DOLE for keeping Japan investments

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday it is doing its best to keep Japanese investments in the country.

This developed as DOLE said it would assume jurisdiction over the Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. labor dispute to prevent workers from staging a strike.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas denied reports that the car maker and 10 other Japanese companies are planning to pull out their investments from the country because of workers’ strikes.

"We have met with members of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, and they assured us that they have no plans to pull out their investments," Sto. Tomas said.

The labor chief noted that based on DOLE records, only Hosokawa Assembly has shut down operations, "not because of labor disputes but because it has opted to put up a plant in Thailand."

Sto. Tomas also clarified that only three Japanese firms – Ajinomoto Phils., Fuji Xerox and Yokohama Tires Phils. – are currently plagued by strikes.

Three others, including Toyota, have pending notices of strike but are currently undergoing conciliation negotiations.

With its 1,400 workers, Toyota is the country’s leading car maker with some P8 billion in investments and exports amounting to $50 million each year. Its assembly plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna has been faced with worker unrest since March 28 after management dismissed 227 workers for allegedly illegal and destructive acts.

Sto. Tomas expressed confidence DOLE would be able to settle the dispute in Toyota as well as other firms before the Lenten break.

She explained the department can assume jurisdiction over certain disputes to prevent strikes that could adversely affect the national economy.

DOLE expects Toyota management to declare the notice of strike illegal and workers to file a case of illegal dismissal.

Labor officials have admitted that there may be an upsurge of strikes due to deadlocks in collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations in the second half of the year.

Several CBAs have already expired in the last six months of the year.

Sto. Tomas, however, stressed the government has already put up necessary measures for the early detection and settlement of labor unrest.

Meanwhile, the Young Christian Workers of the Philippines (YCW), which assisted in the organization of the Toyota workers’ union, assailed the "bullying tactics" of the Japanese car maker.

"If Toyota is allowed to have its way, it will pave the way for other multinational corporations in the country to bully the Arroyo government. Other firms may threaten to pull out every time their anti-labor policies encounter resistance," YCW said in a statement.

The group said Toyota workers went on strike to protest the mass dismissal of officers and members of the Toyota Motor Phils. Corp. Workers Association, the company’s rank and file union.

They were allegedly dismissed for participating in a rally before the Office of the Secretary of Labor and for attending hearings before the Bureau of Labor Relations last February.

The Partido ng Manggagawa expressed solidarity yesterday with the workers of Toyota, saying it will mobilize members in support of "our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement."

The group described Toyota management’s threat to pull out as "unadulterated capitalist blackmail" and "black propaganda against unionism."

"DOLE and Malacañang must not bow down before the arrogance of big business and foreign capital. If Secretary Sto. Tomas surrenders to the caprice of Toyota management, then they prove once more that the government is an accomplice of capital in its offensive against labor," Partido ng Manggagawa said in a statement.