Compostela workers gear up for strike

Banana workers of the Fresh Banana Agricultural Company in Compostela are bracing themselves to strike against their employers due to unfair labor practice and union busting. The members of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa San Jose (NAMASAN) in Packing Plant 98 and Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa OsMiguel (NAMAOS) in Packing Plant 95 say they are ready to assert their democratic right to preserve their employment and protect their respective unions. Both unions are under the National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno.

All 196 workers of PP 95 had their employment simultaneously severed in a notice of termination given to the union on July 10. The workers were told not to report for work on August 12 because their contractor, the Pag-asa Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PAFAMUPCO), is already “lacking financial capacity to continue to operate.” In an attempt to sidestep accountability, FBAC hid behind PAFAMUPCO in 2002 to stand as employer of the workers. The workers have been campaigning for years now to unmask this dummy system being implemented by the AMS-subsidiary FBAC. NAMASAN recently won in a claims suit against PAFAMUPCO/FBAC that awarded the workers P3.7 M for underpaid wages and unpaid service incentive leaves.

NAMAOS, meanwhile, is currently renegotiating their Collective Bargaining Agreement for the remaining 2 years of its term. However, the negotiating panel of the banana growers and the management of FBAC refused to bargain with the union. During the conciliation before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) last month, the FBAC management was forced to manifest their intention to bargain but later negotiated in bad faith. Instead, 18 union members were told not to report for work as they were told they were no longer needed in the farm area or the packing plant.

Said Joel Cuyos, president of NAMASAN, “Ang rason nga giingon pud nila sa amo mao kuno nga ang operasyon sa Packing Plant 95 ibalhin na sa mas gagmay nga mga packing house sama sa PP 96, PP 97 ug PP 52. (They also told us that the operations of Packing Plant 95 will be transferred to smaller packing houses such as the PP 96, PP 97 ug PP 52.” These smaller packing houses, Cuyos divulged, are not up to standards. “Luoy ang saging sa mga growers, dili matarong og process ug pack. Gani, naa nay mga growers nga nag-away-away ug nagreklamo tungod nadaut ang ilang mga saging. (The bananas of the growers are not processed and packed properly [in the smaller packing houses]. In fact, this has caused disagreements and complaints from growers themselves), ” he said. On Tuesday, the management transferred boxes and other plant equipment from PP 95 to the smaller packing houses, an act of runaway shop and tantamount to unfair labor practice.

As early as February 2005, these smaller packing plants called Packing Plant Units (PPU) are already operating unlicensed in Compostela. During one of the CBA negotiations of NAMAOS, FBAC was documented to have repeatedly encouraged growers to have their bananas packed at these PPUs. The PPU scheme has started in PP 98 this month.

“Tumong gyud niining PPU mao ang pagbungkag sa among unyon,” explained Danny Jacinto, president of NAMAOS. “Kung wala nay dagkung packing plant, mabulag-bulag na ang mga trabahante. Hadlok gyud ang FBAC sa kusog sa unyon mao nga himuon niini ang maskin unsa aron lang puohon ang among panaghiusa. (The true objective of this PPU scheme is to bust our unions. The union will lose its members if the packing plants are closed down. FBAC is afraid of the strength of the union that is why it shall do anything in order to suppress our unity).”

NAMASAN has already conducted their strike balloting Tuesday and the 100 “yes to strike” votes out of the 113 union members evidently shows their united stance to assert their rights. NAMAOS filed a notice to strike.

KMU-SMR chair Romualdo Basilio said this is yet another scheme of the capitalist FBAC to dodge responsibility to the workers. “It is not surprising that they hide behind the guise of prerogatives and the underhanded schemes such as the PPU, growership and freight-on-board. It is in their profit-greedy character to exhaust all possible means, even circumvent the law, in order to bust militant unions that assert their democratic rights. They even use fascist means to ensure unhampered execution of their plans.” During the strike balloting of NAMASAN, elements of the 404th IB camped in Barangay Osmena, Compostela were seen roving the perimeters of the balloting venue. “We are issuing a warning to the fascist AFP to desist its surveillance of union members and leaders and not intervene with this democratic exercise,” Basilio cautioned.

“However, amidst this looming fascism, it is likewise unsurprising that the organized workers will continue to defend their rights in order to protect their unions and attain their economic interests,” said Basilio.