Vico Sotto to Zagu management: Respect workers’ right to picket

by Consuelo Marquez, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jul 9, 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Newly elected Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto has appealed to the management of the famous pearl shake chain Zagu to respect the rights of workers who went on strike to protest alleged “contractualization and union busting.”

In a tweet posted by Matanglawin Ateneo, the official student publication of the Ateneo de Manila University, Sotto was shown making an appeal to the Zagu management and staff to respect workers right to protest on Monday night.

“Bakit niyo sila pinapaalis? Karapatan nila’ yun ayon sa batas (Why are you asking them to leave? They have a right according to the law),” Sotto was quoted as saying in Matanglawin Ateneo’s tweet.

Nilapitan ni Mayor Vico Sotto ang mga ilang eskerol na nakapaligid sa kabilang gate. “Bakit niyo sila pinapaalis? Karapatan nila ‘yun ayon sa batas,” wika ng Mayor patungkol sa maayos na pagsapatupad ng TRO at pagpanatili sa picket. pic.twitter.com/fBgP9FBOkB

Sotto’s appeal came after some Zagu staff forced the workers to leave the premises and end the strike.

Sotto’s party, Aksyon Demokratiko, condemned Zagu for using violence to stop the workers.

“We condemn in strongest terms the use of violence to quell the assertion of workers’ rights. We therefore support and commend Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto’s speedy response to personally hear the concerns of the Zagu workers and to maintain industrial peace by imploring strikebreakers to stand down,” the party wrote on its Facebook page on Tuesday.

The Organization of Zagu Workers – Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms (ORGANIZA SUPER) has been on strike for almost a month now.

Aksyon Demokratiko said it supports Zagu workers on their call to regularize 600 contractual workers. (Editor: Eden Estopace)