Partido Manggagawa (PM)

MEDIA ADVISORY

November 1, 2016

Contact: Dennis Sequena @ 09301803072

Workers remember their dead by fighting for the living

WHAT: Laidoff and locked out workers will spend Undas at the picketline outside the garments firm Faremo

WHEN: Today, November 1 , 2016

WHERE: Picketline at Faremo International Inc., Cavite ecozone, Rosario

DETAILS: Workers of the garments factory Faremo International Inc. at Cavite EPZA in Rosario are spending undas at the picketline. They are now on their 6th day at the picketline. Some 1,000 workers were laidoff last October 27 as the factory shutdown and have been locked out despite their demand that the factory remain open.

Another mediation meeting is scheduled on Friday, November 4, to resolve the dispute surrounding the closure of the biggest garments factory at Cavite EPZA.

The union is alleging that the closure is illegal since it is meant to bust the union and destroy the CBA. Early this month, management filed for temporary closure and the union proposed work rotation to preserve jobs and prevents layoffs. Management ignored the proposal and responded with the permanent closure.

Faremo is owned by the Korean textile multinational Hansoll and supplies to global garments brands. A union was formed by workers at Faremo last year in a bid to redress grievances such a low pay, verbal abuse and lack of benefits. A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was concluded just last May.

“In today's business environment, there is no such thing as permanent employment. If they push that, no madman would do business here.”

For expressing this view, a worker’s group has turned the table against Donald Dee, the head of Employers' Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), who also has threatened to bring the government to court once it forces companies to make their employees regular or permanent.

“ECOP is in business and when Donald Dee said no madman would do business here without endo, it also goes to show that ECOP is, in essence, an organization of madmen. If that is so, the more the need for the government to take the side of labor,” countered Partido Manggagawa (PM) Chair Renato Magtubo.

According to Magtubo: “Endo or contractualization in its many form is an epidemic that must be purged to save the present and future generation of workers from sinking deeper into the gulf of terminal marginality.”

As to Dee’s threat to bring the government to court, Magtubo said: “ECOP should not make the courts its battlefield on endo. It’s a policy issue. You shouldn’t bother the court to resolve the issue on whether workers have the right to live a life of dignity over the right of capital to a fair return.”

Labor and business are at loggerheads over this issue as the government of President Duterte made it a pledge to end the pervasive practice of endo in the workplace. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is soon to come out with a new Order in place of the much criticized DO 18-A that regulates contracting and third party sub-contracting practices.

PM likewise noted that pending bills in the House and in the Senate are more for regulation of allowable contracting rather than on prohibition.

Echoing the resounding and unanimous position of the October 17 Labor Summit, Partido Manggagawa under the Nagkaisa labor coalition, is for total prohibition of all forms of contractualization and fixed-term employment.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), however, is more inclined with the business proposal for a “win-win solution” which prescribes regularization done by third party service providers (manpower agencies and cooperatives) and not by principal companies -- a prescription vehemently opposed by labor.

PM is urging DOLE and Congress to principally consider the weight of the position taken by the Labor Summit.

“A good policy may also mean an end of contract with madmen,” concludes Magtubo.

November 3, 2016

MEDIA ADVISORY

November 4, 2016

Contact: Dennis Sequena @ 09301803072

Rally to support workers of closed Cavite EPZA firm

WHAT: Solidarity rally for workers of Faremo International, a Cavite EPZA garments factory that shutdown and laidoff 1,000 workers

WHEN: Monday, November 7, 2016

WHERE: Main gate (Gate 1) of the Cavite ecozone, Rosario town

A protest march by laidoff workers of the biggest garments factory at the Cavite export processing zone pushed through today despite harassment by representatives of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

Some 100 workers of Faremo International Inc. marched from their picketline to the main gate of the Cavite ecozone but was told to stop by PEZA police and ecozone security guards led by PEZA industrial relations department head Allan Datahan. When the marchers proceeded with the protest, Datahan said to union president Jessel Autida they will not be allowed back in to the ecozone.

“We decry the harassment by the local PEZA of our peaceful protest against union busting and contractual work. The DOLE-PEZA-PNP guidelines of September 2011 explicitly protects the right to peaceful assembly and expression of workers involved in labor disputes,” Autida insisted.

