MANILA, Philippines – Members of a big workers group at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority have renewed their petition to Subic Bay Freeport Zone president Armand Arreza for help in a labor dispute affecting at least 37 employees.
The complainant, workers of the Chandling and Stevedoring Contractors of SBMA, listed five grievances in their petition. They said their employers, which include cargo handlers Amerisia have committed five labor law infractions that include: 1. Failure to pay the mandatory daily minimum wage; 2. Failure to remit to the Social Security System and Pag-ibig Fund their counterpart contributions; 3. Failure to pay overtime allowances and other social benefits; 4. Failure to pay the 13th month pay provided by law; and 5. Failure to provide the workers occupational safety and health protection.
The workers have demanded action from the contractors according to the petition submitted to Arreza, SBMA administrator.
“We are still awaiting the response from Arreza,” according to Roberto Flores, national vice president of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).
The workers said they felt they were being exploited by the contractors.
Cargo handling, which requires skilled stevedores, is a big business at the Subic Freeport, managed and supervised by SBMA.
The TUCP, the biggest labor center in the country, is an umbrella for a huge number of trade-union federations, serving hundreds of thousands of organized and unorganized workers.
A labor analyst warned that continued inaction by the contractors and SBMA could explode in a costly strike that “could be solved justly with dialogue and compromise.” –(The Philippine Star)
June 2025
Philippine Environment Month!
“Action for Nature, for the Future!”
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!
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Monthly Observances:
1 Jun – World Day of Parents
5 Jun – World Environment Day
7 Jun – World Food Safety Day
8 Jun – World Oceans Day
12 Jun – World Day Against
Child Labour
15 Jun – World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
16 Jun – International Day of Family Remittances
17 Jun – World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
20 Jun – World Refugee Day
25 Jun – Day of the Seafarer
27 Jun – Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day
Daily Observances:
First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines
