A garment exporting firm in the Mactan Economic Zone yesterday laid off 300 employees in a move that surprised those affected. This morning hundreds of its workers protested at the factory gate of First Glory Apparel then marched around the ecozone complex to air their demand for reinstatement.
“First Glory management is a Grinch for firing workers weeks before Christmas. Is this their Christmas gift to workers who have worked loyally these past years?,” declared Cristito Pangan, president of the labor union and one of the workers retrenched. The workers are refusing to accept the termination offer and demanding their reinstatement.
Pangan added that “First Glory is just using covid and the bankruptcy of its main client J.Crew of US as an alibi to bust the union which has a pending petition for certification election. Production has not decreased and in fact workers are asked to report for duty even on holidays and Sunday. This belies management’s claims. Likewise, we know that J.Crew has already exited bankruptcy this September and is operating normally in the US. That is also why we are still making clothes for this global brand.”
The firings at First Glory comes on the heels of mass layoffs at other garment firms in the Mactan ecozone. Earlier the Sports City group of companies retrenched 4,000 workers, Yuenthai fired 2000 workers, FCO laid off 100 workers and Kor Landa, retrenched 67 workers.
“The hemorrhage of jobs at the Mactan ecozone continues despite rosy reports from the government that the economy is recovering. Workers are facing the double whammy of job losses and high prices without letup even with Christmas just on the horizon and the covid vaccine nearing distribution stage,” declared Dennis Derige spokesperson of Partido Manggagawa-Cebu.
Derige announced that the coming Bonifacio Day action of workers will highlight the plight of workers in the Mactan ecozone along with the threat of the anti-terror law and other repressive measures in the time of covid. The November 30 action of workers in Cebu is nationally coordinated with other labor organizations and is also supported by global union federations.
“Without labor rights and civil liberties, workers will suffer under the despotism of capitalists intent on maximizing profits by squeezing their employees. Higher wages, better benefits, shorter hours and workplace safety are inseparable from the fight for democracy in society. This is the cry of workers today in the Mactan ecozone and in November 30 in Cebu and elsewhere,” Derige explained.
Photos of protest: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10158665246399323
Video here: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10158665217639323
November 28, 2020
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