The Faremo workers were met at the Cavite ecozone main gate by scores of supporters from community organizations and chapters of Partido Manggagawa (PM) where they held a program. Tomorrow another mediation meeting is scheduled by the DOLE-NCMB in Imus, Cavite to resolve the Faremo dispute.

“Faremo is shutting down to get rid of the union but will open again but with endo workers. This is not the first and last time that this union busting scheme was done by companies at the Cavite EPZA,” asserted Autida.

Autida cited the recent case of Seung Yuen Technology Industries Corp. (SYTIC) which filed a notice of closure last April to force workers who had formed a union to accept separation pay but which is presently still in operation with agency employees. SYTIC is a Korean-owned plastics company that supplies to eletronics factories. [See DOLE-NCMB record at http://co.ncmb.ph/ncmb-region-iv-a-settles-dispute-at-seung-yeun-technology-industries-corp/?print=pdf]

Autida clarified that Faremo workers are not on strike and want to work but have been locked out. He explained that they are maintaining a 24/7 picket at the factory to protest the illegal closure and union busting, and to guard against machines being taken out of Faremo. According to Autida, the union at Faremo was formed last year in a bid by workers to improve pay, benefits and working conditions and stop mistreatment like verbal abuse.

“Faremo has not presented any evidence to back its allegation that it lacks orders from its customers and so has to shutdown. It is just feigning lack of customers and financial losses. Thus we suspect that Faremo will reopen using workers who are contractual and without a union,” averred Autida.

He added that “Faremo declared multimillion losses from 2011 to 2013 without ever shutting down. But just months after a collective bargaining agreement with the union was concluded last May, it suddenly closes.”

“When Faremo first broached that they may shutdown temporarily and layoff workers, the union responded by proposing that work be rotated so that workers need not be retrenched. But such doable measures from the union fell on management’s deaf ears. It replied with a hardline position—close the factory and bust the union,” argued Autida.

The management of Faremo filed a notice for permanent closure in October 21. In response the labor union filed a union busting complaint. Faremo is a subsidiary of the Korean textile multinational company Hansoll and supplies to global garments brands. ###

Protests of the protest march can be accessed at:

https://www.facebook.com/reynalin.coronel/posts/2149988331893412?pnref=story

https://www.facebook.com/gina.ensano/posts/1290918490981012?pnref=story

November 7, 2016

The militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the newly appointed head of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Charito Plaza to suspend its Industrial Relations Department chief Allan Datahan for harassing workers who held a protest march yesterday. PM has learned that the PEZA Board is having a meeting today.

“We call on PEZA Director General Plaza to suspend Datahan for violating the terms of the DOLE-PNP-PEZA guidelines of September 2011 which protects the right of workers’ to freedom of assembly and expression during labor disputes,” asserted Dennis Sequena, coordinator of PM’s Cavite chapter.

The group averred that yesterday some 100 workers of Faremo International Inc. marched from their picketline to the main gate of the Cavite ecozone but was told to stop by PEZA police and ecozone security guards led by Datahan. When the marchers proceeded with the protest against union busting and contractual work, Datahan said to Faremo union president Jessel Autida they will not be allowed back in to the ecozone. After the protest, Faremo workers who tried to enter the Cavite ecozone were barred by guards at the gates.

Faremo is biggest garments factory at the Cavite ecozone that shutdown last October 27 allegedly due to lack of orders. “Management however has not shown any piece of paper to support its claim of lack of orders. Instead we believe that Faremo’s closure is a ruse to bust the union and replace regular workers with contractual employees,” Autida argued.

Sequena stated that “Datahan has a track record of violating workers’ rights. Earlier this year, in a labor dispute at the Seung Yeun Technology Industries Corp. (SYTIC), an electronics subcon at the Cavite ecozone, he interrogated a worker for her union activities. Later in a dialogue with SYTIC workers, he refused their request for a counsel, threatened them with cases for trespassing and negotiated with them as if he was a representative of management.”

He added “Further, SYTIC exposes the modus operandi of union busting via illegal closure that Datahan has mastered. SYTIC filed a notice of closure last April to force workers who had formed a union to accept separation pay. Yet the SYTIC factory is still operating today but under a new name and with agency employees.”

