Giardini workers file strike notice

Cebu - Workers of furniture company Giardini del Sole yesterday filed a notice of strike before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, alleging that management has failed to comply with an agreement aimed to address the welfare of workers affected by company’s temporary shut-down.

 The union, the Nagkahiusang Puwersa nga Mamumuo sa Giardini-Partido ng Manggagawa, will meet with the NCMB today for the “strike vote.”

PM spokesperson Dennis Derige said they were left with no other choice because the Giardini del Sole management allegedly failed to comply with the work rotation scheme earlier agreed upon to give the terminated workers a chance to continue earning a living.

But Giardini del Sole owner and president Giovannie Bosch belied such an agreement.

“That’s a complete lie. There is no such agreement. I have made no promises. These workers have to look for another job. It is just an illusion that the company will hire them back,” Bosch told The FREEMAN.

Bosch explained that because they do not have orders from their foreign clients, he has no reason to hire the workers back. The company has also reportedly given terminated workers their separation pay.

More than 400 workers of the Mandaue-based company were terminated as the company declared temporary closure two weeks ago, purportedly brought about by the worldwide economic meltdown.

The terminated workers held an overnight vigil rally at the company’s factory in barangay Alang-Alang last night.

The workers are also questioning the timing of the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation declaration that around 7,000 workers from the furniture industry have lost their jobs, by far.

Primitivo Ginoo, Jr., the union’s president said the furniture industry was curiously silent about the hemorrhage of jobs when they figured in a debate with the Department of Labor and Employment about the number of retrenched and rotated workers a few weeks ago.

“But now that we are on the threshold of a strike because of management’s intransigence in implementing the agreement to rotate work among as many workers as possible, they come to the rescue of Giardini’s owner by intimidating and threatening workers with the specter of massive joblessness,” Ginoo said.

Derige added that the looming strike at Giardini will herald labor unrest.

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna, alternate chairman of the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council, believes the issue would go back to the reconciliation table even if the workers have already filed a notice of strike.

Fortuna said Bosch reportedly agreed to give cash assistance to his terminated workers but the same would reportedly depend on the company’s local sales. He is also not sure if the terminated workers have been made aware of the plan.

If he were to assess the situation, Fortuna said he does see any indication that Giardini del Sole has committed unfair labor practice. What the company is experiencing right now, he said, is a liquidity problem owing to zero orders from its foreign clients, particularly those in the United States.

When business was good, the company has reportedly been giving sufficient salaries and benefits to its workers. — Mitchelle Palaubsanon and Flor Perolina/JMO (THE FREEMAN)