DOLE asked to probe union busting at Cavite ecozone

With just a week to go before Labor Day, the partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to investigate complaints of union busting at the biggest export zone in the country. Workers of garments factories in the giant Cavite Economic Zone are complaining of union busting by their management.

“We ask Secretary Bello to act with dispatch as workers’ right to choose to be represented is being curtailed by foreign investors. With these cases of union busting, freedom of association will be among the highlights of workers’ commemoration of Labor Day on May 1,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

The workers of Korean-owned Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. are alleging that management is maneuvering to bust the union. Jisoo separated almost all of its regular work force last March ahead of a possible certification elections in April. Last April 14, some 100 workers in a motorcade of 50 motorcycles held a mass action at the main gate of the Cavite Economic Zone in support of the Jisoo union.

Magtubo reminded Sec. Bello that “Last May 2018, the Department of Labor and Employment convened a dialogue between labor groups and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to address complaints of violations of the right to unionize and labor standards in the major ecozones like in Cavite and Mactan Cebu. A technical working group was formed to resolve the allegations of union busting and other workplace grievances. Thus we ask Sec. Bello to put its commitment into action.”

“To pre-empt the certification election and bust the union, last March Jisoo management offered to separate its regular work force. The separation package was supposed to be voluntary but instead workers were called for one-on-one meetings in management offices and cajoled into accepting the offer. Almost all of the 350 regular workers were terminated and only a handful of union officers remained who resisted the offer. Recently, the union president was denied overtime as a way to harass the remaining holdouts,” Magtubo explained.

Meanwhile another union busting complaint, by workers in Daegyoung Apparel Inc., also Korean-owned, was settled last Monday during a hearing by the DOLE-National Conciliation and Mediation Board with management pledging not to interfere in their employees’ right to unionize. The Daegyoung union filed for preventive mediation because workers were being called by management to meetings and asked to sign statements that they will not join a union.

Magtubo declared that “We commend the management of Daegyoung for committing to respect freedom of association and will hold them to that promise. As far as we know, things have changed in the factory since the settlement of the union busting complaint.”

A union busting complaint filed by the Jisso labor union is presently pending. Jisoo supplies to well-known and global garments brands such as Marubeni of Japan, Cross Plus of Japan, Vuarnet of France, Michael Bastian of the US, 8Seconds of Korea and Tomato.

Photos of the riders protest at the Cavite ecozone can be accessed at

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April 24, 2019

Workers, riders protest union busting at Cavite ecozone

Press Release

April 14, 2019

Partido Manggagawa

Contact Dennis Sequena @ 09480194340

Riders from factories all around Cavite trooped to the giant ecozone at the town of Rosario this afternoon to protest union busting at two Korean-owned garments companies.  Some 100 workers in a motorcade of 50 motorcycles held a mass action at the main gate of the Cavite Economiz Zone to slam the management of Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. and Daegyoung Apparel Inc. Workers from the two garments factories are complaining of union busting by their management.

The workers are alleging that management is maneuvering to bust the union in the companies. Jisoo separated almost all of its regular work force last March ahead of a possible certification elections this month. While in Daegyoung, workers are being called by management to meetings and asked to sign statements that they will not join a union.

Last May 2018, the Department of Labor and Employment convened a dialogue between labor groups and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to address complaints of violations of the right to unionize and labor standards in the major ecozones like in Cavite and Mactan Cebu. A technical working group was formed to resolve the allegations of union busting and other workplace grievances.

A union busting complaint filed by the Jisso labor union is presently pending. A preventive mediation petition is due to be filed by the Daegyoung workers.

Dennis Sequena, Partido Manggagawa coordinator in Cavite, explained that “To pre-empt the certification election and bust the union, last month Jisoo management offered to separate its regular work force. The separation package was supposed to be voluntary but instead workers were called for one-on-one meetings in management offices and cajoled into accepting the offer. Almost all of the 350 regular workers were terminated and only a handful of union officers remained who resisted the offer. Recently, the union president was denied overtime as a way to harass the remaining holdouts.”

He added that “In Daegyoung, workers recently formed a union to address issues of low wages, lack of benefits and excessive production quota. In one incident, he union president confronted one of the supervisors for asking workers to sign the anti-union pledge. As a result he has been slapped with a case for insubordination and is due to be suspended. These blatant management interference in the right of workers in Jisoo at Daegyoung to unionize are a gross violation of the Labor Code and the International Labor Organization’s Convention 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining.”