Autida clarified that Faremo workers are not on strike and want to work but have been locked out. He explained that they are maintaining a 24/7 picket at the factory to guard against machines being taken out of Faremo. According to Autida, the union at Faremo was formed last year in a bid by workers to improve pay, benefits and working conditions and stop mistreatment like verbal abuse.

November 8, 2016

In Gap’s response regarding the labor dispute over the permanent closure of its supplier factory Faremo International Inc., it cites that the mother company Hansoll made such a “business decision” due to its “global business strategy.” This is in glaring contradiction to the allegation of Faremo management that it shutdown due to lack of orders from its buyers, among them Gap.

The legality of Faremo's closure is contingent on the veracity of its claim that it lacks orders from Gap, among others. In its notice of closure, in the mediation hearings, and in its meetings with the union, and even in Faremo general manager's letter to PM--they all say that Faremo lacks orders.

Now Hansoll says Faremo's closure is part of "global business strategy." This is in conflict with this claim of lack of orders. Gap is silent on the claim that they don't have any more orders from Faremo or Hansoll.

This lends credence to the assertion of the Faremo labor union that there are orders and yet Hansoll closed Faremo in order to bust the one-year old union and destroy the collective bargaining agreement concluded five months ago.

The Faremo labor union calls on Gap to remediate the violations of its supplier Faremo according to the provisions of its code of conduct. The complaints of the Faremo labor union of union busting and blacklisting of unionists are in breach of Gap’s commitment to respect freedom of association and non-discrimination.

Further the Faremo labor union wishes to inform Gap that the Faremo management had already notified its workers it will not pay their wages from Oct. 27 to Nov. 21 because of the “no work, no pay” principle even though it filed a notice of permanent closure only on Oct. 21 and thus is obligated to pay workers up to Nov. 21 based on the 30-day notice rule.

Finally, the Faremo labor union seeks to notify Gap that Faremo continues to operate to this day as admitted by management in the latest mediation hearing of Nov. 8. Although most workers were locked out on Oct. 26, scores of workers are still entering the factory to work. Faremo declared in the mediation that all work will cease only on Nov. 12.

November 10, 2016

Media Advisory

Contact:

Dennis Sequena (PM Cavite) 09301803072

Rene Magtubo (PM Chair) 09178532905

Today, Nov. 15 (Tuesday), 2:00 pm:

Cavite workers to rally at NCMB Imus

Tomorrow, Nov. 16 (Wednesday), 10:00 am: Labor groups to rally at DOLE Intramuros

Nov. 18 (Friday): Labor summit in Cebu City

Workers are set to escalate protests as they call for an end to endo o contractualization. The DOLE is set to release by the end of the year a new order to regulate the practice of contractualization and labor groups are calling on the agency to prohibit contractualization of regular jobs, including outsourcing. The protests this week are a buildup to a national day of action later this month.

The protest today will be led by workers of the Faremo International Inc., the biggest garments company in the Cavite ecozone. Faremo workers are accusing management of union busting and planning to replace regular workers with contractual employees when the factory reopens.

The rally tomorrow at the main office of the DOLE will include groups Partido Manggagawa, Church-Labor Coalition and PALEA.

Media Advisory

Contact: Rene Magtubo (PM Chair) 09178532905

Today, Nov. 16 (Wednesday), 10:00 am: Labor groups to rally at DOLE Intramuros

The rally today at the main office of the DOLE will include groups Partido Manggagawa, Church-Labor Coalition and PALEA.

A national day of action to end endo is set later this month.

Restless over the likelihood of getting a watered down rules governing the conduct of contractualization, members of Palea, Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Church-Labor Conference (CLC) held another rally Wednesday at the DOLE offices in Intramuros Manila. The action is part of Nagkaisa labor coalition’s week-long protest to demand an end to all forms of contractualization.

The rally coincides with the holding of another mediation conference between PAL and PALEA on the long-delayed implementation of the flag carrier’s commitment to re-employ Palea members under the 2013 Settlement Agreement. Said agreement ended the labor dispute over the massive outsourcing program unleashed by PAL in 2011.

Also on Thursday, the last leg of regional labor summits will be concluded in Cebu and after which, a new Department Order on endo is expected to be issued by DOLE.

