Cavite workers gear up for strike anew

Workers of an electronics factory in the Cavite ecozone are preparing to go on strike once more due to the mass termination of all union officers. The all-women labor union at the Lakepower Converter Inc. filed a notice of strike after mediation talks last Wednesday broke down due to the refusal of management to reinstate eight union officers who were terminated.

The Lakepower women workers went on a five-month strike that started in December 2017 to demand a stop to the harassment of union officers and members. The strike was settled last April due to the intervention of the Department of Labor and Employment. As part of the agreement, 64 union officers and members were to return to work.

“However, Lakepower reneged on the agreement. It reinstated union members but immediately suspended union officers. After a month-long suspension, they were then terminated. This is obviously a case of union busting,” declared Rene Magtubo, chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM), which is assisting the Lakepower women workers.

Lakepower is a Taiwanese-owned parts supplier to global electronics companies like Recom Power, Arrow Electronics, Asus and Texas Instruments. To avert another strike, the National Conciliation and Mediation Board is calling the management and union to conciliation meetings next week.

Magtubo asserted that union busting and harassment of unionists in Lakepower is not an isolated case in the export processing zones. Last week, PM condemned the posting of a “wanted list” of unionists at the gate of the Mactan, Cebu Economic Zone and its security office. Also last week, in the middle of negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), a union president and vice president were arrested due to a criminal complaint in Valenzuela.

“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,” asserted Magtubo. A global union body had listed the Philippines as among the worst countries for workers in its 2018 Global Rights Index.

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. The CBA negotiations were cancelled as a result of the arrest and detention.

July 6, 2018

Women workers led protest vs abuses at Cavite ecozone

Women workers of the Taiwanese-owned electronics factory Lakepower Converter Inc. in the Cavite Economic Zone held a protest today against company abuses. Among their grievances is the removal of the door of the women’s restroom so that the company can spy on workers. Almost all of the 200 workers in the factory are women.

They are also outraged at the unreasonable limits on the use of the restroom which has led to cases of workers suffering from urinary tract infection. The dispute over the restroom is just the tip of the iceberg of worker grievances at Lakepower.

Aside from the dispute over the women’s restroom, workers are also complaining of excessive quota, discrimination against unionists resulting in suspensions and their exclusion from receiving Christmas packages.

“Management is reneging on an agreement reached a few months ago to redress our grievances. Before, we complained that the restroom door was always kept open. Through mediation, they agreed to close the door to protect the privacy of workers. But now, they removed the door entirely,” stated Mercy Tanginan, president of the Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Lakepower Converter Inc.

The picket today is the third protest at the Cavite ecozone over the last month. Earlier, garments workers held protest actions against “factory shutdown-cum-union busting.” After two protests and a strike threat, the union leaders at the Korean-owned garments factory Sein Together Phils. Inc. were eventually accepted back to work.

“ASEAN’s slogan of prosperity for all is just fake news as long as investors from Taiwan, Korea and others abuse and exploit Filipino workers. ASEAN is just facilitating a race to bottom in wages and working conditions with workers in the Philippines made to compete with workers in Vietnam, for example,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM chair.

Media reported the exodus of Korean companies from the Philippines to Vietnam due allegedly to the high cost of doing business. Workers insist that some of the companies may just be relocating to avoid unionization.

The groups are calling on the Department of Labor and Employment and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to intervene. Workers are unionizing to improve their working conditions but are being met by extreme interference from capitalists unwilling to share the fruits of production.

The picket also coincides with a “Global Day of Action against Union Repression” to be participated in by workers in Australia, Asia and North America. ###

Photos of the protest can be accessed at:

https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10155777536464323

https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10155777572314323

16 November 2017

Ecozone workers protest series of factory shutdowns

At the height of the transport strike yesterday afternoon, workers in the Cavite ecozone held a protest against the management schemes of busting unions by shutting down factories. One garments factory temporarily shutdown last month and there are rumors of an electronics firm closing next month, both located at the Cavite Economic Zone in the town of Rosario.

Workers are alleging that the shutdowns are motivated by union busting. Workers of the garments factory Sein Together Phils. Inc., which shutdown last month, led the mass action where respect for freedom of association, and better wages and benefits were demanded.

“We call on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to intervene as these unfair labor practices by foreign capitalists are engendering workers discontent and labor disputes. Workers are unionizing to improve their working conditions but are being met by extreme interference from capitalists unwilling to share the fruits of production,” asserted Rene Magtubo, national chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM), which has been assisting the ecozone workers.

Almost four hundred Sein Together workers were terminated after accepting a separation offer. Meanwhile at the electronics firm Lakepower Converter Inc., overtime was cancelled and the workweek was reduced to only five days starting last week.

Dennis Sequena, PM-Cavite coordinaor explained that “The common denominator between Sein Together and Lakepower is that workers exercised their right to unionize so they could better their wages and working conditions. In the Korean-owned Sein Together, the response of management was to harass workers and force them to accept separation during the shutdown.”

Last month, media reported the exodus of Korean companies from the Philippines to Vietnam due allegedly to the high cost of doing business. Magtubo insisted though that some of the companies may just be relocating to avoid unionization.

Sequena cited that “The biggest garments in the Cavite ecozone, Faremo International Inc.,  shutdown in October last year, just four months after signing a collective bargaining agreement with the then newly-formed union. More than seven hundred workers were laid off because of the factory closure but the union maintained a picketline for three months inside the Cavite ecozone to demand the reopening of the factory. The dispute ended with the workers accepting an improved separation offer from Faremo, including the grant of sewing machines for a livelihood project.”

