2016 ITUC Global Rights Index - Philippines

Union members laid off in bank merger: On 30 December, 11 messengers and janitors were dismissed by the Planters Development Bank, recently merged with China Bank Savings Inc., during negotiations for a new collective agreement. Their union, the Planters Development Bank Employees Association (PDBEA,) had sought security of tenure for the workers, most of whom were themselves union officials. The Ecumenical Institute for Labour Education and Research, Inc. (EILER) believed the reason behind the dismissals was to undermine the collective bargaining process and weaken the union. The aim was apparently to replace the dismissed workers with contract labour.

Banana company interferes in choice of union and stalls collective bargaining: The Association of Democratic Labour Organisation (ADLO), a federation of the national centre Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), was faced with what it described as a "vilification campaign" against the KMU at the hands of the Japanese banana exporting company Sumifru . The association was formed in October 2014 to represent its workers at the cold storage unit at the AJMR Sumifru Port in Davao City. The campaign against it appeared to be an attempt to still collective bargaining, and included calls to the union's individual members instructing them to withdraw their support for the union.

Sumifru favoured the "yellow" union, Southern Philippines Federation of Labour (SPFL), but workers turned their back on it and chose to disaffiliate on 6 August. A month later they formally affiliated to ALDO-KMU, from whom they had been seeking advice and support for the last three years.

On 14 September 2015 the union submitted its proposal for a collective agreement to Sumifru. By law the employer is supposed to send a counter-proposal within ten days. Instead it did nothing until 9 October, when it questioned ADLO-KMU's right to represent the workers in the negotiations.

It was clear management had no intention of bargaining and finally, on 16 October, the workers held a protest picket to demand that the company present its counter proposal and begin negotiations.

The union was also concerned because Sumifru had begun to hire new workers surpassing the operation's manning requirement. The move suggested a prelude to their replacement at the workplace, bearing in mind Sumifru's history of rights violations and union busting.

Carlo Olalo, spokesperson of KMU Southern Mindanao, said that Sumifru has a long and notorious history as a union buster and workers' rights violator. By the end of the month there had still been no progress, leading to further protests.

Violent repression of striking distillery workers: Striking distillery workers faced violent repression when they set up a picket line. Contract workers at the Tanduay distillery organised under the banner Tanggulan, Ugnayan, Daluyan ng Lakas ng Anakpawis ng Tanduay Distillers Inc. (TUDLA) launched a strike on 18 May 2015 in protest at being effectively dismissed for organising. They set up a picket line outside the Tanduay compound at the gates of the Asia brewery complex.

On the first day, management attempted twice to disperse the workers using water cannon. This followed attacks on the picket line by a combined force of company security guards and the police hitting the strikers with truncheons, and throwing stones and bottles at them. The following day security guards threw bottles and rocks at the picket line, hitting and strikers in the process. The area became littered with shards of glass, and at least 50 strikers were injured.

The contract workers had asked to be placed on permanent contracts. On 22 June the regional office of the Department of Labour and Employment (DoLE) issued an order directing Tanduay Distillers Inc. to regularise the striking contractual workers. The company countered by filing an appeal. On 25 August, the DoLE national office issued a decision affirming its regional office's order.

The company failed to comply with the order, and on 22 September TUDLA organised another strike and protest demonstration. Management again responded with violence. When the marching strikers arrived at the brewery, they were greeted with rocks thrown by the company's security guards, while an Asia Brewery fire truck blasted them with water. A police vehicle at the rear of the march reportedly tried to run demonstrators over. A video released by the Ecumenical Institute for Labour Education and Research, Inc. (EILER) showed the police car arriving at the company gate in full throttle, turning around and getting dangerously close to the protesting workers. One of the police officers also fired two gunshots as warning on striking workers.