Fired DOLE Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod found an ally in the workers
of the biggest strikebound factory to date. The Philip
Morris Fortune Tobacco Labor Union (PMFTCLU-NAFLU) declared that Maglunsod
could have helped resolve the labor dispute at the leading cigarette firm.
Maglunsod was dismissed by President Rodrigo Duterte last Tuesday for the
series of strikes that have broken out in the last few months.
“Duterte has nobody to blame but
himself since his broken promises of ending endo, abolishing regional wages and
jailing errant employers are the reasons why workers are launching strikes.
Maglunsod has done a good job of trying to resolve the labor disputes. His only
sin is making sure that workers are protected as mandated by the Labor Code and
Constitution,” averred Rene Magtubo, chair of Partido Manggagawa and former
union president of PMFTC.
The week-long strike at the Marikina and Vigan, Ilocos Sur
factories of the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco remains pending as the mediation
called by the DOLE-NCMB last Monday ended without any agreement. Management
refused the union demand that retrenched workers be reinstated and the mass layoff
be reviewed. Another mediation is set on October 10.
“If Usec Joemag were still around, we would definite seek his
intervention. Too bad he was a victim of the hunt for Red October, which is really
a fairy tale spun by the government to divert attention from the sufferings of
the workers and the poor due to inflation, TRAIN and the rice shortage,”
declared Rey Almendras, PMFTCLU president.
Workers unrest is rising with a series of labor strikes in recent
months and the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco strike is the biggest yet. The
Marikina factory of the leading cigarette firm remains paralyzed since workers
walked off the job in the middle of the shift on Friday last week. Picketlines
have also been set up in the Vigan, Ilocos Sur redrying plant.
“If the company wants to resume operations then management must reinstate
the workers terminated due to the sudden closure of the Vigan redrying plant
and the mass layoff at the Marikina factory,” reiterated Almendras.
In August the Lucio Tan Group announced a P3.63 billion total
income for the first quarter of this year.
Some P2.35B or 65% of the total income of the
Lucio Tan Group came from its tobacco business. “The Constitution
mandates that workers receive their fair share of the fruits of production. But
at PMFTC, retrenchment was the company’s reward for increased labor
productivity and workers meeting key performance indicators,” argued Almendras.
PMFTCLU is alleging unfair labor practice over the closure and
retrenchment. The union slammed the bad faith and deceit attending the
so-called right-sizing plan of management. The group believes that union
busting is the real agenda as the non-union sister factory in Sto. Tomas, Batangas
just regularized 100 contractual employees. In contrast, the Marikina and Vigan
plants are both unionized factories. Moreover, the Vigan plant is now being
operated by a new entity but with contractual workers.
October 4, 2018