He added that “Also Seung Yuen Technology Industries Corp., an electronics supplier at the Cavite ecozone, filed for closure after the workers voted yes to a  union in April 2016. After the union accepted an improved separation offer, the factory reopened immediately under a new name but with contractual and non-union workers.”

“This modus operandi of closing a factory to bust the union and reopening under a new name is also practiced in the Mactan Cebu ecozone as can be gleaned from the very recent case of electronics factory Cebu Nisico Corp. Before negotiations with the union could begin, it shutdown last August, offered separation to almost 200 workers and then reopened after just two weeks with a new name,” Magtubo averred.

Protest of the protest can be accessed at: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10155697433684323

and

https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10155699315004323

October 17, 2017

Ecozone workers slam “factory shutdown cum union busting”

Workers in the Cavite ecozone are slamming management schemes of busting unions by shutting down their factories. One garments factory temporarily shutdown last month and there are rumors of an electronics firm closing next month, both located at the Cavite Economic Zone in the town of Rosario.

However, workers are alleging that the shutdowns are motivated by union busting. On Monday, workers are holding a mass protest at the Cavite ecozone to highlight their demand for respect for freedom of association, and better wages and benefits.

“We call on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to intervene as these unfair labor practices by foreign capitalists are engendering workers discontent and labor disputes. Workers are unionizing to improve their working conditions but are being met by extreme interference from capitalists unwilling to share the fruits of production,” asserted Rene Magtubo, national chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM), which has been assisting the ecozone workers.

Last month, the garments factory Sein Together Phils. Inc. closed down and then reopen on October 23 according to a notice filed at the DOLE. However almost four hundred Sein Together workers have already been terminated after accepting a separation offer. Meanwhile at the electronics firm Lakepower Converter Inc., workers are concerned by stories from management personnel that it will shutdown temporarily next month. Starting this week, overtime was cancelled and workweek was reduced to only five days at Lakepower.

“The common denominator between Sein Together and Lakepower is that workers exercised their right to unionize so they could better their wages and working conditions. In the Korean-owned Sein Together, the response of management was to harass workers and force them to accept separation during the shutdown,” Magtubo explained.

Last month, media reported the exodus of Korean companies from the Philippines to Vietnam due allegedly to the high cost of doing business. Magtubo insisted though that some of the companies may just be relocating to avoid unionization.

He cited the case of Faremo International Inc., the biggest garments in the Cavite ecozone that shutdown in October last year, just four months after signing a collective bargaining agreement with the then newly-formed union. More than seven hundred workers were laid off because of the factory closure but the union maintained a picketline for three months inside the Cavite ecozone to demand the reopening of the factory. The dispute ended with the workers accepting an improved separation offer from Faremo, including the grant of sewing machines for a livelihood project.

Magtubo also mentioned the dispute at the Seung Yuen Technology Industries Corp., an electronics supplier at the Cavite ecozone that filed for closure after the workers voted yes to a  union in April 2016. After the union accepted an improved separation offer, the factory reopened immediately under a new name and with contractual and non-union workers.

“This modus operandi of closing a factory to bust the union and reopening under a new name is also practiced in the Mactan Cebu ecozone as can be gleaned from the very recent case of electronics factory Cebu Nisico Corp. Before negotiations with the union could begin, it shutdown last August, offered separation to almost 200 workers and then reopened after just two weeks with a new name,” Magtubo averred.

October 13, 2017

Lakepower management and union settle dispute with an agreement to respect freedom of association

The labor dispute at an electronics factory located in the Cavite economic zone was settled yesterday with an agreement between management and the union to respect freedom of association. The National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) called the management and union of Lakepower Converter Inc. to a meeting in a bid to resolve the complaint of union busting and unfair labor practice.

Management agreed to a set of demands by the union. First, that the company will issue a memo to be posted on bulletin boards in the factory spelling out its respect for freedom of association and prohibiting management personnel from interfering in the workers’ right to unionize as provided for in the law.

Second, that management wil not send any employees to protest the pending petition for certification of the Lakepower workers union as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent.

Third, the recall of roving armed guards in the production area.

And finally, the implementation of a previous agreement during another mediation meeting last July 7. In that agreement, management committed to resolve a list of 14 workplace grievances raised by the union including the women’s restroom doors that were kept open and airconditioners in the production area that remained closed.

In return, Lakepower management asked that the post in the Partido Manggagawa blog regarding the dispute be removed. The union agreed to the proposal and thus yesterday night the post was duly removed in compliance with the agreement.

Likewise the union withdrew the complaint for union busting and unfair labor practice in recognition of the settlement reached.

The minutes of the mediation conference formally spell out the terms of the agreeement cited above and was duly digned by representatives of Lakepower management and the union in the presence of officials of the NCMB.

Partido Manggagawa salutes the Lakepower workers, almost all of whom are women, in their steadfast fight for workers rights and considers the agreement as a victory for the union. PM is committed to assist in the protection of the rights of Lakepower workers and will monitor the compliance of the company to the terms of the agreement.

Lakepower is a Taiwanese-owned factory that makes electronic transformers for computers, appliances and even airplanes, and is a supplier to big electronics firms.

July 28, 2017