Partido Manggagawa Chair, Renato Magtubo, said consultations were already conducted where diametrically opposed positions between labor and capital were laid down. “Now is the time for the government to take side. Kaninong panig ba ang mas papaboran ng gubyerno? Ang end endo para sa manggagawa o ang win-win solution para sa kapitalista?”

According to Magtubo, a Department Order that deviates from the Labor Summit’s position on endo is unacceptable. “The President has even threatened to kill endo lords. How can a new DO go softer than the President’s order of licking the plague of endo?”

Workers are apprehensive of DOLE’s likely preference for win-win solution due to the strong lobby of business groups, including the service providers/contractors who made big bucks under the previous regime of legalized contractualization and outsourcing.

“DOLE has a very bad record in regulating endo, hence, a stricter rule for prohibition is the best option to pursue,” said Magtubo.

On his part Palea President, Gerry Rivera, said a decisive and conclusive government push for the implementation of PAL-PALEA Settlement Agreement on endo can serve as preview to the resoluteness of the administration’s anti-endo campaign.

“Limang taon na kaming nasa labas gayung kami ay dapat regular na empleyado ng PAL hanggang sa kasalukuyan. Hangad din namin ay hustisya dahil daig pa namin ang natokhang,” lamented Rivera.

Other than PALEA, there were also cases pending before DOLE that need immediate resolutions, especially those which are related to endo.

November 16, 2016

There was a secret deal to make this travesty happen. The Supreme Court decision simply rendered this political deal a legal character.

Today’s secret burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) is a done deal. It was a shared triumph resulting from a highly coordinated action between the Marcos family and the Duterte government.

We condemn this act as a mockery of justice and an affront to the principles civility. Why bury a ‘hero’, their ‘honorable’ leader, sneakily away from national curiosity? Hence, it rather looks like a burial for a high level terrorist rather than one with state honors.

The secret burial did not only deny the victims of martial law the chance to reverse the verdict against their tormentor. It also reduced the peoples’ genuine quest for justice a trivial chasing game of chance under the present administration.

PM & iDefend to hold protest 5:00 pm today at Boy Scout Rotunda, Timog

November 18, 2016

MEDIA ADVISORY

November 24, 2016

Contact: Rene Magtubo @ 09178532905

Workers to push "end endo" vs DOLE's "win-win formula"

WHAT: Workers to hold protest rally vs. "win-win" formula on endo announced by Sec. Bello

WHEN: Today, November 24, 2016, 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: DOLE Intramuros

DETAILS: Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello announced the other day that Pres. Rodrigo Duterte's marching order is only to end "illegal contractualization" and thus the DOLE is conceding to the proposal from employers for a "win-win" solution of merely regularizing workers in the agencies not the principal employers.

Labor groups however are opposing the "win-win" solution and pushing for the "end endo" formula that entails prohibiting all forms of contractualization, including outsourcing. Participants to the three Labor Summits convened by the DOLE in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao all resolved to end all forms of contractualization.

Aside from the rally today, the November 30 mobilization of workers will highlight the call "end contractualization."

PM also expressed doubt on the DOLE's statement that 25,000 contractual workers have been made regular. The group said that they know of an electronics factory in the Cavite ecozone that has refused to regularize its agency workers despite an order from the DOLE. PM also cited the case of Pizza Hut contractual workers who were retrenched when they sought regularization but have been reinstated only as agency workers. Finally the militant group cited the case of the PALEA 600 who have not been reinstated as regular workers despite a settlement agreement that provides for it. PM calls the 25,000 newly regularized workers fake news similar to Mocha Uson's controversial blog.

The militant labor party Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello’s endorsement of the employers’ “win-win” formula on contractualization. In a press conference yesterday, Bello claimed regularizing workers in the agencies will deliver the administration’s promise to end contractualization.

“The so-called win-win formula of the employers and now the DOLE will not end endo. It is a blatant betrayal of the campaign promise of then-candidate Rodrigo Duterte to eradicate contractualization. The ‘win-win’ scheme is a scam that will lead to the utter proliferation of outsourcing and contracting out of regular jobs in the principal employers,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

PM announced that they will hold a rally tomorrow at the DOLE main office to protest Bello’s endorsement of the “win-win” scheme and to push for an “end endo” formula of regulation and prohibition of subcontracting of regular jobs. Also PM, the Nagkaisa labor coalition and workers groups are gearing for a big mobilization on November 30 to highlight the call to stop all forms of contractualization, including outsourcing.

