Media
Statement – 18/7/2016
C
& F Group company Must Stop Union Busting and Respect Workers and Trade
Union Rights; 63 Union Members and workers laid off after just days Union
Registered -
We,
47 undersigned civil
society organisations, trade unions, and
groups are appalled by the union busting action/s by C &F Manufacturing
Philipines Corporation, which is now terminating the workers, just after their union, Tinig ng
mga Manggagawa sa C&F Manufacturing Phils. Corporation or the Voice of the
Workers in C&F Mfg. Phils. Corp., was officially registered.
On May 26, 2016, the workers
registered their union with Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The very
next day, on May 27, the company abruptly offered a Voluntary Separation
Program (VSP). The union obtained its Certificate of Registration on May 30,
2016.
On June 6, 2016, the Union
filed with DOLE a Petition for Certification Election (PCE) in order to
determine the representation of the workers in the collective bargaining. Thereafter, on the very same day, the company
management informed DOLE-Cavite Provincial Office that they are subjecting to
"retrenchment" or lay-off some 98 regular workers of the company, wherein
more than 63 of these workers are union officers and/or union members.
In the evening of June 6, the
night-shift workers learned about their mass lay-off through the posted
"announcement" of the management in the bulletin board. On the next
day, June 7, 2016 the day-shift workers were blocked at the guard house and
were no longer allowed to enter the premises of the company.
On June 9, 2016, 3 days
later, the company hired 55 new workers, who were agency-supplied contractual
workers from Terumi, AED, and E Pipol. Before this, the company used 50
agency-supplied contractual workers already working in the company and supplied
by Terumi.
Justly, if the company no
longer needed so many workers, they should have kept their 98 regular workers,
who had been working for 3 to 12 years, and simply reduced the number of
agency-supplied contractual workers. But, this company got rid of its 98
regular employees and are replacing them with new agency-supplied contractual
workers.
Based on the facts provided
by the Union, this is a clear union busting, and also an attempt to remove
regular employees and replace them with workers on precarious work
arrangements.
C & F Manufacturing
Phils. Corporation is a supplier to IT/electronics companies such as APC
Schneider Electric, IBM, and EMC Corporation. Its CEO and President is Mr. John
Flaherty of C& F Group, is based at C & F Tooling Ltd., Cashla,
Athenry, Co Galway, Ireland. Website: www.cftooling.ie.
C & F Tooling Ltd. have companies in Ireland, Germany, Czech Republic, UK,
USA, and the Philippines.
The C&F Group, in a document signed by John Flaherty in
his capacity as Group Managing Director and CEO dated 5/1/2016 states that they ‘…have adopted the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct
(EICC) as the operating Code of Conduct within the C&F Group…’.
Further in a letter published in the United Nations Global Compact
website, it is stated: - “..C&F
Group reaffirms its support of the Ten Principles of The United Nations Global
Compact in areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption. In
addition, The C&F Group has adopted The EICC-SER code as the Groups Code of
Practise.’ (https://www.unglobalcompact.org/participation/report/cop/create-and-submit/active/15521)
There have also been other complaints
from the workers, which include ‘forced’ work on Sunday and public holidays and
excessively long working hours.
As such, it is verily
believed that C&F Manufacturing Phils. Corp. and/or the C&F Group are
in breach of the EICC Code, and also the UN Global Compact.
The actions of the company,
possibly with the intention of union busting, and avoidance of employer
obligations, is a violation of worker and trade union rights.
Therefore, we:
1) Call on C&F
Manufacturing Phils. Corp. and/or the C&F Group to immediately reinstate
the said 98 regular worekrs and union members and/or employees;
2) Call on C&F
Manufacturing Phils. Corp. and/or the C&F Group to recognize and respect
the rights of workers to organize, form union, and to collectively bargain;
3) Call on C&F
Manufacturing Phils. Corp. and/or the C&F Group to abort precarious
employment and labour policy and practices, and ensure that all its employees
are regular employees;
4) Call on the
Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), a coalition of electronics
companies committed to supporting the rights and wellbeing of workers and
communities worldwide affected by the global electronics supply chain to ensure
that C&F Manufacturing Phils. Corp. and/or the C&F Group comply with
the EICC Code, and respect workers and trade union rights;
5)
Call
on UN Global Compact, being a corporate
sustainability initiative that ensures companies to align strategies and
operations with universal principles on human rights and labour, to ensure that
C&F Manufacturing Phils. Corp. and/or the C&F Group respect workers and
trade union rights; and
6) Call on the
government of Philippines to speedily act on the violation of workers and trade
union rights by C&F Manufacturing Phils. Corp. and/or the C&F Group,
and ensure justice be served.
Cecilia
Tuico
Charles
Hector
Alejandro
Gonzalez
For and on behalf of the 47 groups
1. National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (NUFAM), Malaysia
2. Labour Studies and Action Centre / Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (CEREAL), Mexico
3. WEED - World Economy, Ecology & Development, Germany
4. North South Initiative
5. All Arakan Students' and Youths' Congress(AASYC), Thai-Burma Border
6. HAK Association of Timor-Leste
7. Maquila Solidarity Network (Canada)
8. Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan
9. International Campaign for Responsible Technology, San Jose, California
10. Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters-HRDP, Burma
11. Sawit Watch (Indonesia)
12. National Union of Transport Equipment & Allied Industries Workers (NUTEAIW), Malaysia
13. Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma)
14. MAP Foundation, Thailand
15. Safety and Rights Society, Bangladesh
16. Kalikasan Peoples Network for the Environment, Philippines
17. Metalworkers Alliance in the Philippines (MWAP)
18. Collectif Ethique sur l’étiquette, France
19. Basel Action Network
20. Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), Cambodia
21. Fair | Campagna Abiti Puliti, Italy
22. Clean Clothes Campaign, The Netherlands
23. Radanar Ayar Rural Development Association, Myanmar
24. Coalición de Ex trabajadoras (es) y trabajadoras (es) de la Industria Electrónica Nacional (CETIEN), Mexico
25. Cooperation Committee of Trade Unions (CCTU) Myanmar
26. GoodElectronics Thailand (GET)
27. Paper Union of Malaysia
28. Committee for Asian Women
29. International Labor Rights Forum, Washington, D.C.
30. WH4C (Workers Hub For Change), Malaysia
31. MADPET(Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture)
32. Solidarity of Cavite Workers, Cavite, Philippines
33. Hye Sung Workers Union, Cavite, Philippines
34. Daeduck Employees Union –Independent (DEU-Ind.), Cavite. Philippines
35. Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng Keyrin Electronics (NMKE), Cavite, Philippines
36. Eagle Ridge Employees Union (EREU), Cavite, Philippines
37. Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Eagle Ridge (SMER), Cavite, Philippines
38. Batangas Port Workers and Stevedores Labor Union (BPSLU), Batangas City, Philippines
39. Electronic Industry Employees Union (EIEU) Southern Region, Peninsular Malaysia
40. Electronic Industry Employees Union(EIEU) Northern Region, Peninsular Malaysia
41. PROHAM - Society for the Promotion of Human Rights, Malaysia
42. Parti Rakyat Malaysia
43. GoodElectronics Network, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
44. CWI (Committe For Workers International) Malaysia
45. Association of domestic workers, homeworkers and maquila (ATRAHDOM)., Guatemala
46. Workers Assistance Center, Inc. , Philippines
47. Pagkakaisa ng mga Manggagawa sa Nakashima Philippines Corporation (PAMANA-Ind.), Cavite, Philippines
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