Keppel union files strike notice

CEBU, Philippines - The unionized workers of Keppel-Cebu filed a notice of strike yesterday afternoon following the announcement of the management that it would push through with the implementation of a redundancy program.

Roger Igot, president of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Baradero (NMB) Keppel Shipyard-National Federation of Labor (NFL), accused the management of union busting and for retrenching around 70 percent of its 280 regular rank and file workers.

“Workers will again not leave the shipyard premises and sacrifice time with our families in order to protest the illegal termination. Keppel management is using the crisis as an excuse to replace regular jobs with cheap and docile contractual labor,” Igot said in a press statement.

Last week, the union members started protest actions by remaining within the shipyard compound despite the end of their shift.

The management assembled its work force yesterday morning and despite opposition from the workers, announced the implementation of the redundancy program.

It earlier tried to downsize its workforce by offering a voluntary resignation package that the union strongly rejected.

The redundancy is in line with Keppel Cebu’s decision to shift from ship repair to shipbuilding.

The union however argues that shipbuilding entails even more workers in spite of the introduction of machinery.

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and its allied unions announced that they would support the plan of Keppel workers to go on strike.

PM spokesperson Dennis Derige said that “if the Keppel labor dispute matures into a strike, it will be the third strike in just two months following on the heels of the Giardini del Sole workers.”

“A strike wave is taking shape and the labor unrest is being fanned by the capitalists’ penchant for shifting the burden of the crisis on the workers,” he added.

Derige said the management pays a regular Keppel worker much higher wages and benefits compared to a contractual worker who makes do with below minimum wages and no benefits. — Garry B. Lao/WAB (THE FREEMAN)