The group also expressed doubt on Bello’s statement that 25,000 contractual workers have been made regular. Instead PM revealed that the DOLE has not been able to enforce regularization of workers in numerous instances. The militant group said that there is a Japanese-owned electronics factory in the Cavite ecozone that has refused to regularize hundreds of its agency workers despite an order from the DOLE. It cited the case of the PALEA 600 who have not been reinstated by Philippine Airlines as regular workers despite a settlement agreement that provides for it. Finally PM also pointed out the case of 149 Pizza Hut contractual workers who were retrenched when they sought regularization but have been reinstated only as agency workers.

Magtubo said “It seems that the news of 25,000 newly regularized workers is fake similar to posts in Mocha Uson's controversial blog.”

He insisted that Secretary Bello is revising the promise of Pres. Duterte by arguing that the latter’s marching order is only to end “illegal contractualization.” Magtubo also countered that the Bello his turning back on the participants to the three Labor Summits convened by the DOLE in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao who resolved to end all forms of contractualization.

November 23, 2016

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) expressed doubt on the announcement of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that 25,000 contractuals have been regularized. DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello made the claim in a press conference in Malacanang.

“As much as we welcome thousands upon thousands of endo workers becoming regular employees, we are skeptical of DOLE’s claim because our own experience is that employers are extremely resistant to regularization,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

Meanwhile PM, together with other groups like the Philippine Airlines union PALEA and the labor center SENTRO, today held a rally at the DOLE main office to push for an “end endo” formula of regulation and prohibition of subcontracting of regular jobs. The protest today is a buildup for the big nationwide mobilization by workers on November 30 to highlight the call to stop all forms of contractualization, including outsourcing.

Magtubo added that “We know for a fact that the DOLE has not been able to enforce regularization of workers in numerous instances. To cite a few examples. One is a Japanese-owned electronics factory in the Cavite ecozone that has refused to regularize hundreds of its agency workers despite an order from the DOLE. Second is the PALEA 600 who have not been reinstated by Philippine Airlines as regular workers despite a settlement agreement that provides for it. Finally the case of 149 Pizza Hut contractual workers who were retrenched when they sought regularization but have been reinstated only as agency workers.”

“The contagion of contractualization is spreading instead of being contained. In Toledo City in Cebu province, a large mining company is laying off workers who will then be hired as contractuals in agencies to do the same work. So we ask DOLE: Show us the 25,000 new regulars!,” Magtubo averred.

He quipped that “It seems that the news of 25,000 newly regularized workers is fake similar to posts in Mocha Uson's controversial blog,” he insisted.

Magtubo also slammed Bello’s endorsement of the employers’ “win-win” formula on contractualization. “The so-called win-win formula of the employers and now the DOLE will not end endo. The ‘win-win’ scheme is a scam that will lead to the utter proliferation of outsourcing and contracting out of regular jobs in the principal employers. The Labor Secretary is turning his back on the participants to the three Labor Summits convened by the DOLE in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao who resolved to end all forms of contractualization,” insisted Magtubo.

November 24, 2015

MEDIA ADVISORY

November 29, 2016

Contact: Judy Ann Miranda @ 09228677522

"End endo,""Marcos Hindi Bayani" top Bonifacio Day workers demands

Workers to hold nationwide rallies tomorrow to demand "end endo" and "Marcos Hindi Bayani"

Tomorrow, November 30, 2016

8:00 a.m. Assembly at Welcome Rotonda

9:00 a.m. March to Morayta

10:00 a.m Program at Morayta: End endo

11:00 a.m. March to Mendiola and Program: Marcos Hindi Bayani

The labor coalition Nagkaisa wil lead the Bonifacio Day commemoration at Manila with a big rally to oppose the "win-win" solution and push for the "end endo" formula that entails prohibiting all forms of contractualization, including outsourcing.

