ILO urged: Probe labor rights violations

LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA—Noting earlier recommendations from the International Labor Organization that remain unheeded by companies, workers from Southern Tagalog called on the world body to spend more time interviewing them during its fact-finding mission.

The workers held a forum on Wednesday to complete documents they would submit to the ILO mission which starts Sept. 22.

The mission is being held in the country mainly based on a complaint filed by the militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

An expected three-hour session with Southern Tagalog workers was cut to one hour, said KMU secretary general Roger Soluta.

Convention 87

Soluta said their complaint contained government violations to ILO Conventions 87 and 98, of which the Philippine government is a signatory.

Convention 87 recognizes the freedom of association, and the workers’ right to strike; Convention 98 recognizes the right of workers to organize and for collective bargaining.

“We hope the ILO will not limit their time with us so they can hear the numerous grievances of workers in the region regarding the government’s noncompliance to Conventions 87 and 98. The region, being one of the centers of industrial belts and export processing zones, is witness to numerous cases of trade union repression,” said Noel Alemania, deputy secretary general of the Pagkakaisa ng mga Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (Pamantik).

Also, at least seven of the 91 victims of extrajudicial killings among the ranks of workers in the country are from Southern Tagalog.

Criminal cases have been filed against Pamantik chair Romeo Legaspi and transport leader Lando Mingo.

Alemania, who is also vice chair of the union of Nestle-Cabuyao workers, said the ILO had released a recommendation regarding their case in 1989.

“The ILO recommended the reinstatement of 103 union leaders who were dismissed through a Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) order. But the recommendation has not yet materialized. So we hope that now that the ILO is coming, a thorough fact-finding will be conducted to result in strong recommendations.”

Rally

Workers of Toyota Motor Phil. Corp., one of the companies in the region highlighted in the KMU complaint, held a rally Saturday to drum up the upcoming ILO mission.

The action is simultaneous with KMU’s black protest in Mendiola.

Ariel Lalap, officer of Toyota Motor Phil. Corp. Workers Association, said their case includes the illegal dismissal of 233 workers in March 2001 and the filing of a criminal case against 25 workers in 2006.

He said their union, which won during certification elections in 2000, was still unrecognized.

ILO, Lalap said, had also released several recommendations regarding their case but their issue remained. Clarice Colting-Pulumbarit, Inquirer Southern Luzon