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Mga manggagawa ng UniPak, kinundena ang marahas na dispersal sa NutriAsia piketlayn

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Nakabantay sa kanilang kampuhan sa tarangkahan ng Navotas Fishport Complex ang mga manggagawa ng Slord Development Corporation (na gumagawa ng UniPak Sardines) nang nabalitaan nila ang marahas na pagbuwag ng pulis sa piketlayn ng mga manggagawa ng NutriAsia mga alas-3 ng hapon noong Hulyo 30.

Basahin: Meycauayan police arrest workers, youth, journalists in violent NutriAsia strike dispersal

Sa hapon ring iyon, naglunsad ng condemnation protest ang mga myembro ng Samahang Manggagawa sa Slord Development Corporation sa tapat ng kanilang kampuhan.

“Mga malilit na manggagawa ang nagpapaunlad sa mga kapitalista. Kung wala ang mga manggagawa, wala ang mga korporasyong ito,” ani Norinda Nacinopa, tagapangulo ng samahan.

Kinundena ng samahan ang marahas na pagbuwag ng piketlayn pagkatapos na magsagawa ng ecumenical service ang mga nag-iistrayk na manggagawa ng NutriAsia kasama ang mga tagasuporta nito. Nanawagan rin ang ang mga manggagawa ng Slord ng hustisya para sa kapwa nilang manggagawang nasaktan sa insidente. Labinsiyam ang kumpirmadong nakadetine nang inaresto ng mga pulis ang mga manggagawa at mga tagasuporta, kasama na ang mga myembro ng alternatibong media.

Hindi nalalayo ang kalagayan ng mga manggagawa ng NutriAsia sa mga manggagawa ng Slord Development Corporation. Sa ilalim ng sistemang kontraktwalisasyon, walang katiyakan ang mga manggagawa sa pagtatrabaho. Sa isang takdang panahon, o kahit kailang gugustuhin ng may-ari o tagapamahala ng korporasyon, ay maaaring matanggal ang isang kontraktwal na manggagawa. Ipinagbabawal rin sa mga kontraktwal ang magbuo ng unyon o maglunsad ng istrayk.

Dinadaing rin ng mga manggagawa ang Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion o TRAIN Law, kung saan patuloy na tumataas ang presyo ng mga bilihin ngunit nananatiling mababa sa minimum ang sahod ng mga manggagawa.

Ayon sa IBON Foundation, hindi nakakatulong sa 17.2 milyong pinakamahirap na pamilya ang pagbaba ng personal income tax, bagkus ay nagbabayad pa sila nang malaki para sa mga batayang bilihin. Walo sa 10 Pilipino o 76% ng populasyon ay apektado sa TRAIN.

 

 

The post Mga manggagawa ng UniPak, kinundena ang marahas na dispersal sa NutriAsia piketlayn appeared first on Manila Today.

POWER mounts 3-day camp-out ahead of DOLE deadline vs. PLDT

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POWER mounts 3-day camp-out ahead of DOLE deadline vs. PLDT

Members of the PLDT Organization of Workers and Employees for Rights (POWER) started their countdown protest camp-out and vigil at the main office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Manila today as the deadline of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to the telecom giant to regularize its contractual workers lapses tomorrow, July 31.

The group said that after their mandatory conference with DOLE last July 11, Secretary Bello issued a clarificatory order to PLDT that reiterated its prior regularization directives and gave the company until end of July to comply.

Exactly one month today after PLDT terminated its service contracts with all of its agencies nationwide that led to the massive lay-offs of some 12,000 contractual PLDT workers, members of POWER set-up protest tents at DOLE to remind the agency of its commitment to immediately enforce its own orders.

Terminated PLDT workers speak with DOLE undersecretary Joel Maglungsod. Photo by Katrina Yamzon.

“It’s been already one month today after we lost our jobs and the main source of income, and yet nothing significant has been implemented by DOLE in terms of our regularization to PLDT. We have been waiting long enough for a decisive and significant move from DOLE to compel PLDT to implement their compliance order,” said Dan Joshua Nazario, president of POWER.

Nazario added, “As we camp out today, we are hopeful that we can hear and witness a stronger position and action from DOLE in favor to our regularization. On the other hand, we urge the PLDT management to have a heart and push through with our regularization in the soonest possible time.”

300,000 ‘regularized’ workers questioned

POWER also casted doubts to the declared 300,000 workers who have been regularized by the government during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) speech of President Rodrigo Duterte last week.