Around noon, militant labor organizations and other advocacy groups will troop to Mendiola to register the voice of the working class against the hero's burial of Marcos.

Similar rallies are to be held in other key cities:

Cebu City: 8:00 am March from downtown Colon to Plaza Independencia

Bacolod: 2:00 pm Rally at Bacolod marker Araneta

Davao City: 8:00 am March from Freedom Park to Bonifacio Monument

Several thousand workers are marching in key cities tomorrow to commemorate Bonifacio Day, demand a ban on contractualization and protest the hero’s burial of Marcos. Meanwhile the militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) today slammed the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for a statement that foreign firms will pull out if contractualization is banned.

“The DTI is just parroting the usual capitalist blackmail when workers make demands that dent their profit. Firms, foreign or local, want contractualization because it is a way to cheapen labor costs by denying them job security and the opportunity to unionize and bargain for better wages and benefits,” argued Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

The nationwide Bonifacio Day rallies by the labor coalition Nagkaisa are billed as a “National Day of Action Vs. Endo.” PM together with other labor groups are rejecting the so-called “win-win” solution on contractualization and pushing for “end endo” formula of prohibition of subcontracting of regular jobs.

“The misnamed win-win scheme of the employers and DTI will not end endo. It is a scam that will lead to the utter proliferation of outsourcing and contracting out of regular jobs by the principal employers,” explained Magtubo.

Member groups of Nagkaisa will assemble tomorrow 8:00 a.m. at the Welcome Rotonda and then march to Morayta where it will hold a program. Militant workers will then join advocacy groups for another rally around noon at Mendiola to register labor’s condemnation of the surprise hero’s burial for Marcos.

To express labor’s twin demands tomorrow, PM is highlighting the slogan “Ilibing ang kontraktwalisasyon hindi ang kasalanan ni Marcos.” Magtubo averred that “Students have already made their stand known. Tomorrow workers will voice out their position on the burning issues of our country.”

PM and Nagkaisa are also holding mobilizations in key cities tomorrow. In Cebu City, workers will march from downtown Colon to Plaza Independencia. Industrial and sugar workers are going to rally at the Bacolod marker Araneta. In Davao City tomorrow, workers are marching from the Freedom Park to the Bonifacio Monument.

PM also expressed doubt on the announcement the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that 25,000 contractual workers have been made regular. Instead PM revealed that the DOLE has not been able to enforce regularization of workers in numerous instances. The militant group said that there is a Japanese-owned electronics factory in the Cavite ecozone that has refused to regularize hundreds of its agency workers despite an order from the DOLE. It cited the case of the PALEA 600 who have not been reinstated by Philippine Airlines as regular workers despite a settlement agreement that provides for it. Finally PM also pointed out the case of 149 Pizza Hut contractual workers who were retrenched when they sought regularization but have been reinstated only as agency workers. “It seems that the news of 25,000 newly regularized workers is fake similar to posts in Mocha Uson's controversial blog,” Magtubo said.

November 29, 2015

Several thousand workers marched in key cities today to commemorate Bonifacio Day, demand a ban on contractualization and protest the hero’s burial of Marcos.

The nationwide rallies led by the labor coalition Nagkaisa were billed as a “National Day of Action Vs. Endo.” Partido Manggagawa (PM) together with other labor groups rejected the so-called “win-win” solution on contractualization and pushed for an “end endo” formula of prohibition of subcontracting of regular jobs.

“The misnamed win-win scheme proposed by employers, and promoted by the Trade and Labor Departments will not end endo. It is a scam that will lead to the utter proliferation of outsourcing and contracting out of regular jobs by the principal employers,” explained Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

Member groups of Nagkaisa marched from Welcome Rotonda to Morayta where it held a program. Militant workers then joined other groups for another rally around noon at Mendiola to register labor’s condemnation of the surprise hero’s burial for Marcos. Labor organizations later participated in the broad protest at the People Power Monument called by the Coalition Against the Marcos Burial.

In Cebu City, workers marched from downtown Colon to Plaza Independencia. Industrial and sugar workers rallied at the Bacolod marker Araneta. In Davao City, workers marched from the Freedom Park to the Bonifacio Monument.

