LABOR WATCH
'Strike-Free'
Cavite
an Election Ploy – Labor Groups
Militant labor groups
in Cavite,
a province south of Manila, are opposing an accord signed by government,
labor and business groups declaring the province “strike-free”.
by Dennis Espada
Bulatlat
DASMARIñAS, Cavite - Leaders of various
government agencies and labor and business groups recently forged a pact
that ostensibly aims to prop up a "strike-free" Cavite for the attainment
of industrial peace in the province.
Dubbed as "Social Accord for Industrial
Peace, Stability, Job Preservation and Strengthening of Employment in the
Province of Cavite," the covenant-signing was initiated by Cavite Gov. Irineo
"Ayong" Maliksi and Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz, together with at
least 58 sectoral representatives from the national and provincial levels.
The ceremonial signing took place last May 16 at the First Cavite
Industrial Estate in Barangay Langkaan here, some 36 kms south of Manila.
The accord followed the creation of the
Cavite Industrial Peace Council and the Cavite Tripartite Industrial Peace
Council, which seek to resolve labor disputes without resorting to strikes
and lockouts.
But the militant labor alliance, the
Solidarity of Cavite Workers (SCW) views the governor’s move as
detrimental to worker's rights.
Disgrace
Declaring Cavite as "strike-free" zone,
SCW said, is a public admission that Maliksi is enforcing a no-union,
no-strike (NUNS) policy across the province.
Maliksi recently boasted that strike
incidents have declined dramatically from 43 in 2001 to none last year.
Based on the SCW's experiences, no less
than 21 unions it has organized inside the Cavite Economic Processing Zone
(CEPZ) have reportedly succumbed to union busting efforts by capitalists
aided by the office of the governor through the anti-labor armed group
called CIPAG (Cavite Industrial Peace and Advisory Group), the Department
of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority
(PEZA). No less than 11,000 workers lost their jobs, were forced to take
leaves of absence, harassed, charged or arrested to deny them their right
to form a union and collective bargaining.
"Going against workers' right as basic as
the right to strike is a disgrace for someone holding the highest position
in the provincial government," SCW chairperson Marlene Gonzales said in an
email message sent to Bulatlat.
The covenant-signing, Gonzales explained,
does not mean anything to the militant and progressive labor movement
"because a strike-free Cavite is not possible in the midst of the chronic
economic crisis and difficulties being experienced by the workers under
his administration."
Sr. Ellen Belardo, RGS, a Catholic nun and
convenor of the Cavite May One Commemorative Committee, a broad pro-labor
multisectoral alliance, said, "In the face of worsening poverty...and
confronted by the government's renewed violent attacks on the people who
dare express dissent, we take firm commitment and resolve to uphold and
defend the democratic and political rights of the workers and the
people."
Early election propaganda?
The militant labor alliance believes
Maliksi's motive for the ceremonial pact is to win the hearts and support
of big investors and business groups in preparation for the election
showdown with the Remulla clan in 2007.
Former governor Juanito Remulla
(1979-1986, 1988-1995) was, and still is, known for his iron-fist rule and
by brutally implementing the NUNS policy during the dark years of Martial
Law.
Remulla's defeat in the 1995 local
elections led to a wider democratic space for labor organizing and the
re-emergence of genuine and militant unionism in the province.
"Governor Maliksi should learn from the
experience of his benefactor (Remulla). Remulla's downfall in 1995 was
attributable to the collective action of the organized workers against his
candidacy," Gonzales warned. "Maliksi's blatant repression of worker's
rights and the unions would be the end of his political career."
Bulatlat
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