The group attested that the 12,000 contractual workers of PLDT are surely not yet included in such list as they were still waiting for their regularization.

They also insisted that the total implementation of their regularization in PLDT could have substantiated these 300,000 data of Bello and Duterte during the SONA last week.

Nazario said, “While PLDT contractual workers remain jobless and in floating status, the 300,000-accomplishment report of the government will mean nothing but empty figures and data.”

He insisted that the regularization of the 12,000 PLDT contractuals will set a strong precedent to other contractuals in other companies with pending compliance orders.”

CA urged to junk PLDT petition

Before setting-up their camp in DOLE, members of POWER trooped to the Court of Appeals in Manila to stage a picket rally to urge the CA to immediately junk the appeal and petition for certiorari of the PLDT management which opposed the DOLE compliance order.

The group said that the CA must support the DOLE order and must side in favor of the regularization of thousands of PLDT contractual workers.

Aside from junking the PLDT petition, POWER also called on all CA justices not to grant PLDT a temporary restraining order (TRO) regarding this issue.

“Favoring the petition and issuing a TRO in favor of the PLDT management would prolong the sufferings of our families and would put our regularization status in danger. We are hopeful that the CA will heed our demands and will not allow itself to be used by PLDT on its greedy and anti-worker objectives,” Nazario said.

The post POWER mounts 3-day camp-out ahead of DOLE deadline vs. PLDT appeared first on Manila Today.

Scores hurt, arrested from violent dispersal by police and NutriAsia guards

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Nineteen NutriAsia workers and supporters were arrested as 100 elements of the Meycauyan Police and security guards dispersed the picketline just outside the factory in Marilao, Bulacan. In a phone interview with Bulatlat, NutriAsia worker William Espiritu said the violence started at around 3. pm. today, July 31. While an ecumenical prayer by some 300 workers […]

On its 32nd anniversary: NUJP members attacked by Nutriasia guards July 30, 2018

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(UPDATED) On its 32nd anniversary: NUJP members attacked by Nutriasia guards, arrested July 30, 2018 As the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines marked the 32nd anniversary of our founding, a number of our members, including the deputy secretary general of our Nueva Ecija chapter, were attacked, threatened and arrested as they covered the […]

Meycauayan police arrest workers, youth, journalists in violent NutriAsia strike dispersal

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Workers, youth leaders and journalists were among the individuals arrested at the NutriAsia workers’ strike following a violent dispersal led by the combined forces of the condiment company’s security personnel and the Meycauayan City police earlier this afternoon.

Immediately following an ecumenical service for 300 NutriAsia workers and supporters, around 100 police and NutriAsia security personnel proceeded with the dispersal at around 3 p.m. by closing in on the picket line, hitting protesters with sticks and throwing rocks and hollow blocks.

The violent dispersal took place despite ongoing negotiations between the management and union Nagkakaisang Manggagawa sa NutriAsia. A hearing at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) was also scheduled today.

At least 20 have been injured and wounded from the dispersal, with at least two brought to a nearby hospital due to critical condition.

Leticia Espino, a member of urban poor group Kadamay, has been photographed with blood over her mouth and blouse as security personnel of NutriAsia continued to harass her despite the injuries she sustained during the dispersal.

During the dispersal, at least 19 individuals were confirmed to have been arrested by the Meycauayan police and are currently detained at the Meycauayan City Police Station, League of Filipino Students (LFS) spokesperson Kara Taggao said. NutriAsia’s security personnel also confiscated all the materials of the picket line.

Anakbayan secretary-general Einsten Recedes, LFS deputy secretary-general Mark Quinto, UP College of Science student Jon Bonifacio, members of alternative media outfits Kodao Productions and AlterMidya, and members of Nagkakaisang Manggagawa sa NutriAsia were among the 19 arrested.

Meycauayan City Police Chief Supt. Santos Mera have accused the arrested individuals of instigating violence that led to the dispersal. He also claims to have recovered illegal drugs and firearms from those arrested during the dispersal.

Progressive youth groups held indignation protests at Mendiola and near the Meycauayan City Police Station to condemn the violent dispersal and arrest of youth leaders. Meycauayan police have threatened to arrest protesters in front of the police station. Media personnel are also being barred from the police station.

In a statement, AlterMidya condemned the arrest and violence against journalists covering the strike, urging “to condemn the violent dispersal of the NutriAsia workers strike and the attack on our member journalists. Such an assault violates freedom of the press and the public’s right to know.”

Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) secretary-general Jerome Adonis said that the dispersal is illegal and that “it is yet another display of the fascist character of the Duterte regime.”

“All this violence is a result of Duterte’s failure to fulfill his promise to end contractualization,” Adonis continued.

The KMU secretary-general further decried the illegal intervention of the Bulacan Regional Trial Court, which supposedly ordered police intervention in the strike. Labor disputes are only settled through the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), NCMB and the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).

NutriAsia workers have been demanding fair wages, benefits, safe working conditions and regularization from the condiments company since they started their strike near the company’s Marilao plant last June 2, after over 50 contractual workers were terminated.

DOLE Regional Office 4A Director Zenaida Angara-Campita has ordered NutriAsia to regularize around 1,000 of its contractual workers after the department ruled that company and its contractors Alternative Network Resources Unlimited Multipurpose Cooperative, Serbiz Multi-Purpose Cooperative and B-Mirk Enterprises Corporation were violating labor laws and general labor standards, and –engaged in illegal labor-only contracting schemes.

NutriAsia has refused to comply with DOLE’s compliance order.

Photos and videos from Anakbayan and League of Filipino Students

 

 

The post Meycauayan police arrest workers, youth, journalists in violent NutriAsia strike dispersal appeared first on Manila Today.

STATEMENT: Journalists hurt, arrested at NutriAsia strike dispersal

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The AlterMidya Network (People’s Alternative Media Network) condemns the violent dispersal of the picketline of striking contractual workers of the giant condiments factory NutriAsia in Marilao, Bulacan, which led to the injury and arrest of several members of AlterMidya.

At around 3 p.m., around 50 security guards of NutriAsia and 20 members of the Philippine National Police in Marilao and Meycauayan violently dispersed the workers while an ecumenical mass was being held at the picketline near the factory gates.

AlterMidya correspondent Hiyasmin Saturay was arrested along with other workers, and is currently being held at the Meycauayan police station. Our two other correspondents, Eric Tandoc and Avon Ang, as well one student intern, cannot be located at the moment and are suspected to be held at the Marilao police station. A quick reaction team has been dispatched to ascertain their whereabouts.

Rosemarie Alcaraz, a correspondent for Nueva-Ecija based Radyo Natin Guimba, who was capturing video footage, was pushed by a security guard into the ranks of workers. While trapped inside the picketline, she was hit on the head with rattan sticks by NutriAsia guards. A policeman also hit her camera, a Canon 70D, with a truncheon.

An elderly supporter of the NutriAsia workers strike was injured in a violent dispersal. Photo by Anakbayan-Bulacan State University.

Meanwhile, a video correspondent of Kodao Productions was told by policemen to stop shooting, or else they will destroy his camera equipment.

AlterMidya, a national network of independent media outfits, strongly condemns the violence inflicted by the police and security guards on our journalists. Our members have been consistently covering the strike since Day One, and have shot exclusive footage of the first violent dispersal last June 14, which was shared widely online. In light of the limited mainstream media coverage of the strike by hundreds of contractual workers in the Philippines’ largest condiments factory, a major media advertiser, our coverage has been instrumental in informing the public of the plight of contractual workers of NutriAsia, a plight shared by millions of other contractual workers in the Philippines.

We call on the public to condemn the violent dispersal of the NutriAsia workers strike and the attack on our member journalists. Such an assault violates freedom of the press and the public’s right to know. The PNP must immediately release these journalists.

We also call on colleagues in the mainstream media to report on developments on the NutriAsia workers strike and their struggle against contractualization, a most pressing issue faced by Filipino workers under the Duterte government.

Watch Hiyasmin Saturay’s video report of the NutriAsia dispersal last month 

The post STATEMENT: Journalists hurt, arrested at NutriAsia strike dispersal appeared first on Altermidya.

The children as our teachers

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Last week, I attended HeartMath, a personal development workshop that aims to develop a certain level of resilience to an individual. Resilience here does not only refer particularly to being able to bounce back when something happens. It also touches on the capacity to prepare and to face a situation with equanimity.

Country’s leading art critic Alice Guillermo passes away; tributes pouring in

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Tributes are pouring in for the late University of the Philippines professor and leading art critic Alice Guillermo who passed away Sunday, July 29, due to a lingering illness. She was 80 years old. News of Guillermo’s death immediately circulated among academics, artists, writers and activists Sunday who held off posting announcements and tributes on […]
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