After Scoring Killings, U.S. Firms are Dared to Match Words with Action
The Solidarity of
Cavite Workers has urged U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart, as well as six
U.S.-based clothing firms, to match their call to the Macapagal-Arroyo
government to protect workers’ rights with concrete action by pressuring
its local suppliers to protect union rights.
By DENNIS ESPADA
Bulatlat
ROSARIO, Cavite - The
Solidarity of Cavite Workers based here, urged U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart,
as well as six U.S.-based clothing firms, to match their call to the
Macapagal-Arroyo government to protect workers’ rights with concrete
action by pressuring their local suppliers.
Last week, six clothing firms and Wal-Mart
urged the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to undertake measures to ensure
the protection of workers' rights.
This was followed by a strongly-worded
appeal by the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce (JFC) in the Philippines
and the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional
Headquarters last week for an end to extra-judicial killings.
In a joint letter to Malacanang on Nov. 7,
top officials of the U.S.-based American Eagle Outfitters, Gap Inc., Jones
Apparel Group, Liz Claiborne, Phillips-Van Heusen, Polo Ralph Lauren and
Wal-Mart, condemned the escalating political killings in the country and
decried the violent dispersals and harassments perpetrated by Philippine
Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) police and security guards against striking
workers of Korean-owned Chong Won Fashion Inc. and Phils. Jeon Garments
Inc., both of which are located at the Cavite Export Processing Zone (CEPZ)
in Rosario, Cavite, 29 kms south of Manila.
The U.S.-based firms also asked the
government to "support, and fully cooperate with, independent and
impartial investigations" looking into the slaying of Philippine
Independent Church Bishop Alberto Ramento and the shooting of union
leader Gerardo Cristobal.
"We believe that local human and labor
rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can play an important role by
partnering with manufacturers and governmental entities as well as
suppliers and companies to help improve labor practices and working
conditions in the apparel industry. These NGOs should be able to express
their views and carry out their legitimate role freely and without fear of
violence," the letter read.
Wake-up call
The independent think-tank IBON
Foundation said the statements should serve as a "wake up call" to address
the country's worsening human rights record. They cited data from the
Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) which showed that there
were 51 incidents of violations of the rights of workers and semi-workers
during the first half of 2006. There were 109 violations last year.
But organized workers in CEPZ have
reservations as to how Wal-Mart -- a major buyer of Chong Won's products
-- could match its calls with concrete action. They
said its representatives in the country had been "apathetic" to the
strikers' demands.
"They (Wal-Mart) must prove it
decisively," said Solidarity of Cavite Workers (SCW) chair Marlyn
Gonzales. "They must ensure that those workers who were summarily
dismissed are reinstated. They should pressure Chong Won to negotiate with
the union for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Wal Mart should
also restrain Chong Won from violently attacking workers on strike."
Unless they heed this petition, Gonzales
said, Wal-Mart's statements are "a meaningless rhetoric and an attempt to
cover up the atrocities their suppliers are committing."
Battered and killed
Bishop Ramento, at the time he was found
stabbed to death inside his rectory on Oct. 3, was chairman of the Board
of Directors of the church-based Worker's Assistance Center (WAC) while
Cristobal, an SCW member, survived an assassination attempt last April 28
allegedly committed by policemen.
The unions Nagkakaisang Manggagawa sa
Chong Won Fashion (NMCW or United Workers in Chong Won Fashion) and the Kaisahan
ng mga Manggagawa sa Phils. Jeon (KMPJ or Solidarity of Workers in Phils.
Jeon) have been fighting for their first CBAwith management. A total of 50
strikers were battered harshly while defending their picket lines. One of
them was a pregnant worker named Analyn Diaz of Phils. Jeon who reportedly had
a miscarriage.
Last month, the striking workers filed a
complaint before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) charging PEZA and
Philippine National Police (PNP)-Rosario officials of conspiring to
violate their rights and brutally dispersing them "without any lawful
written order." Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2006 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Media Center
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.