“DOLEFIL’S medical missions, a smokescreen to its blatant attack on workers rights”

“Dole Philippines shows off being philanthropic by conducting medical missions, presumably to extend medical assistance, but obviously to win over public sympathy and hide its true character as a union buster and trade union rights violator.”

This is the reaction of Joe Teruel, President of AMADO KADENA –NAFLU-KMU, to Dolefil’s much publicized medical missions conducted recently in the municipalities of Polomolok, Tupi, Tampakan and T’boli in South Cotabato and Maasim in Sarangani Province, where its pineapple and banana plantations are located.

“While we are not all opposed to its humanitarian missions we cannot help but suspect that these are all media hype as Dolefil continuously violates its workers’ rights in pursuit of its wicked intention of completely crushing our union,” adds Teruel.

Teruel added that the Dolefil management has suspended more than 2,000 workers and terminated ten others including the union’s secretary without a benefit of an investigation in accordance with the grievance procedure stipulated in their Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Workers were suspended for participating in CBA-related mass actions while Oscar Serohijos,AK-NAFLU-KMU secretary was illegally terminated for exposing the company’s use of banned and hazardous chemicals in its operations.

“ More so, the company through its shadow workers’, organization UR-DOLE, and the 27th IB of the Philippine Army, based in Tupi, South Cotabato continue to link our union to CPP-NPA-NDF by publicly claiming that KMU is a NPA recruiter. In fact they are using a certain Ka Prits, a self-proclaimed “NPA surrenderee”, to prove their allegations”, continues Teruel.

“If Dolefil is willing to help other people, then it should start attending to the needs of its workers first by respecting our rights because we are the ones creating super profits for them, enabling them to expand its plantations to other municipalities and provinces in Region XII,” Teruel concludes. #