8 hurt as labor row hits 2nd Clark firm

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — At least eight picketing workers were injured in another violent clash as labor unrest rocked a second major firm which announced recently its closure at the Clark special economic zone (CSEZ).

Nelia Tarangco, information officer of the Kapisanan ng Manggagawa ng Kita Corp. (KMKC), said yesterday that workers of Kita Corp., which was listed in 1998 as CSEZ’s top dollar-earning exporter, have been picketing the firm since it issued termination papers to all of its about 400 workers to pave the way for its closure.

The firm’s security men swooped down on some 150 striking workers at about 2:30 p.m. yesterday and allegedly stabbed two of them with penknives and other pointed objects, even as other security men allegedly mauled six others.

The security men attacked the workers for blocking the entry of two container vans into the Kita compound.

The injured were not immediately identified. Violent incidents also occurred two weeks ago at the compound of Yokohama Tires Philippines Inc. here when security men of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) swooped down on picketing workers protesting the termination of their union officers and the suspension of others who had joined nationwide work stoppages to protest the Estrada administration last January.

Kita Corp. announced earlier its closure allegedly arising from losses, but workers said it was merely moving operations to its factories at the Laguna industrial park.

The picketing workers have been blocking the entry and departure of container trucks to prevent the transfer of raw materials and finished products to Laguna.

Tarangco said that the workers are demanding full separation pay. She said that under the policies of Kita’s mother firm Solid Group of Companies, only workers who had rendered 10 years of service would be entitled to full separation benefits. — Ding Cervantes