The local automotive industry would try not to shed jobs, officials said, even as some car companies here are already implementing some “efficiency measures” to cut down on costs amid the global downturn.
In a briefing Thursday, Elizabeth Lee, Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) president, said the local auto sector’s about 74,000 workers, which include those involved in auto parts manufacturing and car assembly, would hopefully be less impacted by the financial crisis which has badly hit car markets elsewhere.
But Frank Mero, Philippine Metal Workers Alliance president, admitted that they have already received reports that about 2,000 contractual workers in the electronics firms which churn out parts related to auto production have already been displaced.
Auto industry officials, on the other hand, maintained that layoffs among their labor force would be the last resort, even in a worst-case scenario.
Lee, who is also Universal Motors Corp. (UMC) executive vice president, said UMC would not retrench any of its workers.
Automotive Industry Workers Alliance President Angel Dimalanta, an employee of Toyota Motor Philippines Corp., said they have yet to receive news that Toyota would cut on the workforce in its local car assembly and auto parts production facilities
“It has been observed that Japanese firms such as Toyota usually invest heavily in manpower, so they would not easily let go of their workers, even in bad times. So that when orders pick up again, they don’t have to retrain new people,” Dimalanta said in Filipino.
Mero, who works for Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Philippines, said their company recently has introduced a “redundancy” scheme to employees willing to take early retirement. He said 88 Mitsubishi employees have availed of this program, which would give them hefty compensation packages based on the length of their service.
Toyota Philippines, on the other hand, has discontinued the weekend maintenance overtime work for employees in its local assembly facility, Dimalanta said. This in turn has slashed about 10 percent of the assembly plant’s weekly production output. –Ben Arnold O. de Vera, Reporter, Manila Times
It’s women’s month!
“Support women every day of the year!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Environmental Week
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and Made-in-the-Philippines
Products Week
Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
of the Girl Child Week
Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
Mar 4— Employee Appreciation Day
Mar 15 — World Consumer Rights Day
Mar 18 — Global Recycling Day
Mar 21 — International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Mar 23 — International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims
Mar 25 — International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Mar 27 — Earth Hour