Workers seek DOLE's intervention

CEBU, Philippines - The intervention and mediation of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) is being sought to resolve the labor dispute involving the attack on the picket line at the alleged runaway shop of R&Y Augousti in Mandaue City.

Joy Lim, executive director of the Associated Labor Union-Trade Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) said it is the duty of DOLE to look after the welfare of workers while its the role of NCMB to formulate policies, programs, standards, procedures, manuals of operation and guidelines relating to effective preventive mediation and conciliation of labor disputes.

“They (both DOLE and NCMB) have to assert resolution on the matter,” she said adding that ALU-TUCP has “always been open for a dialogue.”

She however said that “as far as the union is concerned, they (Changrin Inc. and R&Y Augousti) are just one company.

“They are just one company. A runaway shop is a practice of some companies to transfer work to another company to avoid legalities and obligation to workers. It is a management scheme to avoid liabilities to the workers. It is a deception,” she said.

In a statement sent to The Freeman, “ALU condemns the attack on the picket and vows to bring the labor dispute to the international arena saying that the labor dispute in the company established by designer couple Ria and Augousti has been the subject of a labor dispute as its workers, who have outstanding claims for 13th month pay and unpaid wages, maintain that the company is circumventing the law by moving production of its orders to a runaway shop.”

“The recent violent attack on the picket line which injured 10 union members and damaged union vehicles has completely changed the complexion of the labor dispute,” the statement reads adding that the “barbaric attack all the more painful for workers is that it comes while the member states of the International Labor Organization (ILO) are meeting for its 99th session in Geneva, Switzerland.”

Meanwhile, ALU and its labor center, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) as well as the TUCP Party List will bring the matter of the violent attack on its legitimate picket to the attention of its brothers and sisters in the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and affiliates in the United States, France, and the European Union.

It will also be seeking to mobilize international solidarity and organize pickets in stores marketing R&Y AUGOUSTI products worldwide.

“It is indeed sad that the company is busting its workers’ union. The workers of R&Y AUGOUSTI have always been proud to be an integral part of the success of the company, as Cebuano craftsmanship is an integral component of the company’s products proudly displayed in R&Y Augousti’s flagship stores in New York and Paris, and in chic markets worldwide,” the statement further reads.

ALU-TUCP said that markets might not be too warm to the thought that a company’s products are “not only tainted with unfair labor practices but also blood.” – THE FREEMAN