by Ghio Ong – The Philippine Star, 19 Dec 2021
MANILA, Philippines — Forty-four employees of a Valenzuela firm who were arrested on Wednesday night for going on strike were released from jail after 36 hours, their lawyer said yesterday.
Luke Espiritu, who represents the workers, said his clients were charged with illegal assembly, disobedience to a person in authority and alarm and scandal.
The city inquest prosecutor previously ordered the city police to release them pending further investigation.
Espiritu also said pasta producer Soft Touch Development Corp. should cancel its plan to fire the employees for merely organizing a labor strike.
The firm maintained that the employees are prohibited from forming a labor union because their employer is the manpower agency that hired them, according to Espiritu.
He added that companies continue to tap manpower agencies as “shields against labor unions,” a practice that could deprive workers of their rights. He explained this has been a recurring issue involving the practice of enforcing short-term work contracts.
In a video Espiritu uploaded on Twitter, police officers were seen using water cannons and truncheons on the employees, who staged the strike after learning they would be laid off on Dec. 24.
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!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos
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
