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.
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
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 #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
