Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Vol. V, No. 44      December 11 - 17, 2005      Quezon City, Philippines

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LABOR WATCH

3-Day Strike at Tommy Hilfiger Shirt Factory Ends

Workers of a clothing factory chose to fight for their benefits and went on strike, a decidedly unfashionable course of action these days. They won – in just three days. 

 

by Dennis Espada

Bulatlat

 

CABUYAO, Laguna – Workers of a clothing factory producing Tommy Hilfiger shirts decided to engage in what is today an unfashionable course of action – to go on strike. Unlike in other strikes, the workers of Maxglory Apparel Inc. got their demands in just three days.

 

Last Dec. 3, the 37 regular employees of Maxglory Apparel Inc. that went on strike ended their protest after a dialogue with the management. The latter agreed to grant the workers their separation pay which is equivalent to 150% of their 45-day salary multiplied by the number of years of service. The benefit package includes payments for the three-month strike duration and vacation and sick leaves.

 

According to Tom Dimailig of the Cabuyao Worker’s Alliance (CAWAL), the worker’s union won their battle because of the massive support of the community and other local unions.

 

“Maayos naman ang negosasyon sa may-ari ng kumpanya na nagpunta mismo sa piketlayn at humarap sa mga manggagawa (The negotiation went well. The company owner himself went to the picketline to face the workers),” he said, referring to Filipino-Chinese Ulysses Young, owner of Maxglory.

 

The Maxglory Apparel Employees Independent Union went to strike last Dec. 1 because of management refusal to negotiate in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), low wages, union-busting and the company’s illegal closure.

 

Composed mostly of women, the workers received P194.75 (US$3.61) per day which is way below the reclassified P259 (US$4.80) wage laid down by the Regional Tripartite Wage Board-Bureau of Labor Relations-Region IV-A (RTPWB-RIV-A).

 

Dimailig said that before the bilateral settlement, there was an attempt to harass the picketline when the management tried to dispatch at least two buses loaded with “scabs” whose entry was thwarted by the strikers.

 

Located in Barangay Pulo here, Maxglory exports shirt products to known brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Quicksilver, American Eagle, Walt Disney and Paxsan.

 

Sweatshops

 

“Maxglory workers are victims of an international scale of ‘labour flexibilization’ such as subcontracting. Big companies such as Tommy Hilfiger take advantage of it, thru its subcontractors like Maxglory, exploiting the cheap labor in the Philippines,” Luz Baculo, secretary-general of the Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno (Unity of Workers in Southern Tagalog-May First Movement) said in a statement.

 

Tommy Hilfiger is a multi-billion dollar company known globally for men’s and ladies’ wear, jeans and fragrances. It was named after a famous American fashion designer.

 

On Sept. 15, 2004, another apparel company, Fashion House Garments Inc. in Carmona, Cavite, closed down, resulting in the displacement of more than 1,000 contractual workers. Aside from being denied of their overtime pay and back wages, employees were also forced to work non-stop for 21 hours and were given medicines to keep them awake and endure exhaustion. The Korean-owned subcontractor manufactures branded clothes like GAP, Old Navy and Allison.

 

Pamantik-KMU said trade liberalization has allowed the proliferation of sweatshops and the infringement of minimum wage levels and other labor standards to entice foreign investments. Bulatlat

 

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© 2005 Bulatlat  Alipato Publications

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