To express labor’s twin demands, PM highlighted the slogan “Ilibing ang kontraktwalisasyon hindi ang kasalanan ni Marcos.” Magtubo averred that “Students have already made their stand known. Today workers voiced out too their position on the burning issues of our country.”

“A hero’s burial for the late dictator is a stepping stone for the return to power of another Marcos. We can’t move on to a future where the occupant of Malacanang is an unrepentant member of a family that pillaged the public treasury and burdened generations with debt,” he added.

Magtubo argued that “President Duterte is accountable for this mockery of justice. He is in fact simply paying a debt, probably not of gratitude. Duterte’s newfound respect for the letter of the law in the case of Marcos’ burial contrasts with his utter disregard for due process and human rights for most everything else, including the execution of a bloody war on drugs.”

November 30, 2016

NAGKAISA

A better policy is possible

A win-win solution to endo is unacceptable

The only chance for Filipino workers to enjoy a life of dignity is to have secure and good paying jobs. Contractualization is spoiling this dream. And the government is unacceptably prolonging the misery.

By raising the bogey of massive job loss once the government accedes to workers’ demand for an end to all forms of contractualization, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), was in effect forcing the workers to accept its win-win formula that allows, rather than prohibit, the perpetuation of different forms of contractualization.

The DTI proposal is unacceptable on two grounds. First, the end endo promise, the way it was presented by the President during the election campaign, did not mean the end of one form of contractualization and the legalization of another type. Second, legalizing sub-contracting and outsourcing work arrangement is a ploy to shield employers from assuming their inherent responsibility of providing direct and regular employment to their workers. Regularization done in contractor agencies rather than in mother companies is a fraud.

We don’t want to assume that the DTI wish is the President’s command. But why is the President’s command now marching towards a different direction?

Saan kami ngayon kukuha ng kapal ng kumpyansa kung wala na sa mukha ng gubyerno ang kaseryosohang ganap na itigil ang endo? Kung ang DTI at DOLE ay parehong win-win na ang tono?

Analogous to the time of Gat Andres Bonifacio, the epidemic of contractualization diminishes the plight of Filipino workers to a life of colonial subjects unable to exercise their freedom because none of their masters today would want to recognize their sovereign existence as regular employees.

Hindi pinangarap ni Gat Andres Bonifacio ang ganitong buhay para sa mga Pilipino. Filipinos did not wage a revolution against colonial exploitation only to be subjected to another form of oppression.

Kung gayon ay dapat mabatid: Kung ayaw tapusin ng gubyerno ang endo, hindi rin tatapusin ng uring manggagawa ang kanyang rebolusyon.

November 30, 2016

The group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today declared that workers should be on high alert against violations of their rights during the holiday season. The group announced this as the PNP declared yesterday that the country is high terror alert.

“Wage theft and other labor rights abuse are a more pressing concern for workers rather than bombing threats from terrorist groups. First on the labor alert list are employers who plan to steal the 13^th month pay of their workers,” explained Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

PM reminded workers that all private sector employees, including contractuals and kasambahays, are entitled to receive the equivalent of 1/12 of their total basic pay for the calendar year no later than December 24 as entitlement.

“The only condition of the law is that workers have worked at least one month during 2016. Wag tularan ang mga abusadong kapitalista. Like the giant shipyard in Central Luzon, P100 is deducted from the 13^th month pay of its thousands of contractual workers for every day of absence within the year. Last month, an association of kasambahays estimate the half of domestic workers do not get 13^thmonth pay or the full amount due them,” Magtubo insisted.

He added that “Next on the labor alert list are employers who do not pay overtime and holiday pay even as they force workers to do extended work to meet production demand and rush deadlines. These abusive employers are wage thieves. Forced overtime is actually illegal and workers who refuse to work beyond eight hours should not be penalized.”

“We are also on the look out for companies who have closed down and trying to run away from their obligations to workers. They are Grinches stealing Christmas from workers. One example is VTCT Business Technology, a call center in Baguio City that suddenly closed last November 4 and left workers with at least one month unpaid wages. Another is a BPO company in Cebu City that shutdown abruptly a few days ago without paying its 213 employees two months of salaries,” Magtubo elucidated.