Both Jisoo and Daegyoung supply to well-known and global garments brands. Jisoo manufactures clothes for Marubeni of Japan, Cross Plus of Japan, Vuarnet of France, Michael Bastian of the US, 8Seconds of Korea and Tomato. Daegyoung produces garments for Kohl’s of US, Vera Wang of US, Jennifer Lopez of US and UBase International of Korea. ###

Garments workers slam union busting at two Cavite factories

With less than three weeks to go until Labor Day, workers at two Korean-owned garments factories located at the Cavite Economic Zone are complaining of union busting by their management. These complaints once more put respect for freedom of association at the top of workers’ demands.

Workers at the Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. and Daegyoung Apparel Inc. are both alleging that management is maneuvering to bust the union in the companies. Jisoo separated almost all of its regular work force last March ahead of a possible certification elections this month. While in Daegyoung, supervisors are asking workers to sign statements that they will not join a union.

Last year, the Department of Labor and Employment convened a dialogue between labor groups and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to address complaints of violations of the right to unionize and labor standards in the major ecozones like in Cavite and Mactan Cebu. A technical working group was formed to resolve the allegations of union busting and other workplace grievances.

A union busting complaint filed by the Jisso labor union is presently pending. A preventive mediation petition is due to be filed by the Daegyoung workers.

Dennis Sequena, Partido Manggagawa coordinator in Cavite, explained that “To pre-empt the certification election and bust the union, last month Jisoo management offered to separate its regular work force. The separation package was supposed to be voluntary but instead workers were called for one-on-one meetings in management offices and cajoled into accepting the offer. Almost all of the 350 regular workers were terminated and only a handful of union officers remained who resisted the offer. Recently, the union president was denied overtime as a way to harass the remaining holdouts.”

He added that “Meanwhile in Daegyoung, workers recently formed a union to address issues of low wages. The other day, the union president confronted one of the supervisors for asking workers to sign the anti-union pledge. As a result he has been slapped with a case for insubordination and is due to be suspended. These blatant management interference in the right of workers in Jisoo at Daegyoung to unionize are a gross violation of the Labor Code and the International Labor Organization’s Convention 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining.”

Both Jisoo and Daegyoung supply to well-known and global garments brands. Jisoo manufactures clothes for Marubeni of Japan, Cross Plus of Japan, Vuarnet of France, Michael Bastian of the US, 8Seconds of Korea and Tomato. Daegyoung produces garments for Kohl’s of US, Vera Wang of US, Jennifer Lopez of US and UBase International of Korea.

April 12, 2019

FOA issue at garments factory producing for global brands

A Korean-owned garments factory at the largest publicly managed export processing zone in the Philippines is attempting to bust the union formed by its workers. Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp., located in the Cavite Economic Zone, supplies to global garments brands Marubeni of Japan, Cross Plus also of Japan, Vuarnet of France, Michael Bastian of the US and Tomato.

A union was formed last year by workers in order to resolve issues of low wages, long hours of work and lack of benefits. The union lost the certification election in April 2018 due to blatant management interference such as harassment of unionists and threats of closure. However, the workers persisted in maintaining the union and was getting ready for another try this April when a new certification election can be held again.

To pre-empt the certification election and bust the union, last month Jisoo management offered to separate its regular work force. The separation package was supposed to be voluntary but instead workers were called for one-on-one meetings in management offices and cajoled into accepting the offer.

In a sign that the separation offer was just a maneuver to bust the union ahead of the certification election, all workers separated will be rehired but only as contractual workers and therefore not eligible to participate in the union election.

In this way, almost all of the 350 regular workers were terminated and only a handful of union officers remained who resisted the offer. Recently, the union president was denied overtime as a way to harass the remaining holdouts.

Since all workers just receive the minimum wage of PhP 373 (USD 7.50) per day, overtime is a means for workers for increase their take home pay. Denying overtime and mandatory leaves to union officers and active unionists is thus a union busting maneuver.

The union is calling out the Labor Department which is supposed to promote regularization of workers. Out of the 1,000 workers of Jisoo, only 350 were regular and the rest are contractual. But after the separation offer, almost all of the workers are contractual yet doing the same job as before.

The union is also appealing to customers of Jisoo to remediate the freedom of association violations of its suppliers.

