Press Release
July 15, 2009
Four weeks of work stoppage over the suspension of seven leaders of the Paul Yu Workers Association ended last week with the workers accepting management’s offer of separation. In the agreement, 114 regular and contractual workers and 120 agency workers will receive 18 days per year of service in separation pay and a lump sum of P50,000 for a livelihood project of the association. The settlement is above management’s so-called final offer of 13 days only for regular and contractual workers and none for agency workers.
“This is only a partial victory but a victory nonetheless. We were not able to achieve the demand for reinstatement of suspended workers but the settlement will benefit all Paul Yu workers who participated in the protests including agency workers that management since the start was refusing to include in the terms of agreement. And due to the protests, the rest of the Paul Yu employees are now working five days a week instead of three, which was the main grievance of the workers,” explained Willy Dondoyano, president of the Paul Yu workers association.
The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) emphasized the fact that the Paul Yu struggle was a breakthrough in the workers movement in the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ). “This is the definitive end of the era of the MEPZ as a haven for docile labor where capitalists can ride roughshod over workers rights and labor standards without provoking a militant response from the workers. Already we know of at least two factories who sent feelers to their workers who were in the process of organizing that management was willing to meet labor’s demands as long as they do not go the way of Paul Yu. The struggle and sacrifice of the Paul Yu workers will ultimately benefit all the export zone workers,” stated Dennis Derige, spokesperson of PM-Cebu.
Dondoyano added, “A whole month without work and pay took its toll on the workers and their families. Though the workers would have wanted to continue the fight for the maximum demand of lifting of suspensions, we were forced to accept management’s offer of separation so we could have the means to start again. In fact no worker returned to work despite the pressure but some were obliged to look for new work instead of manning the picketlines.”
PM slammed DOLE and PEZA officials for dragging their feet in the case thus weakening the workers negotiating position. “Labor department and export zone officials turned a blind eye to the illegal suspensions and labor standards violations. Even the small victory in the workers claims on unpaid benefits was not enforced by labor officials pending the results of the negotiations on management’s offer of separation,” argued Derige.
Dondoyano thanked the people who supported the struggle. “The support and solidarity of fellow workers inside and outside the MEPZ, labor groups abroad and even media workers who gave a sympathetic coverage of the labor dispute are a crucial factor in sustaining the fight,” he elaborated. In the month-long strike, the Washington DC-based International Labor Rights Forum, Clean Clothes Campaign of Europe, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America and the San Francisco Labor Council were among those who sent letters of protests aside from more than a thousand unionists from more than 50 countries who signed the online appeal.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Las Pinas urban poor march on City Hall vs. demolitions, hold noise barrage vs. con-ass
Press Release
July 9, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
Some 300 urban poor marched early this afternoon on the Las Pinas city hall in time for a city council session to demand a local moratorium on demolitions. The march-rally was spearheaded by community organizations at Manggahan in Brgy. Pamplona II and Veraville in Brgy. Pulang Lupa II. The Manggahan community is under threat of eviction while the depressed area of Veraviile has been the scene of several violent demolitions in the last three months.
“We ask that a local moratorium on demolitions be passed by the Las Pinas city council in view of the violent demolitions and the threat of more evictions. A local moratorium will be in line with the recommendation by the Commission on Human Rights as per Resolution (1v) No. A2008-052,” stated Robert Labrador of the Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP).
After the rally at the city hall, the urban poor marched back to Brgy. Pamplona II around 5 p.m. for a noise barrage against con-ass and cha-cha. Labrador stated that “This noise barrage is part of the build up activity for the State of the Nation protests. The noise of the people’s protests should drown out the sound of bombs exploding that is meant to scare the masses. We call on the people to defend their democratic rights and oppose martial law or a state of emergency. The people should make noise today or else we will wake up tomorrow with Gloria Arroyo remaining in power forever as prime minister.”
The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) is also demanding a moratorium on evictions in the face of the violent demolitions. “We ask that Malacanang declare a moratorium on demolitions and a ban on violent evictions. The least that government can do in the midst of the economic crisis is to refrain from destroying the houses and livelihoods of the poor,” stated Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM.
“The UDHA provides that no demolition can proceed without relocation provided the urban poor. Honest to goodness negotiations with the community must be conducted for decent relocation. Residents are resisting and fighting evictions because they are being relocated to death zones where there are no livelihood and services,” explained Magtubo.
