With barely 4 session-days left, workers belonging to labor coalition Nagakaisa! trooped to the Senate this afternoon to urge feuding senators to defer passage of Senate Bill 3389 or the National Electrification Reform Bill authored by Sen. Serge Osmena on grounds that the proposed “step-in rights” to be granted to NEA is anti-democratic and anti-labor.
Nagkaisa! members like the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines have organized unions in the country’s 119 electric cooperatives.
Josua Mata, one of Nagkaisa! convenors and the secretary general of APL denounced the Senate Bill as a Draconian measure as it grants NEA martial law powers to take over ailing ECs, replace the general manager, the entire board and even employees, appoint third persons in the board or a management team, and convert cooperatives into stock corporations. This measure, he said, usurped the powers of the General Assembly – the highest policy-making body of the coop to decide on what options to take to make their utilities financially-viable and democratically-managed.
Leody De Guzman, Chairperson of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilino (BMP) said that, “NEA Bill is a bad bill that clearly tramples on our constitutional right to security of tenure and severely undermines our fundamental right to self-organize”.
Louie Corral of TUCP said a close reading of the measure shows that it seeks to clothe the NEA with the same draconian powers, which for the past thirty years it has exercised over the country’s electric cooperatives.
Section 4-B of SB 3389 states that the NEA shall have immediately step-in and take over from its Board the operations of any ailing electric cooperative, within a reasonable period after take-over, the NEA may convert the ailing cooperative to either a stock cooperative registered with the CDA or a stock corporation registered with the SEC.
“This is privatization in the guise of reform,” said Mata, adding that with 90 percent of generation already privatized under EPIRA, big private powers now set their eyes on 9 million households connected with electric cooperatives. Meralco has 5.5 million customer-base.
PM chair Renato Magtubo echoed the same as the both the House and Senate versions aim at making electric cooperatives EPIRA-compliant. “Reform NEA is nothing but a privatization agenda of Osmena in the coops as explicitly provided under his bill,” said Magtubo.
Osmena was also the author of EPIRA which for the past 10 years resulted to escalating rates and diminishing supply.
NAGKAISA believes that any moves to amend the charter of NEA should first be informed by a comprehensive assessment of what really went wrong in the electric cooperative sector and how the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 or EPIRA has exacerbated the situation.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Labor groups lambast power oligarchs in second day of protest against high power rates
Labor groups belonging to the biggest labor coalition Nagkaisa! vented their ire in their second day of protest against high power rates on the country’s power oligarchs whose business empires are shored up by super profits taken out from the pockets of millions of captive electricity consumers.
In a rally held outside the main office of Meralco in Pasig City, Nagkaisa! leaders took turns in lambasting the big names in the power industry whom they refer to as the Voltage 5 for raking in billions of profits while consumers suffer the burden of paying one of the most expensive electricity rates in the world.
The Voltage 5 includes the Pangilinan group, the Lopez group, the Aboitiz group, the San Miguel group of Danding Cojuangco, and the group of Henry Sy of the National Grid Corporation.
Nagkaisa! convenor Leody de Guzman, said Meralco in 2011 alone earned a net profit of P14.9-B or 22% higher than what they had in 2010. Aboitiz Power netted P25-B in 2010 or 343% higher than what they earned in 2009. Likewise, profits of the Lopez group jumped to P24.8-B in 2010 or an increase of 186% from 2009. The San Miguel group on the other hand earned P16.7-B in 2011 or 31% higher from 2010.
“That’s P81-B of combined profits which is higher than the combined annual incomes of half a million wage earners in NCR and at least a million minimum wage earners in each regions of the country,” stated De Guzman.
De Guzman describes the situation as disgustingly unfair as he assailed the government for making it sure that power oligarchs reap the benefits of power privatization while workers shoulder the pain of unjust rates.
Prior to the Meralco rally today, Nagkaisa! also held a picket at the offices of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) the other day asking the body to defer the planned implementation of retail competition and open access this coming December. Nagkaisa! warns that the implementation of open access would lead to another round of increases in power rates.
