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prisoners in small rooms made from cardboard boxes with many prisoners sleeping on the floor or outside lacking even the most rudimentary accommodation the real crime the three have committed is dissent to the existing order the area in which the three were working lake taal is targeted by the philippine military because of the instability and volatility in the region created by the metro taal tagaytay development plan the development plan has resulted in the forced relocation and demolition of many communities in the region to make way for eco tourism developments in one community we visited the homes of 33 families had been forcibly demolished and the community relocated 3 times the case is just another example of harassment of activists by the philippine military using the criminal courts to silence opposition to the arroyo regime any opposition to the existing order is considered subversion and is met with the full weight of the state to suppress it including false charges torture and abuse violation of rights the military as the main enforcer of the arroyo government s war on dissent can act with impunity in all instances posted in uncategorized leave a comment day 6 no union no strike january 11 2010 saturday january 9 kelti cameron cupe national and ontario committee for human rights in the philippines our delegation travelled two hours outside of manila to the province of cavite we were hosted by the workers assistance center wac a non profit organization that organizes workers inside the cavite special economic zones wac was founded in 1995 in response to labour and human rights violations experienced by workers in the newly formed processing zones today there are more than 500 multinational corporations operating in the area wac continues to organize these precarious workers export processing zones are protected by high walls and private armed guards corporations find it advantageous to operate in these zones because of the relative ease with which they can bust unions and exploit workers neoliberal support and pressure for trade liberalization and deregulation particularly between the philippines and countries such as the us south korea and japan ensure the existence of these tax free zones in essence existing to facilitate capital s need to acquire superprofits one delegate noted that this is a neo liberal project that mulitnational corporations would like to see expanded everywhere to the point where they are no longer confined to special zones the experience of violence harassment and human and labour rights violations by workers in these zones is extreme 80 of these workers are women interviews conducted with workers in garment and electronic factories exposed a pattern of systematic violence against trade unionists workers at the chong won garments factory the korean supplier to walmart and american eagle among others experienced the violent dismantling of their picket lines in 2005 as they struggled to be recognized as a union a picket line in a second garment factory phils jeon was also violently dismantled in 2005 both the president and chief union steward were abducted by armed men as they were sleeping in a tent on the picket line this had a chilling effect on the union undermined their ability to struggle for their rights and ultimately busted their union the abductees were eventually released albeit psychologically traumatized despite the fact that the perpetrators would have had to pass a security checkpoint in the export zone to gain access to the picket line no investigation was conducted and no one was brought to justice workers from the chong won golden will and phils jeon garment factories share their stories of violent trade union repression they experienced trumped up charges of theft abductions and violent picket line dispersals filing false criminal charges against trade union executives is another way employers in the zones are busting unions and penalizing workers for their trade union activity workers in the golden will garment factory are currently fighting charges of theft in the courts the existence of a blacklist that permanently bans known union leaders from working within these zones places these workers in a very difficult position workers may or may not receive minimum wage several workers recounted the violation of basic rights through their experiences of forced overtime as a rule chong won workers had a 15 hour working day dangerous conditions and increasing workplace surveillance as workers are increasingly being laid off due to the economic crisis many have had to struggle to have the company recognize their right to severance pay and final paychecks it is not uncommon for a corporation to leave the country overnight leaving the workers stranded without proper compensation as the former president of the chong won factory explains this is why we need a union union members in the yazaki emi factory a parts manufacturer for auto industry giants such as chrysler gm and others recounted the harassment and violence that culminated in the assassination of two of their leaders including the union president they began organizing a union during the heyday of the no union no strike policy in the cavite special economic zones and continue to struggle for a just collective agreement to this day land use conversion is a major issue for workers and peasants in cavite wac organizes workers outside the zones who have lost their farm land to large development projects the eagle ridge workers association is a formation of farm workers who now work as groundskeepers on a 72 hole golf course that now occupies the land they used to till trade union activity continues to be met with harassment intimidation persecution and violence in the philippines this was clear following our discussions today with workers who continue to struggle against this repression their courage and determination are inspiring posted in uncategorized leave a comment day 5 working with courage january 11 2010 friday january 8 rebecca warden cupe 4600 today we met with a variety of workers groups who belong to courage one of our host organizations to learn about labour issues that are now being faced within the public sector courage confederation for unity recognition advancement of government employees is a national government employee centre which works to 1 secure better salaries and benefits for government workers through collective mass action 2 demand safe and conducive work conditions and 3 assert and defend the rights to organize unions participate in policy formations and exercise full union rights including the right to strike from the union office of the national housing authority nha to the picket line of the golden acres home for the elderly to the judiciary employees union to the in the middle of the freeway street sweepers union office to the national food authority s rice packing warehouse we covered a lot of ground today our morning started out with a number of presentations at the nha which addressed the increasing privatization of water in the philippines we heard from union representatives who explained the processes of water privatization in metro manila that began in 1997 as well as the privatization initiatives that are currently happening in the water districts of laguna province the speakers made it clear that the privatization of water has failed to deliver on any of its promises targets for lower prices have