SBMA workers decry labor law violations

MANILA, Philippines - Members of a big workers group at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority have renewed their petition to Subic Bay Freeport Zone president Armand Arreza for help in a labor dispute affecting at least 37 employees.

The complainant, workers of the Chandling and Stevedoring Contractors of SBMA, listed five grievances in their petition. They said their employers, which include cargo handlers Amerisia have committed five labor law infractions that include: 1. Failure to pay the mandatory daily minimum wage; 2. Failure to remit to the Social Security System and Pag-ibig Fund their counterpart contributions; 3. Failure to pay overtime allowances and other social benefits; 4. Failure to pay the 13th month pay provided by law; and 5. Failure to provide the workers occupational safety and health protection.

The workers have demanded action from the contractors according to the petition submitted to Arreza, SBMA administrator.

“We are still awaiting the response from Arreza,” according to Roberto Flores, national vice president of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

The workers said they felt they were being exploited by the contractors.

Cargo handling, which requires skilled stevedores, is a big business at the Subic Freeport, managed and supervised by SBMA.

The TUCP, the biggest labor center in the country, is an umbrella for a huge number of trade-union federations, serving hundreds of thousands of organized and unorganized workers.

A labor analyst warned that continued inaction by the contractors and SBMA could explode in a costly strike that “could  be solved justly  with dialogue and compromise.”