APM and AMP are pushing for a 5-point demand in response to the crisis: (1) Moratorium on demolitions and ban on violent evictions; (2) Condonation of penalties and interests on low-cost and socialized housing loans. Draft a pro-poor implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for Republic Act 9507 or Socialized and Low-Cost Housing Loan Restructuring Act of 2008; (3) Jobs for the 3 million unemployed. Reform and expand the public employment program; (4) Allot 20% of the land in housing projects for socialized housing as provided for in the UDHA. Thus on-site relocation will be possible and the urban poor need not be relocated to undeveloped areas without services and jobs; and (5) Shift the bulk of the P330 billion fund for the stimulus plan to direct support and social services to the poor instead of infrastructure projects which benefits principally contractors and business.
July 9, 2009
Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino
Some 300 urban poor marched early this afternoon on the Las Pinas city hall in time for a city council session to demand a local moratorium on demolitions. The march-rally was spearheaded by community organizations at Manggahan in Brgy. Pamplona II and Veraville in Brgy. Pulang Lupa II. The Manggahan community is under threat of eviction while the depressed area of Veraviile has been the scene of several violent demolitions in the last three months.
“We ask that a local moratorium on demolitions be passed by the Las Pinas city council in view of the violent demolitions and the threat of more evictions. A local moratorium will be in line with the recommendation by the Commission on Human Rights as per Resolution (1v) No. A2008-052,” stated Robert Labrador of the Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP).
After the rally at the city hall, the urban poor marched back to Brgy. Pamplona II around 5 p.m. for a noise barrage against con-ass and cha-cha. Labrador stated that “This noise barrage is part of the build up activity for the State of the Nation protests. The noise of the people’s protests should drown out the sound of bombs exploding that is meant to scare the masses. We call on the people to defend their democratic rights and oppose martial law or a state of emergency. The people should make noise today or else we will wake up tomorrow with Gloria Arroyo remaining in power forever as prime minister.”
The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) is also demanding a moratorium on evictions in the face of the violent demolitions. “We ask that Malacanang declare a moratorium on demolitions and a ban on violent evictions. The least that government can do in the midst of the economic crisis is to refrain from destroying the houses and livelihoods of the poor,” stated Renato Magtubo, chairperson of PM.
“The UDHA provides that no demolition can proceed without relocation provided the urban poor. Honest to goodness negotiations with the community must be conducted for decent relocation. Residents are resisting and fighting evictions because they are being relocated to death zones where there are no livelihood and services,” explained Magtubo.
APM and AMP are pushing for a 5-point demand in response to the crisis: (1) Moratorium on demolitions and ban on violent evictions; (2) Condonation of penalties and interests on low-cost and socialized housing loans. Draft a pro-poor implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for Republic Act 9507 or Socialized and Low-Cost Housing Loan Restructuring Act of 2008; (3) Jobs for the 3 million unemployed. Reform and expand the public employment program; (4) Allot 20% of the land in housing projects for socialized housing as provided for in the UDHA. Thus on-site relocation will be possible and the urban poor need not be relocated to undeveloped areas without services and jobs; and (5) Shift the bulk of the P330 billion fund for the stimulus plan to direct support and social services to the poor instead of infrastructure projects which benefits principally contractors and business.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Another Update on Paul Yu Workers Struggle
July 8, 2009
A shipment meant for delivery to Pier 1 and Conforama, Paul Yu's major customers, consisting of 4 container vans worth P16 million (approximately US$320,000) has left the factory after having been put on hold for several days. The workers still do not any information why the shipment was temporarily put on hold but now released.
No auditors or inspectors have been to the factory from either Pier 1 or Conforama despite the information provided the companies regarding workers complaints of labor rights violations and infractions as per their vendor codes of conduct.
In a small victory, the hearing being conducted at the Labor Department on workers money claims for 13th month pay, paternity leave, service incentive leave (equivalent to sick leave/vacation leave) is about to end with management agreeing to pay the workers 3 years back in unpaid benefits. The only item left unsettled is the agency workers claims for wage differential (they were paid below the wage minimum until recently) for the last 3 years (the legal limit to claim unpaid benefits).
The issue of reduction of workdays and suspension of workers were referred or remanded to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and the National Labor Relations Commission. Nothing happening yet on that front.
