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Sweatshops are a familiar fixture in the garments
industry. The recent report of the Philippine Daily Inquirer about a
factory in Taytay, Rizal, whose owners allegedly have their workers work
from two to three days with hardly any sleep and even gave them an
insomnia-inducing drug to stay awake, is just one of many cases of garment
contractors routinely violating labor laws and international codes
protecting the rights of workers, all for the sake of meeting quotas and
increasing profits.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, which is in the vanguard of a
worldwide antisweatshop campaign, has for a time been conducting research
and monitoring activities in the Philippine industrial zones. In its study
it has found most companies openly flouting labor laws. From September
2000 to August 2001 alone, its antisweatshop unit found that all of the
202 factories it surveyed were guilty of committing labor violations,
which included nonpayment of overtime work, wages below the minimum
prescribed by law and poor working conditions.
The best way to rid our industries of sweatshops is to organize workers.
More and more workers, especially those in the factories, must organize
themselves and educate themselves about their rights.
Unfortunately, workers who try to organize and protest poor working
conditions are often fired. In many cases, not only their jobs but also
their lives are put in danger.
Take the case of this Filipino worker who was threatened at gunpoint by
his Korean employer right here in the Philippines. This story is one of
many documented by the TUCP and posted on its website (www.tucp.org.ph).
Read it and seethe:
Roh Fung, the Korean manager of Royal House, Inc. (not their real names)
pointed a 45-caliber pistol at sewer Sebastian Andres (not his real name)
after he balked at signing a resignation letter and a blank sheet of
paper–which later contained a statement that Andres was apologizing for
causing damage to the company due to union formation–on December 1, 2002.
Andres was called to Fung’s office where the Korean explained the letter.
Andres refused to sign and asked to be terminated instead. Fung took a gun
from his drawer and pointed it discreetly at Andres’s side.
“Fung told me that he’d shoot if I wouldn’t sign the papers,” Andres said
in the vernacular.
While Andres was in Fung’s office, the other 149 workers were compelled to
sign a petition that they are favoring Andres’s resignation, and that they
are not supporting the union. Andres was led out of the company after the
petition was signed.
“Sinabihan ako ni Mr. Fung na ipapakidnap niya ako ‘pag tinuloy ko ‘yung
union at ipapakulong niya ako dahil sa union booklet [Mr. Fung threatened
that he would have me kidnapped if I pursue union formation and he would
put me in jail because of the union booklet],” Andres said.
RFI, located in Angono, Rizal, is a Korean-owned garment company producing
for JC Penney, Baby Tags, Cinderella and Little Angel labels, which are
exported to the US. JC Penney has a corporate code of conduct, which
requires its suppliers to strictly comply with “all applicable laws and
regulations.”
The company pays P95 to P160, far from the region’s minimum wage of P237
per day. A worker’s rate is based on performance during speed trials.
Employees work 13 to 14 hours a day, but are paid only for three extra
hours. The company does not pay other benefits and holiday pay. Workers
are paid only the regular rate instead of the 130 percent premium for work
on Sundays.
Workers are reprimanded for not meeting impossibly high quotas. At times,
they are not allowed to go home unless they finish their task.
Employees are terminated without due process. “‘Pag mabagal lang ‘yung
worker, papauwiin na tapos ‘di na pababalikin. Pinapapirma na rin na
finished contract na [When workers are slow, they are sent home and are
not allowed to report for work again. They are compelled to sign a
statement that they have finished their contracts],” Andres said.
Workers are not sent home even when sick. In November 2002, a seven-month
pregnant worker passed out due to overwork. No one dared help her. When a
line leader Elena Santos offered to help, “the production manager told me
that I shouldn’t care since she’s not in my line.” The Filipino production
manager subjects workers to other forms of verbal abuse.
In October 2002, workers were compelled to work continuously for three
days and were not allowed to go home. The company did not provide food
during those three days. They were made to sleep only for three hours
after working long hours.
Andres filed a case against the Korean with the National Labor Relations
Commission.
Despite the threats, union formation is progressing in the company, which
is under the survey for compliance under the TUCP/Solidarity Center
Antisweatshops Campaign.
There are many more cases of labor violations as abhorrent as what was
done to Sebastian Andres, and perhaps I’ll feature them in the next
column.
But the important thing to remember here is regardless of what these
abusive employers do to prevent workers from organizing and protecting
their rights, workers still have the power to do so and they should
persist in doing so. There are organizations like the TUCP, for instance,
that could help them work for ideal working conditions, help them bring
their complaints to the labor department. And there’s the media whose
coverage of sweatshop conditions causes the public outrage needed for
government to do something about the problem right away. |
