle taxis. Only for them to end up jobless due to a LTFRB decision,” asserted Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

Fortaleza spoke this afternoon as an assembly of riders in Malolos, Bulacan. Many of the riders in the Malolos assembly joined the Angkas riders protest in Metro Manila.

PM has a history of solidarity with riders’ issues and struggles as it considers them as workers. Aside from the legalization of the motorcycle taxi, PM has supported the fight of riders against the plaka vest and the doble plaka.

“We also call on the Department of Labor and Employment to study the employment relations in the TNVS sector, including motorcycle taxis, and issue appropriate regulations. While companies like Angkas and Grab treat their drivers as independent contractors, we believe this is a misclassification as they should be categorized as employees with concomitant rights. The government must support the transition of riders and drivers from the informal to the formal sector. Thus this is not just a question of livelihood but also of labor standards and workers’ rights,” insisted Fortaleza.

He explained that “Workers comprise 99% of motorcycle riders in the country. The transportation sector is the second biggest employer in the service industry with a total workforce of 3.2 million o o 7.8 per cent of the total employed persons in 2018. Motorcycles are popular with the working masses, both in the formal and informal economy. It is cheap and convenient for going to and from work and as a vehicle for livelihood.”

According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, there are already 6.2 million registered motorcycles and tricycles as of 2013. The number is growing fast. More than 2 million motorcycles were registered just in the first 10 months of 2018. ###

Photos of the riders assembly can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157702508339323?__xts__[0]=68.ARBC1Xhza9QYuECJEZvavVo_8e3wkBlM18oE9mFtb_egiy0C9JADtQsz-e4vPMvcCJ53_2omy1YRXs3ZTvtnvlYL75Mhxy2yc00752BmizKG9L1tTCBuGBA77jHqbdAxsUC6oZBm_rMevPNoRZU-CF-c5sVwYAlZ8XCOvG_5xxIapzd858Q_sRKgnqACdIeuzEzhKZbmGG7iGldO1ml4Xp553le0L-fAPXzzLR7NWer_bBHHJqpHM-8Yz8xp1V-m1mvcOOmSebvOOpaHyYzGcfQAkEyyR5fvf9dhFilF6MDTkPqet6JkAwxuKnjzl_4JsHEQBH77QxmynPjkzhQU&__tn__=-R

22 December 2019

DOLE asked to act on 13th month pay issue of “Grinch” company in Cavite

The labor group Partido Manggagawa today asked the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to act with dispatch on the violation of a garments company in Cavite that is refusing to give the mandated 13^th month pay by December 24. Sejung Apparel Inc., a Korean-owned firm in the First Cavite Industrial Estate in Dasmarinas, issued a memo to its employees that it will give the 13^th month benefit in March.

“DOLE should act now so that Sejung workers will have a merry Christmas. Workers have already brought to the attention of the DOLE the numerous violations of Sejung. A few days ago, DOLE Secretary issued a reminder to employers to abide by the law on granting the 13^th month pay. We call on the DOLE to match its words with deeds,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM chair.

In the conciliation meeting called by the Labor Department last Friday, no agreement was reached as the company remained adamant that it will only give the benefit on March. “The management of Sejung Apparel Inc. is the Grinch,” asserted Josephine Odchimar, president of the workers union in the company.

Workers have put up a picketline outside the factory since Friday night to guard against machines being taken out of the factory and prevent a runaway shop. Sejung Workers are also demanding a stop the transfer of machines and an end to subcontracting of production, which led to workers being furloughed since Friday until late January.

“The company’s argument of lack of buyers is just an alibi. The truth is that production is being subcontracted by Sejung to other companies,” Odchimar asserted.

Workers believe management is maneuvering to bust the union. The union won the certification elections in August. The company temp closed down in October, a week after the union submitted a proposal for a collective bargaining agreement. Workers set-up a picketline during the shutdown and were repeatedly harassed by FCIE guards. After a month, the company reopened.

“The pattern of companies inside ecozones shutting down to bust unions is well documented. It appears that Sejung is following this modus operandi of union busting,” Magtubo asserted.

