House probe sought on 416 workers sacked through e-mail

MANILA, Philippines - Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño urged the House committee on labor and employment yesterday to inquire into the dismissal of 416 Filipino workers employed by an American businessman who informed his employees through e-mail of their dismissal last Aug. 24.

In a resolution, Casiño said the workers “have been left jobless and unpaid by businessman Laurence Kevin Fishman, owner of Skytech International Dental Laboratories in Sta. Mesa, Manila, which closed shop allegedly due to bankruptcy.”

He said Skytech produces dental prosthetics for its international clients and has laboratories in Vietnam and China, and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California under the corporate name Trident Dental Laboratories.

“Even Fishman’s executive vice president for Manila operations, Wilma Ledler, who received his e-mail, was shocked with the decision as this left all their workers with with unpaid salaries and severance pay amounting to at least P50 million and a long list of unpaid obligations, including back rentals of P1.7 million, P500 million in electricity bills and obligations to local suppliers,” he added.

Casiño said the dismissed Skytech workers do not believe in Fishman’s claims that he was losing money since the company employed three shifts of technicians to work nearly 24 hours a day.

“Congress should look into how Fishman was able to close shop and retrench his workers by remote control in order to craft measures to prevent similar incidents and ensure the protection of workers’ rights in this age where major management decisions are relayed and implemented via electronic means,” he said.