not been met fewer people have reliable access to a clean water source water quality has been deemed not potable according to international standards and private enterprises show significantly less cost efficiency in terms of cost to the consumer than their public sector counterparts the privatization of water benefits only the government supported multinationals for example suez from france and united water from the uk organizations like water water system employees response fight for their belief that water is life and water is for the people a courage member and water systems worker from the province of laguna describes attempts to privatize the water in his province another really powerful part of our day was a visit to a picket line where staff of golden acres a care home for the abandoned elderly are protesting the closure of their location and re location of staff and residents to a site outside of metro manila they argue that this move is motivated by the high real estate value of the current land the site is a natural choice for development in the expansion of a neighbouring shopping centre we learned that the department of welfare social justice which these care workers are employed within has only 4000 employees nationwide this incredibly limited number compared for example to the approx 28 000 workers we learned are employed by the department of justice vividly represents the lack of social service resources available to the 90 million filipinos across the country we expressed our solidarity to the 70 workers of golden acres who continue to fight to serve the 227 residents who rely on this facility as an accessible well run public social service we also had a particularly interesting encounter with the national food authority employees today beyond learning about some of the pressing current issues that face this department including land use conversion the increasing importation of staple foods from neighbouring countries typhoon related rice shortages etc we were taken to visit a nfa rice storage warehouse within the warehouse we found a team of temporary workers seated around a huge mound of rice packaging weighing sealing and bagging 1 kilogram bags for a rice for school program this controversial program offers rice to students as an incentive for staying in school we learned that these government employed workers were working from 7 am 6 pm for between php 200 300 day depending on how many bags they collectively fill at a piece rate of php 12 bag these workers are making less than minimum wage without benefits or any type of job security it is appalling that the philippine government places workers under these conditions our day filled with much more than i can possibly fit in this summary was rounded off by a dinner at the courage office this was an opportunity for us to learn about the work that courage is doing to support the government workers in the various sectors we visited fair wages job security versus the increasing use of casual labour in government sectors such as the street sweepers another incredibly interesting pit stop in our day privatization and transparency are some of the main issues currently being faced today s itinerary proved to offer an incredibly eye opening window into the philippines public sector under an overpass in quezon city manila where the office of the street sweepers is located posted in uncategorized leave a comment day 4 modern day slavery and workers resistance january 8 2010 thursday january 7 priscillia lefebvre cupe 4600 we visited two unforgettable places today signifying two distinct yet complimentary issues facing the filipino labour force the first was the trip to the salam mosque compound a muslim community which serves as a temporary hold for females as young as 14 years of age who are preparing themselves to be sent overseas as domestic helpers these workers are sent overseas to the middle east alone to places they have never been to live with people they do not know and who speak in languages they cannot speak they are provided no recourse no protection and are in some cases not permitted to leave the home of their employer they are effectively imprisoned and made to work for a meager wage women migrate from mindanao to manila to wait for a job placement in the middle east most women will work as domestic workers and housekeepers in countries with few labour rights we spoke to one girl preparing to leave for saudi arabia she introduced herself as 23 years old even though she was only 18 you must be at least 23 years old to qualify for work she expressed eagerness to leave and work as this would provide her with the opportunity to provide the means that would allow her sister to finish school putting children through school is the number one reason why women go overseas to work and expose themselves to whims and demands of their employer which could range from child care to rape and even death to add to personal risk there are social costs related to this type of employment situation filipina workers are deskilled as their professional training is not recognized outside of the country for example many skilled workers such as teachers end up working as nannies however most of the muslim girls at the compound never get the chance to acquire such training in the first place labour export has proven to be extremely profitable to the government and as such it is encouraged and unregulated to suit the needs of wealthier nations there are many bureaucratic channels prospective workers must navigate and fees they must pay in order to secure a position overseas they send substantial remittances back from abroad these remittances boost the country s dollar reserves which enables the government to borrow funds from international lending institutions such as the international monetary fund imf as well as the big transnational banks as a result the workers are seen as little more than export commodities cheap to produce and highly replaceable your vision is our slavery the afternoon led us to the picket lines of garment industry workers who had been on strike for 6 months and continue to guard the entrance of the factory from which they were laid off the factory owned by the capitalist multinational triumph international philippines inc closed its doors and its back on the over 1000 affected employees many of whom had been serving the company for 30 years these discarded workers were given no notice and no consideration when the company closed its doors in june of 2009 since then laid off workers have been blocking the company from underhandedly removing the means of production out of the factory here in the philippines to areas of even cheaper labour and greater profit such as vietnam and china after observing the conditions the strikers have been forced to endure on the picket lines without water or electricity both of which were cut off by management it is clear that the abandonment of these workers is not only an issue of labour rights but also of human rights since the beginning of the strike the workers have incurred a great deal more than a loss of wages some have lost their homes the means to provide for their family and their livelihood we sat with lita de la cruz the president of the new union of workers of triumph in the philippines as she explained the urgency of the situation many strikers are no longer able to send their children to school and have lost their homes some have even lost mothers and husbands due to a ...