Photos of the company memo about the 13^th month pay and the workers protest can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157676136334323?__xts__[0]=68.ARBGx-zVbDCc8zj4NMSQA7GQZzAcPSgrdNybQuh8TDrUfgPoGL0ifqHsC1shGb5r2mUeM6OC4LpkuDtw0LdTEh7KBQlilRY_iXcLklX-Vfq6LbKMnlp7xtpdf1JMLKpSrmYbkSeR1kwkomnr5RLkideH5PsxzoAloxtaDTdzpFDTKp4P_r4XmggowFpw-YSXCTnkmrTtD8eUslR-4IFoREjmkuHzUSd8E6lbMV1Gpp9DF69t0eZLnLiTdp_1_HXmiB4qiZiza_RhwNSXxgs9EVYTJ_o2EFKqMqtjRoEfd-SvYOgk5nkwSe_ZrGfHS-R5a6SFOAuf4E6QAF3x_cux&__tn__=-R

December 18, 2019

“Grinch” company in Cavite refuses to give 13th month pay

Workers slammed a Korean-owned factory in Cavite for refusing to give the mandated 13-month pay before the December 24 deadline. “The management of Sejung Apparel Inc. is the Grinch,” asserted Josephine Odchimar, president of the workers union in the company. Sejung is located in the First Cavite Industrial Estate (FCIE) in Dasmarinas.

Workers of Sejung have held protests since Thursday to demand the release of the 13^th month pay benefit. In the conciliation meeting called by the Labor Department last Friday, no agreement was reached as the company remained adamant that it will only give the benefit on March. “The 13^th month pay is for Christmas not Holy Week,” replied Odchimar.

Workers have put up a picketline outside the factory since Friday night to guard against machines being taken out of the factory and prevent a runaway shop. Sejung Workers are also demanding a stop the transfer of machines and an end to subcontracting of production, which led to workers being furloughed since Friday until late January.

Workers believe management is maneuvering to bust the union. The union won the certification elections in August. The company temp closed down in October, a week after the union submitted a proposal for a collective bargaining agreement. Workers set-up a picketline during the shutdown and were repeatedly harassed by FCIE guards. After a month, the company reopened.

Photos of the company memo about the 13^th month pay and the workers protest can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157676136334323?__xts__[0]=68.ARBGx-zVbDCc8zj4NMSQA7GQZzAcPSgrdNybQuh8TDrUfgPoGL0ifqHsC1shGb5r2mUeM6OC4LpkuDtw0LdTEh7KBQlilRY_iXcLklX-Vfq6LbKMnlp7xtpdf1JMLKpSrmYbkSeR1kwkomnr5RLkideH5PsxzoAloxtaDTdzpFDTKp4P_r4XmggowFpw-YSXCTnkmrTtD8eUslR-4IFoREjmkuHzUSd8E6lbMV1Gpp9DF69t0eZLnLiTdp_1_HXmiB4qiZiza_RhwNSXxgs9EVYTJ_o2EFKqMqtjRoEfd-SvYOgk5nkwSe_ZrGfHS-R5a6SFOAuf4E6QAF3x_cux&__tn__=-R

December 16, 2019

State of human rights in the country regressing further – labor group

The state of human rights in the country continues to regress under the Duterte administration, the Partido Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement sent to media on the International Human Rights Day. The group joined the march by members of human rights community led by the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and i-DEFEND in Quezon City. 

“Extra-judicial killings remain unchecked while harassments and actual assaults against human rights defenders (HRDs) in the trade union and other people’s organizations escalated in recent months,” said PM Secretary General Judy Miranda. 

These assaults, Miranda noted, include red-tagging, misogyny, arrest and detentions, including unsolved killings of HRDs working for trade union rights and protection of the environment. 

Last June, trade union leader Dennis Sequeña of PM Cavite was gunned down while doing lecture on basic trade union rights for EPZA workers. This incident, including other cases of trade union killings and violations, prompted the International Labor Organization (ILO) to send a high level mission to the Philippines to investigate the state of trade union repression in the country. That mission, however, is yet to be acknowledged and allowed entry by the government. 

But for the group, the biggest threat to human rights in the country is the counter-narrative being peddled against its very concept and principles by no less than the President who keeps on vilifying the HRDs as bad guys working with society’s criminal elements. 

“It’s very similar to having a company CEO who keeps on telling his workers that labor rights are bad. That mindset justifies all repressive actions while creating fear among workers that having a job is better than enjoying labor rights,” concluded Miranda.

10 December 2019