On September 15 this year the Philippines’ biggest and oldest
telephone company, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company
(PLDT) terminated the job contracts of 575 regular workers, 450 of
which are women. This is the second time PLDT laid off a big number
of workers. The first was in 2002 with 484 workers rendered jobless.
Hardest hit is the rank and file union of Communication Workers of
the Philippines who is one of the last remaining national unions in
the country. The latest wave of mass dismissals included 25 union
representatives and a significant number of active union members.
Talk is rife from management level that PLDT regular workers will
experience waves of retrenchment until the company shall have reduced
the number to 1,700. Clearly, this is a scheme along
contractualization: kicking out regular workers and hiring
contractual ones giving way for the company to deny new contractual
workers the right to a living wage, to job security, to unionize and
bargain collectively. Thus, the company saves on wages, medical,
insurance and other benefits, and earns super profits.
Earning profits and appetite for more super profits are the real
reasons. PLDT has been having an all-time high in its net income in
recent years. Just for the first half of 2007, it earned a net of
PhP17 Billion. But it wants more.
Redundancy is but an alibi. New technology in this case did not
necessitate reduction in workforce. After it dismissed a big batch
of workers in 2002, PLDT’s workforce of 15,000 increased to 24,750 of
which 87.5 % are contractual workers.
Capital continues to attack workers through schemes like
contractualization not only in the Philippines but also around the
world. In Australia, workers are being pushed to individually bargain
for their wages and other benefits.
Now more than ever, capitalists are pushing labor towards
‘flexibilization’ – unfettered by unions, a voice-less mass of
casuals who are ‘free’ to be doubly exploited by capital to the hilt.
The struggle of the workers in PLDT is the struggle of the working
people and in essence, is a fight for job security. It mirrors the
challenge posed to labor around the world in defending hard-won
victories bought with blood, sweat and tears. This is a struggle to
secure THE FUTURE.
You can help in many ways;
1. Please channel all information about the labor issue in PLDT and
the workers’ struggle to all possible media especially abroad to
offset the seeming media blackout in the Philippines (PLDT is one of
the biggest advertisers in both print and broadcast).
2. Express your own protest, mount your own protest actions against
contractualization/informalization of labor, and let the whole world
know about it.
3. Solicit or give material support to sustain the struggle and to
help put up income generating projects for the dismissed workers.
4. Please write letters of concern to the following:
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacañang Palace
San Miguel, Manila
www.op.gov.ph
Arturo D. Brion
Department Secretary
Department of Labor and Employment
Intramuros, Manila
www.dole.gov.ph
Manuel Pangilinan
President, PLDT
Ramon Cojuanco Bldg.
Makati Ave., Makati City J.P. Laurel Street,
mvpangilinan pldt.com
www.pldt.com.ph