Tarlac City dads to mediate in Luisita labor row

TARLAC CITY — The city council agreed to mediate in the ongoing dispute between the management and labor union of the Hacienda Luisita owned by the family of former President Corazon Aquino.

The councilors reached the decision last Wednesday on the appeal of the 5,000-strong United Luisita Workers’ Union.

A labor unrest is brewing in the 6,000-hectare sugar estate after the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) management laid off some 300 workers last Wednesday.

HLI farm manager Ricardo Lopa Jr. said the move was necessary because the company suffered losses of P215.11 million in 2002 and P165.49 million last year.

The labor union, however, described the HLI’s move as a form of "union busting." Among those laid off were union president Rene Galang, vice president Ildefonso Pingul and eight other officers. — Benjie Villa