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Reinstatement of Agusan del Sur Palm-oil Workers Sought
Reinstatement of Agusan del Sur Palm-oil Workers Sought
07/05/2013 (Business Mirror) - Militant labor organization Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) on Monday slammed the layoff of 104 palm-oil workers of the Malaysian-owned Agusan Plantation Inc. (API) in Agusan del Sur province’s Trento town on May 2 and blamed President Aquino for it.
According to the group, President Aquino’s policy has emboldened businessmen to illegally retrench workers, who are powerless under the country’s current employer-employee setup.
KMU Chairman Elmer Labog said the API inked a collective-bargaining agreement with the workers’ union—Pinagbuklod na Lakas ng Manggagawa sa Plantasyon ng API, an affiliate of the National Federation of Labor Unions-KMU (NaFLU-KMU)—on March 15. But the deal was reportedly set aside in the API’s decision to lay off workers.
“One day after [President] Aquino boasted about prioritizing job creation, we see how he has emboldened capitalists to destroy jobs by violating workers’ job security,” Labog said.
“Not only has his government failed to generate sufficient jobs for Filipinos, it has allowed capitalists to lay off workers easily, thereby making the country’s employment situation even worse,” he added.
KMU said the illegal retrenchment is part of a drive to bust the workers’ union, saying the plantation’s operations will most likely resume once it destroys the union.
“The owners of API continue to rake in huge profits, that’s something workers know. They are not going bankrupt, despite the destruction caused by Typhoon Pablo [international code name Bopha]. They simply want to bust the workers’ union,” said Jacinto Tanduyan, NaFLU-KMU coordinator for Region 13 (Caraga).
“Palm oil continues to be in demand and capitalists in the palm-oil business continue to target Mindanao for expanding their operations. API will surely resume its operations. [It] should not be allowed to bust the workers’ union. The workers should be reinstated immediately,” he added.
KMU said casual workers and managers should not be seen working if API has really stopped operations.
According to the group, President Aquino’s policy has emboldened businessmen to illegally retrench workers, who are powerless under the country’s current employer-employee setup.
KMU Chairman Elmer Labog said the API inked a collective-bargaining agreement with the workers’ union—Pinagbuklod na Lakas ng Manggagawa sa Plantasyon ng API, an affiliate of the National Federation of Labor Unions-KMU (NaFLU-KMU)—on March 15. But the deal was reportedly set aside in the API’s decision to lay off workers.
“One day after [President] Aquino boasted about prioritizing job creation, we see how he has emboldened capitalists to destroy jobs by violating workers’ job security,” Labog said.
“Not only has his government failed to generate sufficient jobs for Filipinos, it has allowed capitalists to lay off workers easily, thereby making the country’s employment situation even worse,” he added.
KMU said the illegal retrenchment is part of a drive to bust the workers’ union, saying the plantation’s operations will most likely resume once it destroys the union.
“The owners of API continue to rake in huge profits, that’s something workers know. They are not going bankrupt, despite the destruction caused by Typhoon Pablo [international code name Bopha]. They simply want to bust the workers’ union,” said Jacinto Tanduyan, NaFLU-KMU coordinator for Region 13 (Caraga).
“Palm oil continues to be in demand and capitalists in the palm-oil business continue to target Mindanao for expanding their operations. API will surely resume its operations. [It] should not be allowed to bust the workers’ union. The workers should be reinstated immediately,” he added.
KMU said casual workers and managers should not be seen working if API has really stopped operations.