“It was nerve-wracking, especially since it was our first time and it was inside the company. But once we were there, we had no choice but to be brave. We had to stand firm—no one would give up,” a Nexperia woman worker said.
Food blockade has been observed as a recurring action imposed by the management and private security in response to the workers’ right to strike.
“We are staging this strike so that our legitimate demands will be met. We are only looking for fair wages and benefits. Instead, [Nexperia] management has given us notices of termination.”
Coca-Cola Cebu is set to retrench the workers following the termination of their contract with manpower agency Exeltech Manpower and Services Incorporated. However, the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights noted that the retrenchment actually comes following an order from the Department of Labor and Employment to regularize the workers, calling the move a “naked display of corporate greed."
At least ten security guards posted for duty along the Central Luzon Link Expressway spent last Christmas with no wages.
Bulatlat gathered the wage orders issued by RTWPB Northern Mindanao in the past years and found out that the most recent wage hike is the lowest increase to be implemented since 2018, specifically in the non-agriculture sector.
“Ayroso has long been the target [of management] because of his willingness to fight for their Collective Bargaining Agreement, Occupational Safety and Health inspections, and other workers’ rights,” Kilusang Mayo Uno said in its statement.
“Instead of addressing the just and reasonable demands of the workers, their response is union busting,” NAFLU-KMU said in a statement. “Their goal is to force the workers to accept the very low offer of a P17-wage increase, which is not enough to support a decent living amid rising prices of goods and services.”
“Time and again, we’ve proven that the union is the strongest weapon and shield that we have against exploitation.”
Invisible Labor's director Joanne Cesario said that the documentary’s success was a collective effort by the workers’ movement and advocates dedicated to preserving labor history. Reflecting on a 2022 gathering of labor rights advocates, Cesario shared how they recognize the urgent need to mainstream labor history, even within the workers’ movement itself.
Platform workers often fall into debt either as a result of working or in the process of getting into the industry. Dr. Cheryl Ruth Soriano noted that in many cases, workers took out loans to use as initial capital, usually to purchase motorcycles, fuel, shoulder maintenance costs, and so on.
Labor rights activists from Southern Tagalog-based labor center Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (PAMANTIK-KMU) held a protest action in front of the Department of National Defense (DND) in Quezon City, demanding the release of labor organizers Gavino...
“Like most victims of extrajudicial killings, the police used the story line that he resisted arrest and was killed. But our initial findings reveal that he was killed on purpose. He was considered as ‘enemy of the state’ under the Marcos Jr. administration."
Since its launch in June 2017, several groups have continuously protested against the government's public transport modernization program (PTMP). In Cagayan de Oro, a few jeepney operators were forced to sell their units, losing interest in the program.
"If the LTFRB only knows about extensions, what’s stopping the government from just scrapping the whole program instead of repeatedly deceiving and playing us around?”
From previously having 500 personnel, only 23 were retained for the monitoring unit. Sixty of the retrenched employees filed a complaint to the regional office of CSC in the Western Visayas, which BACIWA responded by declaring their positions “redundant” through an office order. On August 21, 2021, the CSC ordered the reinstatement of 60 employees “without loss of seniority and shall be entitled to full pay from the time of their separation until actual reinstatement.”
“There is nothing new for workers in Bongbong Marcos’ ‘Bagong Pilipinas’. Workers still face repression, illegal retrenchment, and other forms of exploitation.”
"Many of the dismissed employees had been with the company for years, contributing to its growth and stability," said Fajardo, emphasizing that "the layoffs are a clear attempt to weaken the union and silence workers' voices."
For a breadwinner in a five-member family in Metro Manila, this falls short of P686.49, as the family daily living wage in NCR is P1,190, according to the economic think tank IBON Foundation.
Minimum wage earners in five regions earned less than P300 a day in January 2023, and less than P310 in 2024, after inflation.
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