Workers refute government's "rosy" report on labor

CEBU, Philippines – Labor group Partido ng Manggagawa disputed the report released by Labor Secretary Marianito Roque and Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto, which they dubbed as “rosy GRIM report”.

PM chairperson Rene Magtubo, in a press statement sent to The Freeman, said that in the export zones of Cebu and Calabarzon, which are “ground zero” of the impact of the perfect economic storm, what they see are continuous retrenchments and not a tapering of layoffs, as earlier reported by Roque and Recto.

With this, Magtubo challenged the DOLE chief to show a capitalist who has rehired their retrenched workers and “we will present a hundred workers who remain jobless and penniless.”

Magtubo even cited the recent termination of workers at Lear, a locator at the Mactan Export Processing Zone, which recently retrenched more or less 400 workers.

Another MEPZ locator, the Sauna World or Sawo, a factory producing sauna and spa heaters terminated 84 workers, which represents about half of its work force.

“Even assuming that job losses are indeed tapering off, government has not even made good on its promised aid to displaced workers. Two weeks ago officials were announcing that electronics firms will not retrench workers and instead pay employees half of their wages while undergoing training. They also promised that laid off electronics workers should receive benefits on top of their separation pay,” Magtubo said.

He added that among the 400 terminated Lear workers were those who availed of a retirement offer but others were simply retrenched without the required 30 days notice. 

On the other hand, Magtubo said that Sawo declared in its termination letter to its workers that it is suffering from losses due to the economic crisis and offered to pay only 15 days per year of service in separation pay.

For the coming commemoration of Labor Day, PM is demanding a bailout package for workers in the light of continuous hemorrhage in jobs in export firms. The bailout includes subsidy for displaced workers from the SSS, GSIS and OWWA; tax refund for all wage earners; expansion and reform of the public employment program; extension of health care coverage for displaced workers; and moratorium on demolitions and evictions.

“Bailing out the workers is just the first step. Reversing the policies that brought about the crisis itself is the next. The policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization must be rolled back,” Magtubo added. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/WAB (THE FREEMAN)