A shipment meant for delivery to Pier 1 and Conforama, Paul Yu's major customers, consisting of 4 container vans worth P16 million (approximately US$320,000) has left the factory after having been put on hold for several days. The workers still do not any information why the shipment was temporarily put on hold but now released.
No auditors or inspectors have been to the factory from either Pier 1 or Conforama despite the information provided the companies regarding workers complaints of labor rights violations and infractions as per their vendor codes of conduct.
In a small victory, the hearing being conducted at the Labor Department on workers money claims for 13th month pay, paternity leave, service incentive leave (equivalent to sick leave/vacation leave) is about to end with management agreeing to pay the workers 3 years back in unpaid benefits. The only item left unsettled is the agency workers claims for wage differential (they were paid below the wage minimum until recently) for the last 3 years (the legal limit to claim unpaid benefits).
The issue of reduction of workdays and suspension of workers were referred or remanded to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and the National Labor Relations Commission. Nothing happening yet on that front.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Export zone workers resume picket at MEPZ II gate
Press Release
July 2, 2009
Around 200 workers of Paul Yu, a Taiwanese-owned lamp shade factory, resumed their daily picket-protest outside the gates of the Mactan Export Processing Zone II in Lapu-Lapu City after more than a week of “fruitless negotiations” with management. “Tuloy ang laban! We are here to inform workers in the export zone that the fight continues. We are here to seek support from fellow Cebuanos,” stated Willy Dondoyano, head of the Paul Yu Workers Association (PYWA).
The moving picket started yesterday then resumed today at around 8:30 a.m. and will continue till the afternoon. Yesterday security guards at the export zone tried to cajole the picketers to disperse but the workers stood their ground and no untoward incident transpired as the peaceful protest continued.
Dondoyano explained that “In the face of management’s intransigence, we continue to demand that all workers be allowed to work without any retaliation from management. The suspension on the seven leaders and more than 300 workers must be lifted. We refuse management’s offer that we be retrenched and paid a separation rate of P3,000 per year of service. Such an offer is in fact below the criteria set by the Labor Code.”
Dennis Derige, spokesperson of Partido ng Manggagawa-Cebu, revealed that supporters of the Paul Yu workers from abroad have already contacted the major US customers of the company. “We are asking Pier 1 Imports and Home Center to investigate the violations of labor standards and the right to organize at Paul Yu. These are serious infractions of the vendor codes of conduct that such US companies must uphold,” he declared.
Since the suspension of more than 300 workers starting last June 22, hearings had been conducted at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and the Department of Labor and Employment. Talks have ended in a deadlock as management has refused to face the workers demand for the lifting of the suspension and the start of negotiations on their grievances while workers reject management offer of separation.
Dondoyano declared that the picket today will continue in the following days until there is a breakthrough in the negotiations. “Militancy in struggle is workers’ answer to management’s hardline position. We call on fellow workers in the export zone to rise up in struggle for labor rights and welfare,” he added.
July 2, 2009
Around 200 workers of Paul Yu, a Taiwanese-owned lamp shade factory, resumed their daily picket-protest outside the gates of the Mactan Export Processing Zone II in Lapu-Lapu City after more than a week of “fruitless negotiations” with management. “Tuloy ang laban! We are here to inform workers in the export zone that the fight continues. We are here to seek support from fellow Cebuanos,” stated Willy Dondoyano, head of the Paul Yu Workers Association (PYWA).
The moving picket started yesterday then resumed today at around 8:30 a.m. and will continue till the afternoon. Yesterday security guards at the export zone tried to cajole the picketers to disperse but the workers stood their ground and no untoward incident transpired as the peaceful protest continued.
Dondoyano explained that “In the face of management’s intransigence, we continue to demand that all workers be allowed to work without any retaliation from management. The suspension on the seven leaders and more than 300 workers must be lifted. We refuse management’s offer that we be retrenched and paid a separation rate of P3,000 per year of service. Such an offer is in fact below the criteria set by the Labor Code.”
Dennis Derige, spokesperson of Partido ng Manggagawa-Cebu, revealed that supporters of the Paul Yu workers from abroad have already contacted the major US customers of the company. “We are asking Pier 1 Imports and Home Center to investigate the violations of labor standards and the right to organize at Paul Yu. These are serious infractions of the vendor codes of conduct that such US companies must uphold,” he declared.