Labor group slams criminalization of unionists

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today condemned the criminalization of unionists in Cebu, Valenzuela and Cavite. In Cebu, a “wanted list” of unionists were posted at the gate of the Mactan Economic Zone and its security office last Wednesday. In Valenzuela, in the middle of negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), a union president and vice president were arrested due to a criminal complaint also last Wednesday. Finally in Cavite, criminal complaints were also filed against union officers.

“We are alarmed at this disturbing pattern of unionists being treated as criminals. Unionism is not a crime. But with the prevailing culture of impunity, employers are emboldened to criminalize unionists and treat them as terrorists,” declared Rene Magtubo, national of PM.

Names and pictures of Myra Opada, Luzelie Gesta and Aurelia Parangan were on the “wanted list” in the Mactan ecozone. Opada is union president at Philippine Light Leather Corp. (PLLC), Gesta is secretary of the union and Parangan is an active member. All three have been terminated by PLLC management but the workers have filed cases of union busting, unfair labor practice and illegal dismissal.

Meanwhile, the president and vice president of the labor union at the Nation Paper Products and Printing Corp. (NAPPCO) were arrested and detained at a Valenzuela police station for two days already. The union is trying to raise the P36,000 total bail for the two. The CBA negotiations were cancelled as a result of the arrest and detention.

Cases for falsification of public documents by were filed against union officers at Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. and Dong Seung Inc. in the Cavite ecozone more than a month ago. The criminal complaints followed other instances of harassment by management of active unionists in the two Korean-owned garments factories.

“While police are arresting tambays for crimes that have not been committed, employers are similarly engaged in criminalizing unionists for exercising their rights as workers. Police should instead arrest employers who are illegally employing endo workers, under paying workers for wages and benefits and not remitting deduction for SSS, Pag-ibig and Philhealth,” argued Magtubo.

The group is studying the possibility of a congressional investigation of the spate of incidents of union repression in the country. A global union body had listed the Philippines as among the worst countries for workers in its 2018 Global Rights Index. 

June 29, 2018

Wage hike is loose change in face of rising inflation—Calabarzon workers

Calabarzon workers slammed the hike in minimum wages in the region as “loose change that will be wiped out by rising inflation.” Several labor groups active in Calabarzon trooped this afternoon to the main gate of the Cavite Economic Zone, the country’s biggest government-managed export processing zone, to protest low pay and union busting.

The regional wage board in Calabarzon ordered pay hikes of P14 to P21.50 thus increasing minimum wages to P303 to P400 depending on the area. The minimum wage hike takes effect tomorrow. The last wage hike in the region was in July 2016.

“A 4.6% rise in prices will erase the P16.50 minimum wage increase in Rosario. From 2.9% last December, inflation has steadily risen to 4.3% this March. By the time the wage hike is implemented tomorrow, it will not redound to any real wage improvement,” asserted Dennis Sequena, coordinator of the Cavite chapter of Partido Manggagawa (PM).

More than a hundred members of labor groups PM, Sentro, Samahang Nagkakaisa ng Cavite, and Katipunan ng Manggagawang Pilipino picketed the Cavite ecozone. The mass action is also a buildup to the massive labor unity rally of workers for the Labor Day commemoration on Monday.

“Workers in the Cavite ecozone are organizing to improve their wages and working conditions but capitalists are illegally busting unions and harassing workers,” Sequena explained.

Last week, garments factory Dong Seung Inc. at the Cavite ecozone terminated en masse all 16 union officers including the union president. In response, the union filed a notice of strike and a strike vote will be held tomorrow. Yesterday management did not attend the mediation meeting convened by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB).

Meanwhile, a complaint for harassment was filed by the union at another apparel company, Jisoo Garments Manufacturing Corp. Jisoo workers are alleging that management is behind a falsification case filed against union officers. The case came just after a certification election was held in the company. Among the grievances of workers at Dong Seung and Jisoo that led to unionization was that salaries for all workers, new or old, including people who have worked for several years, remained stuck at the minimum level.

PM also criticized the two-tiered wage system in Calabarzon for being an instrument for cheapening wages. Sequena insisted that “In the two-tiered system, the minimum wage is just a floor wage that will be supplemented by productivity-based increases. But companies in the Cavite ecozone do not provide for productivity pay hikes even though labor productivity has continuously grown as measured by the annual GDP growth.”

April 27, 2018