Workers resorting to on-line protests

MANILA, Philippines – Instead of going on work stoppage, disgruntled workers are now mounting on-line protests to express their grievances against “abusive” employers.

Workers at the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) and members of the militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) have brought their fight against their foreign employer to cyberspace.

Willy Dondoyano, one of the workers of a Taiwanese-owned factory in MEPZ in Cebu said they opted to mount an e-protest to expose the abuses of their employer not only nationwide but also abroad.

“We were inspired by the on-line protest against Charter Change. But in our case, we are appealing to labor and advocacy groups abroad,” Dondayano said.

Dondayano noted that the major clients of their Taiwanese employers are consumers from the United States and various European countries.

According to Dondayano, 300 workers have participated in the on-line protest, which they launched the other night in an effort to solicit support against their employer, who suspended seven union leaders.

Through the on-line campaign, Dondayano said, they have gained the support of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE).

In a letter sent to their Taiwanese employer, Dondayano said, UE sought a reverse of the suspension order and requested a meaningful dialogue with the local workers.

PM-Cebu spokesperson Dennis Derige, urged the public to sign up in the on-line campaign, which he said is now an innovative form of protest action for workers.

“Since the start of the campaign, 10 unions from the US, Canada, Germany, Australia, India and Malaysia have already signed up for the campaign,” Derige said.

As this developed, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday a continuing decline in the number of workers who are opting to go work stoppage due to labor disputes.

Preliminary data from the DOLE-National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) showed a 37-percent drop in the number of notices of strikes filed by workers nationwide.

In the first five months this year, NCMB posted a total of 105 notices of strike which is lower than the 166 notices filed before the NCMB during the same period last year.

A total of 21,816 workers filed notices of strikes from Jan. 1 to May 31. The figure was 14-percent lower compared to 31,957 workers involved in the notices of strikes last year.

NCMB officials also reported that more than half of the notices of strikes have already been settled with majority of the labor disputes settled amicably.

The same NCMB data also showed that only one of the total notices of strike turned into an actual strike, which affected the employment of 700 workers. –Mayen Jaymalin, Philippine Star