More arrests to silence unions

On 17 March 2009, an arrest warrant was issue for the arrest of 33 militant unionists charged by the Cavite Provincial Prosecutor’s Office with direct assault and grave coercion. Of those for whom warrants were issued, 31 were officers and members of Chong Won and Phils Jeon factories, owned by Koreans, and two were officers of the Solidarity of Cavite Workers, a worker support organization based within the same economic zone.

The criminal charges stemmed from complaints filed on 12 October 2006 by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

The two unions of Chong Won and Phils Jeon had gone on strike on 25 September 2006 due to the refusal of their companies to negotiate for a colelctive bargaining agrement with the unions. The peaceful strikes were violent dispersed on 25 and 27 September by the PEZA’s police force and guards from Jantro Security Agency, at the request of the two companies, so that scabs could freely enter the company gates.

The workers had been violently attacked with clubs and kicking, while the strikers could only defend themselves with their bare hands.

The minimum total bail needed for the workers is Php 312,000.00 (US$ 6,500).

The workers have been very disheartened and shocked that simply by asserting their legal rights they could end up not only physically attacked but arrested and jailed. They are seeking support of unions and NGOs to meet bail and extend solidarity to the workers.

Calabarzon hardest-hit by global crisis

More than 40,000 workers have lost their jobs in the country since the onset of the global financial crisis last October, said Labour Secretary Marianito Roque.

Roque said more than half of the 40,191 workers laid off came from the Calabarzon region, where economic zones hosting companies engaged in manufacturing and export are located. Calabarzon consists of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.

‘The export industry in the ecozones is the hardest hit because of the slump in demand,’ he said at a press briefing.

Other big groups of dismissed workers are those from the garments and furniture industries, according to the labour secretary.

Roque said in January that 200,000 workers could lose their jobs in the first six months of the year. The layoffs in the Philippines are not limited to factories. US-based outsourcing firm Accenture is laying off 500 people from its Manila-based operations due to the effects of the global financial crisis, the labour department said Wednesday.