KMU enraged over termination of a hundred Kapamilya employees;Lopezes warned not to bully workers because of closeness w/ Aquino

Kilusang Mayo Uno raised alarms over the termination of now reaching a hundred workers by the Kapamilya network, the media firm “closest” to President Aquino. 

KMU received reports that last Friday, birthday of ABS-CBN Chairman and CEO Gabby Lopez, 37 workers in the news and current affairs department were invited into private talks by HR managers of ABS-CBN, and were told that they have suddenly lost their jobs. This was the biggest number of workers recently retrenched by ABS-CBN in a day, which now totals to 92.

ABS-CBN management started terminating employees two months ago, at the height of the workers’ struggle to assert for recognition of their union, the ABS-CBN IJM Workers’ Union-independent. The union has been opposing the management in forcing workers, who have been with the company for several years already, to sign short-term or per-program contracts, thereby endagering their job security and denying them the rights of a regular worker. 

“The Lopezes have the guts to celebrate Gabby’s birthday with a termination bash for their workers. They party with the loss of livelihoods of Kapamilyas – that is how callous they can get as favorites of the new president,” KMU chairperson Elmer “Bong” Labog said.

“We remind the Lopezes that they will never be able to build the biggest media firms today if not for their workers. So the right to regularization and to organize a union are only basic rights long due to the Kapamilya workers, it is the Lopezes who have no right to deny them such, and much more to terminate them just like that,” Labog added.

PNoy knew about ABS-CBN retrenchments?

KMU also raised criticism and warning to the Aquino administration for “it may have learned about the planned mass termination.” The latest mass retrenchment came even after the ABS-CBN workers trooped to Noynoy’s house in Times St, and were summoned by the Department of Labor upon cue from Malacañang.

The union trooped to Times St. last July 19, with a letter explaining the workers’ situation and asking for the president’s intervention to reinstate the dismissed workers, among others. The union’s letter was reportedly refered to DOLE, so some officials of the agency met with the union days after. 

“Despite the talks called upon by the DOLE with the ABS-CBN workers, bigger retrenchments attacked them after. Instead of the situation getting better after talks with government officials, things got even worse,” Labog said.

“The Kapamilya network has been instrumental in keeping up the good image of PNoy, so is PNoy letting them get away with their anti-worker schemes?

“If PNoy wants to prove otherwise, he should intervene to bring back the dismissed workers, and grant them their due regularization and right to form a union,” Labog dared. #