LABOR WATCH

'Strike-Free' Cavite an Election Ploy – Labor Groups

Militant labor groups in Cavite, a province south of Manila, are opposing an accord signed by government, labor and business groups declaring the province “strike-free”.

by Dennis Espada
Bulatlat

DASMARIñAS, Cavite - Leaders of various government agencies and labor and business groups recently forged a pact that ostensibly aims to prop up a "strike-free" Cavite for the attainment of industrial peace in the province.

Dubbed as "Social Accord for Industrial Peace, Stability, Job Preservation and Strengthening of Employment in the Province of Cavite," the covenant-signing was initiated by Cavite Gov. Irineo "Ayong" Maliksi and Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz, together with at least 58 sectoral representatives from the national and provincial levels. The ceremonial signing took place last May 16 at the First Cavite Industrial Estate in Barangay Langkaan here, some 36 kms south of Manila.

The accord followed the creation of the Cavite Industrial Peace Council and the Cavite Tripartite Industrial Peace Council, which seek to resolve labor disputes without resorting to strikes and lockouts.

But the militant labor alliance, the Solidarity of Cavite Workers (SCW) views the governor’s move as detrimental to worker's rights.

Disgrace

Declaring Cavite as "strike-free" zone, SCW said, is a public admission that Maliksi is enforcing a no-union, no-strike (NUNS) policy across the province.

Maliksi recently boasted that strike incidents have declined dramatically from 43 in 2001 to none last year.

Based on the SCW's experiences, no less than 21 unions it has organized inside the Cavite Economic Processing Zone (CEPZ) have reportedly succumbed to union busting efforts by capitalists aided by the office of the governor through the anti-labor armed group called CIPAG (Cavite Industrial Peace and Advisory Group), the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). No less than 11,000 workers lost their jobs, were forced to take leaves of absence, harassed, charged or arrested to deny them their right to form a union and collective bargaining. 

"Going against workers' right as basic as the right to strike is a disgrace for someone holding the highest position in the provincial government," SCW chairperson Marlene Gonzales said in an email message sent to Bulatlat.

The covenant-signing, Gonzales explained, does not mean anything to the militant and progressive labor movement "because a strike-free Cavite is not possible in the midst of the chronic economic crisis and difficulties being experienced by the workers under his administration."

Sr. Ellen Belardo, RGS, a Catholic nun and convenor of the Cavite May One Commemorative Committee, a broad pro-labor multisectoral alliance, said, "In the face of worsening poverty...and confronted by the government's renewed violent attacks on the people who dare express dissent, we take firm commitment and resolve to uphold and defend the democratic and political rights of the workers and the people." 

Early election propaganda?

The militant labor alliance believes Maliksi's motive for the ceremonial pact is to win the hearts and support of big investors and business groups in preparation for the election showdown with the Remulla clan in 2007.

Former governor Juanito Remulla (1979-1986, 1988-1995) was, and still is, known for his iron-fist rule and by brutally implementing the NUNS policy during the dark years of Martial Law.

Remulla's defeat in the 1995 local elections led to a wider democratic space for labor organizing and the re-emergence of genuine and militant unionism in the province.

"Governor Maliksi should learn from the experience of his benefactor (Remulla). Remulla's downfall in 1995 was attributable to the collective action of the organized workers against his candidacy," Gonzales warned. "Maliksi's blatant repression of worker's rights and the unions would be the end of his political career." Bulatlat

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