The group also cited the case of the garments firm Faremo International which shutdown in order to bust the union and whose workers will spend Christmas at the picketline in the Cavite economic zone. “Management filed for closure due to lack of orders but one of its clients, the global brand Gap, has already admitted that they actually increased purchases for this year. We call on Gap and Faremo’s other clients, JC Penney and Kohl’s, to act on the workers complaints according to the terms of their supplier code of conduct which mandates respect for the right to unionize,” Magtubo averred.

“Likewise on our list are employers who obstinately refuse to regularize their employees even as the DOLE issues praise releases about 25,000 contractuals allegedly made regular. Despite mediation by the DOLE, Philippine Airlines has resisted re-employing the PALEA 600 as provided by a settlement agreement. Meanwhile in the Cavite ecozone, a Japanese-owned electronics firm has snubbed a DOLE order to regularize hundreds of its contractual workers after being found guilty of labor-only contracting,” Magtubo stated.

He said that “Finally we are on heightened alert as the DOLE is set to issue this month a new order on contractualization. We warn the DOLE and the government against betraying its promise of ending endo by surrendering to the ‘win-win’ proposal of employers.”

December 2, 2016

7 December 2016

MEDIA ADVISORY

Buhay na may Dignidad para sa Lahat (DIGNIDAD)

85-B Masikap Street Ext., Barangay Central, Diliman, Quezon City | Tel. # 7097833

Requests press coverage of its event on the occasion of HUMAN RIGHTS WEEK

“WALK THE TALK” for A LIFE OF DIGNITY FOR ALL

A community workshop and walk with messages

addressed to the Duterte Administration

D E C E M B E R 8, 2016

2:00 - 4:30 PM - WORKSHOP at SAN ROQUE CHAPEL

along Sebastian Street Barangay San Roque (North Triangle), Quezon City

(from Agham Road, across Philippine Science High School, enter the community through

“talipapa” near the tri-bike and tricycle terminal. From there, about 8min. walk to the chapel)

4:30 pm - WALK

from the Chapel to Agham Road then to Bantayog ng mga Bayani

5 - 5:30 pm - NOISE BARRAGE and CANDLE LIGHTING at Bantayog ng mga Bayani

Contact: Teody Gacer @ 09297181427; Ana Vitacion @09175584657

On the occasion of the International Human Rights Week, DIGNIDAD Coalition will hold on December 8 a community workshop and walk dubbed as “WALK the TALK” to raise people’s awareness on human rights including social and economic rights. It will also highlight people’s calls addressed to the present administration to fulfill these rights.

There will be a discussion with about 100 women, men, and youth in the urban poor community in North Triangle. Then participants will breakout to make a poster or any visual representation of their appreciation of human rights (placard, drawing, etc.). By 4:30pm, the workshop participants and other people in the community – carrying their outputs from the workshop (drawing, placard, etc.) – will walk from the chapel going to Agham Road, then to Bantayog ng mga Bayani. The event will culminate with a noise barrage and candle lighting.

For Dignidad, the biggest war of the Duterte administration should be the war against poverty and inequality. This war is crucial in eliminating drugs, criminality, and terrorism. Many believe that his electoral victory is hugely a protest vote by the masses against the Luzon-based oligarchy and incidentally a vote to end chronic poverty, unemployment, and the social injustice stemming from the people’s lack of access to the essential requirements for a humane life. However, the development blueprint of his administration still looks sketchy. Until now, the people have yet to see a clear development program that will address the economic and social ills in the country.

Dignidad Coalition is a broad platform composed of 32 grassroots organizations, labor groups and other sectoral coalitions, movement‐based party‐lists and multi‐sectoral issue-based coalitions, church‐based organizations, human rights groups and academics advancing an agenda towards the realization of a life of dignity for all Filipinos. It aims to raise people’s awareness on social and economic rights and to promote programs through the campaign for a Universal, Comprehensive, and Transformative Social Protection and its eight specific demands. These demands are on work and livelihood, social/public services, food, and social security. Among its members are: Kilos Maralita, WomanHealth, Freedom from Debt Coalition, PATAMABA, KABAPA, Coalition of Services of the Elderly, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, NASSA, SENTRO, Partido ng Manggagawa,, Alab Katipunan, ARYA, Kilusan, Rights Network, IRDF, PKMK)

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