Labor Watch

Growing Turbulence in the Labor Front
Blue Christmas for Workers

Even with the Christmas season, zealously celebrated in the predominantly Catholic Philippines, just around the corner, workers’ unions in the biggest telecommunications company and biggest chain of department stores in the country have threatened to go on strike.

BY BULATLAT.COM

“Muscle-flexing”

The 3,000-strong supervisors’ union and 7,000- strong workers’ union of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) have been holding protest activities, such as noise barrages, prayer rallies, torch parades and picket rallies in various PLDT exchanges and branches in Metro Manila, Lucena, Laguna and Batangas. The “muscle-flexing” activities are part of the unions’ preparations for a full-blown strike.

Faced with threats of lay-off and reassignments, the Manggagawa ng Komunikasyon sa Pilipinas (MKP or Communication Workers in the Philippines) and the Gabay ng Unyon sa Telekomunikasyon ng Superbisor (GUTS or Union of Telecom Supervisors) have linked arms. They are seeking to stop the reported plans of the PLDT management to layoff some 600 workers and implement massive contractualization.

GUTS president Boy Fajardo said PLDT’s profits have reportedly doubled to P2.8 billion and its consolidated revenues by P3 billion in the first half of 2002 alone. “So why is the PLDT management still threatening to layoff or transfer to dubious reassignments some 600 PLDT employees?” Fajardo asked.

The latest in the strike preparation were the GUTS and MKP joint rallies held in Sampaloc, Manila last Nov. 19 and in Makati last Nov. 22. Around 500 phone operators, plant combination employees, radio support, facilities' personnel and other employees and supervisors from Metro Manila took part in the activity. In provincial branches like Calamba, Lucena and Batangas, hundreds of employees also simultaneously held noise barrages and picketing.

Union leader and telephone operator Cristy Arca debunked reports that the decline in operator-assisted calls is the reason why PLDT wants to downsize the number of its regular employees. She charged that the company simply wants to get more profit by replacing regular and unionized workers with contractual, lower-paid and more exploited workers, she said.

Arca explained that though the exact number of PLDT’s contractual workers is hard to determine, the union’s “conservative estimate” puts it at not less 2,000 in Manila and Quezon City alone.

Many operators working the graveyard shift are also contractuals, said Arca. She said the workers are now being made to take on more work to compensate for the decline in manpower.

According to the union, PLDT has retired at least 3,000 workers since 1995 when PLDT introduced its Manpower Reduction Program. 

Strike season?

Meanwhile, shoppers who have gotten used to doing their Christmas shopping at the SM malls may find themselves disoriented if the workers of the largest chain of department stores and malls go on strike before the holiday.

“We are being pinned to the wall.  Shoemart management is pushing us to go on strike,” said SMS president Rose Gablanca.

“Management stalled the collective bargaining negotiation twice since we started in October,” complained Gablanca. 

The union stated that it has already agreed to defer discussion of contentious issues such as the company’s change of name and the union’s non-economic demands just for the negotiations to continue. It has also twice lowered its wage increase demand from P100 to P90 to P80 but complained that SM management only increased its counter-offer from P10 to P12. 

“Should we go on strike,” said Gablanca, “only the management has itself to blame.”

The union, covering a bargaining unit of 1,500 workers in five SM branches, started negotiating for a new collective bargaining agreement in October.  The SM management on the other hand filed a motion for preventive mediation on the issue of the company’s change of name on Oct. 15 and a notice of lockout on Nov. 6.  SM has also filed administrative charges to some of its workers who took part in recent CBA-related union activities. 

“We have families, too, and we do look forward to having a hassle-free Christmas but if SM continues to pin us, our jobs will be on the line and that is a concern that goes beyond the Yuletide Season. We will not hesitate to go on strike anytime,” Gablanca said. 

Aside from the wage increase, the union demands the regularization of SM’s contractual workers.  There are about four contractual workers for every one regular worker in SM. About 85% of SM workers are contractual workers. Bulatlat.com

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