Unions of the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila say they will continue to fight for job security amid securing an agreement with management to reinstate workers once the hotel reopens, which only materialized after the closure.
The unions said about 70 percent of its members already accepted severance pay due to pressure from management and family financial needs.
Hotel grounds closed on June 30 for renovations, contrary to previous reports of a permanent closure, and 1,200 workers—500 regular staff and 700 contractual–lost their jobs.
However, the unions remain optimistic. Marco Jalandoni, National Union of Workers in Hotels, Restaurants and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN) secretary general, said, “Our victory is in securing the future of the union. We were able to ensure the return of the remaining union members once the hotel reopens, and our negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement will continue.”
Workers added that amid their persistent demand for negotiations, the hotel held job fairs prior to closing, with the majority of offers contract positions with few regular managerial jobs. Benster Moleno, education and communications officer of the NUWHRAIN-Philippine Plaza Chapter (PPC), said, “Many workers are unqualified for these positions, and job opportunities outside Metro Manila are impractical.”
The unions organized a media campaign with picket actions in front of hotel grounds leading up to the closure, which were followed by local news outlets. Senator Risa Hontiveros called for an investigation after listening to the workers’ plight two days before operations ceased.
Nestor Cabada, NUWHRAIN-PPC president, said, “The hardest thing right now is how those employees without jobs—how the whole union will survive until the hotel reopens. But as we always say: even if there is only one of us standing, the union will remain and continue the fight. We will leave no one behind.”
Over a 25-year career, Shahidul successfully mobilized thousands of workers to join trade unions and empowered them to represent their co-workers as factory-level leaders. As a young man he experienced the grueling reality of work in a garment factory. Overworked and underpaid, and despite the risk of management reprisal, Shahidul decided to take action to build a better future for himself and workers like him by joining the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union Federation (BIGUF) in the late 1990s.
Shahidul learned the ropes of union organizing as a participant in the Solidarity Center’s three-year organizing internship program, enhancing his skills to build worker power. Subsequently, he joined the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), rising to the rank of president of the Gazipur District Committee. His influence extended to Gazipur, Rampura in Dhaka, and Narayangonj District, where he facilitated the formation of numerous factory-based trade unions, empowering workers to raise their voices for better wages and working conditions. As a trained paralegal of the Solidarity Center, he championed workers in claiming wages and benefits wrongfully denied by their employers. His remarkable ability to motivate and mobilize workers, collaborate with diverse stakeholders and navigate government processes significantly impacted the Bangladesh labor movement.
How did it come to this? Lack of accountability, fear and repression
Shahidul Islam was killed outside Prince Jacquard Sweaters Ltd., a factory producing for buyers in Europe and North America, and a member of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). Prince Jacquard did not yet have a trade union, though Shahidul’s federation, BGIWF, had started supporting workers to organize not long before his death.
The global garment supply chain is notorious for its exploitation, sourcing from low-wage, minimally regulated countries where factories are rife with wage theft, union busting, forced overtime and other abuses. Multinational fashion brands outsourcing work overseas exercise economic power over suppliers—often under threat of yanking orders and moving production to more compliant factories—and make demands that lead to worker abuse but boost the brand’s bottom line. At the same time, these companies claim a hands-off relationship with suppliers in regard to workplace safety and basic worker and human rights, often hiding behind the façade of “corporate social responsibility” programs and audits. Indeed, Prince Jacquard Sweaters Ltd. had undergone outside audits by two different firms, Amfori and Sedex.
Organizing an independent, democratic union that can represent the rights of workers and help them negotiate with their employers over issues like wage and benefit payments, can be a dangerous endeavor in Bangladesh. Once organized, the trade union registration process in Bangladesh is complicated, time consuming and plagued by corruption and interference from employers and their powerful associations. Workers regularly face unfair labor practices, such as illegal terminations, threats, harassment and violence. As in the case of Shahidul Islam, it is not uncommon for employers to hire local musclemen or mercenary members of management-dominated “yellow” unions to attack workers and organizers to prevent them from exercising their right to freedom of association.
In fact, in the absence of due process for resolving collective disputes between workers and employers, efforts by workers to collectively stand up for their rights are often ignored or met with retaliation. Mere months after Shahidul’s murder, four more workers lost their lives and many more were severely injured during the 2023 workers’ protests for a fair wage. This calls into question the reports about progress on freedom of association in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the majority of global brands and buyers sourcing from Prince Jacquard Sweaters have remained unresponsive to repeated outreach by labor rights organizations calling on them to provide compensation to the family of Shahidul Islam, while those who did respond deny responsibility.
