“Most members in my group are seniors,” he said, “My father is 72 years old, yet he drives every day because he doesn’t want to rely on his children. He needs money for medication, electricity and water to survive. Where will they find a livelihood? I’m sure no company would want to hire them anymore, right?”
For single-unit operators like Chel Mallonga, 45, the impact of the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) would be drastic. Once consolidation pushes through, single-unit operators will no longer be granted franchises.
The fact-finding team on the disappearance of a labor organizer said that there are eyewitness reports that the Philippine military is involved.
A global research showed how more than 70 percent of industrial greenhouse gases have been linked to only 100 companies since 1988.
The lay-offs are set to begin while Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations are underway.
For workers in Southern Tagalog, repression is as normal as resistance.
“Jude Thaddeus Fernandez was organizing workers in communities to enjoin them to campaign for wage increases and other workers’ rights. He is a labor organizer and does not bear arms.”
“This journey to assert our rights has not been easy. But we remain determined. We continue to face all difficulties and challenges because we know that we are fighting for what is right.”
A Laguna-based unionist was subjected to surveillance and harassment last August 5, following a series of threats and intimidation of labor leaders in the Southern Tagalog region.
The union has described the lay-offs as a “gross violation” of their Collective Bargaining Agreement, and “a clear-cut case of union busting.”
“The nature of work of delivery riders is unquestionably necessary and desirable to the business and trade of the companies to whom they render their services. Without them, companies engaged in the delivery business have actually no business to speak of. Thus, delivery riders are deemed regular employees by operation of law, regardless of the existence of any work contracts they signed.”