Since the suspension of more than 300 workers starting last June 22, hearings had been conducted at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and the Department of Labor and Employment. Talks have ended in a deadlock as management has refused to face the workers demand for the lifting of the suspension and the start of negotiations on their grievances while workers reject management offer of separation.
Dondoyano declared that the picket today will continue in the following days until there is a breakthrough in the negotiations. “Militancy in struggle is workers’ answer to management’s hardline position. We call on fellow workers in the export zone to rise up in struggle for labor rights and welfare,” he added.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Workers push for unemployment subsidy as big garments firm to shutdown
Press Release
July 1, 2009
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) reiterated its call for a “workers bailout” in the face of the impending closure of the Taguig-based Triumph garments factory and its subsidiary Star Performance on August 28, and Cebu-based Celestica electronics firm on August 31. Triumph and Star Performance are both German-owned with 1600 workers while Celestica is a Canadian-owned factory producing various electronics products in the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Lapu-Lapu City with 900 employees.
“We call on the government to backtrack from charter revision and instead focus on the economic recession. The closure of Triumph, Star Performance and Celestica and the layoff of a total of more than 2,500 workers belie the claim of DOLE about a rebound in the garments and electronics industry. It is not a slow growth but a sluggish decline that best describes the economy. Unemployment insurance and a bailout of the workers and the poor will put money in the hands of the consumers and revive domestic demand and thus the local economy,” argued Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.
PM has been pushing for a bailout package for workers in the light of continuous hemorrhage in jobs in export firms. The bailout includes an unemployment subsidy for displaced workers; tax refund for all wage earners; expansion and reform of the public employment program; extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
PM contends that the economy is practically in recession and thus urgent action must be taken. “Government cannot keep on whistling in the dark and being in denial about the recession. Tens of thousands have lost their jobs and many remain without work. An economic revival can only come about through a policy reversal and paradigm shift in the national development model. The policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization must be stopped. The local economy must be developed by strengthening industry and modernizing agriculture based on agrarian reform,” insisted Magtubo.
Magtubo furthered that “In the immediate period, the workers of Triumph, Star Performance and Celestica may be able to live off their separation pay. But if they cannot find another job in the next six months then their living standards will suffer in the medium to long-term period. Workers are being made to pay the price of a crisis that is not of their own making.”
“These foreign-owned multinational companies are throwing their Filipino workers like dirty rags after benefiting from their labor all these years,” argued Magtubo.
July 1, 2009
The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) reiterated its call for a “workers bailout” in the face of the impending closure of the Taguig-based Triumph garments factory and its subsidiary Star Performance on August 28, and Cebu-based Celestica electronics firm on August 31. Triumph and Star Performance are both German-owned with 1600 workers while Celestica is a Canadian-owned factory producing various electronics products in the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Lapu-Lapu City with 900 employees.
“We call on the government to backtrack from charter revision and instead focus on the economic recession. The closure of Triumph, Star Performance and Celestica and the layoff of a total of more than 2,500 workers belie the claim of DOLE about a rebound in the garments and electronics industry. It is not a slow growth but a sluggish decline that best describes the economy. Unemployment insurance and a bailout of the workers and the poor will put money in the hands of the consumers and revive domestic demand and thus the local economy,” argued Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.
PM has been pushing for a bailout package for workers in the light of continuous hemorrhage in jobs in export firms. The bailout includes an unemployment subsidy for displaced workers; tax refund for all wage earners; expansion and reform of the public employment program; extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.
PM contends that the economy is practically in recession and thus urgent action must be taken. “Government cannot keep on whistling in the dark and being in denial about the recession. Tens of thousands have lost their jobs and many remain without work. An economic revival can only come about through a policy reversal and paradigm shift in the national development model. The policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization must be stopped. The local economy must be developed by strengthening industry and modernizing agriculture based on agrarian reform,” insisted Magtubo.
Magtubo furthered that “In the immediate period, the workers of Triumph, Star Performance and Celestica may be able to live off their separation pay. But if they cannot find another job in the next six months then their living standards will suffer in the medium to long-term period. Workers are being made to pay the price of a crisis that is not of their own making.”
“These foreign-owned multinational companies are throwing their Filipino workers like dirty rags after benefiting from their labor all these years,” argued Magtubo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