The Philippines is ranked as one of the 10 worst countries for working people. Unions there face attempts to bust their organization, arrests and violence–including murder. And last year, four union activists were killed for their work. Still, the labor movement is rising to a multitude of challenges, addressing issues of importance to their members and advancing the cause of worker rights in general.
For example, the National Union of Building and Construction Workers (NUBCW, above) is addressing unsafe construction practices that put workers at risk including lack of days off and risks of slipping, falling and being hit by heavy falling objects.
Union members with RIDERS-SENTRO say insurance is fundamental to their ability to earn a living. Yet, while the Philippines has government-mandated social and health insurance benefits that employers must contribute to, motorbike delivery workers are categorized as independent contractors, not employees. Riders say they cannot afford those benefits on their own, and if they do not work, they do not earn a living. RIDERS-SENTRO launched a campaign for comprehensive insurance, as well as fair rates and other demands.
Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau rides with a delivery worker in Pampanga.
Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and their affiliate unions, D’Luxe Bags Union (garments); Metroworks Union (telecommunications), Associated Philippines Seafarers Union, and Juan Wing Association of the Philippines (flight attendants) recently met with the Solidarity Center to discuss issues they face, including union busting, forced leave and non-payment of overtime.
For their courage and persistence in the face of escalating threats to their own lives, seven delegates representing the Philippine labor movement receive the 2023 AFL-CIO George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award in a ceremony in Washington, D.C., including (L to R) PSLINK President Annie Enriquez Geron, ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio, BIEN President Mylene Cabalona, FFW President Sonny Matula, KMU Chairman Elmer Labog, SENTRO Secretary General Josua Mata, ALU-TUCP National President Michael “Mike” Democrito C. Mendoza. Photo: AFL-CIO
On a recent trip to the Philippines, Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blaumet with unions and workers to hear firsthand about their advances and challenges. She also met with Senator Risa Hontiveros, a major labor ally and supporter of the labor movement’s successful campaign to convince the government to ratify International Labor Organization Convention 190 on violence and harassment.
In a recent discussion with the Solidarity Center in Batangas, workers at a factory where automotive wiring harnesses are made said they face grueling overtime. “We work long hours with constant overtime, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” a worker said, noting they can work six hours standing on the assembly line with no rest, often for seven days a week.
The Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union (FTZ & GSEU) has become the first union to successfully bargain a collective agreement with a factory in Sri Lanka’s largest free trade zone.
The collective agreement was signed between the union and the factory, Next Manufacturing Limited, on October 22, 2021, less than a year after a trade union branch office of the FTZ & GSEU was set up at the factory.
Speaking on the achievement, Joint Secretary of the Union Anton Marcus, says factory employees joined the union in December 2020, when they launched a strike to demand payment of late bonuses. “We eventually signed a two-year collective agreement with the company with the support of trade unions and civil society organizations in the United Kingdom.”
The agreement is a first for the Katunayake Investment Promotion Zone. Prior to this, only one other factory chain–the Esquel Group, with more than 350 garment factories–had entered into a collective agreement in Sri Lanka. Both agreements were negotiated and signed with the FTZ & GSEU Union.
“Under this collective agreement, we have agreed to discuss not only the terms and conditions that affect employees but also all privileges and demands submitted by the unions from time to time, and training and development programs that workers can enroll in,” says Marcus. “They also agreed to deduct salary dues and credit the union’s account, and to allow a two-hour duty leave per month to hold committee meetings within factory premises and a half-day duty leave to hold general meetings. The union has agreed to provide two noticeboards, a cabinet and a telephone for the two branch buildings, and the first members are allowed to assemble in the workplace if required, either after work or before the commencement of work.”
This landmark victory carries an important message to all those who work in the garment industry. Collective bargaining power and worker rights can be won even in the garment sector.
The FTZ & GSEU are partners of the Solidarity Center.
A survey of garment workers in Sri Lanka, conducted in partnership with Solidarity Center and IndustriALL, found employer opposition and harassment has limited their ability to form unions and address workplace rights violations such as increased workloads and work hours, layoffs and temporary termination.
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