The rally at Meralco participated by the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), Philippine Airlines’ Employees Association (PALEA) and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is part of NAGKAISA’s “Season of Protest Against Bad Economics”, which the coalition launched early this week.
In a rally held outside the main office of Meralco in Pasig City, Nagkaisa! leaders took turns in lambasting the big names in the power industry whom they refer to as the Voltage 5 for raking in billions of profits while consumers suffer the burden of paying one of the most expensive electricity rates in the world.
The Voltage 5 includes the Pangilinan group, the Lopez group, the Aboitiz group, the San Miguel group of Danding Cojuangco, and the group of Henry Sy of the National Grid Corporation.
Nagkaisa! convenor Leody de Guzman, said Meralco in 2011 alone earned a net profit of P14.9-B or 22% higher than what they had in 2010. Aboitiz Power netted P25-B in 2010 or 343% higher than what they earned in 2009. Likewise, profits of the Lopez group jumped to P24.8-B in 2010 or an increase of 186% from 2009. The San Miguel group on the other hand earned P16.7-B in 2011 or 31% higher from 2010.
“That’s P81-B of combined profits which is higher than the combined annual incomes of half a million wage earners in NCR and at least a million minimum wage earners in each regions of the country,” stated De Guzman.
De Guzman describes the situation as disgustingly unfair as he assailed the government for making it sure that power oligarchs reap the benefits of power privatization while workers shoulder the pain of unjust rates.
Prior to the Meralco rally today, Nagkaisa! also held a picket at the offices of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) the other day asking the body to defer the planned implementation of retail competition and open access this coming December. Nagkaisa! warns that the implementation of open access would lead to another round of increases in power rates.
The rally at Meralco participated by the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), Philippine Airlines’ Employees Association (PALEA) and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is part of NAGKAISA’s “Season of Protest Against Bad Economics”, which the coalition launched early this week.
Another World is Possible! Reject the Policies of Neoliberalism! Protect the Economy, Protect the Working Class!
Together with 800 delegates of the World Social Forum on Migrant Labor, the Nagkaisa broad labor coalition would march on November 30 to call on the Aquino administration to reject neoliberal policies and to pursue the policy of labor and economic protectionism.
In two decades, Philippine governments have swallowed hook, line and sinker the policies endorsed by foreign institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Now, it must be said again, the Filipino people are not better off with the policies of liberalization, deregulation, privatization, and flexibilization of labor. Workers are fed up and we demand immediate action.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The Filipino workers took the bitter pills of neoliberal policies. But instead of recuperating from crippling poverty, they suffer even more from the following conditions:
Low Wages and Cheap Labor Policy. The minimum wage is not even half the “cost of living” – the necessary costs for a decent life for a working class family. Workers are forced to go on overtime because of starvation wages. Even with the Philippine putting up a “baratilyo” or “bargain sale” of its workers, foreign direct investments have not picked up as fast as it did in our neighbors in the Southeast Asian region.
Outsourcing and Contractualization. To promote cheap and docile workers, employers have restricted the regularization of its workers even for those who perform usually necessary and desirable work for six months. The scourge of contractualization ravaged not only our security of tenure but also our rights to self-organization and bargain collectively.
Lack of regular employment and cheap labor policy force our kababayans to migrate and seek greener pastures overseas; hence, its by-product, the tacit policy of labor migration, which have made our economy dependent on dollar remittances from overseas Filipino workers.
High Power Rates and Privatization of the Power Industry. With the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA on June 2001, power rates in the country have gone up. The cost of doing business in the Philippines is among the highest in Asia due to the high cost of electricity.
Spiraling oil prices. Government insists on the oil deregulation law despite the indisputable fact of unabated oil price hikes and incessant protests from civil society groups including workers’ organizations. The Noynoy Aquino regime put up a review committee on this issue. But instead of drafting proposal to reverse deregulation, it became a mere mouthpiece of the oil oligarchs.
Neoliberal economics is pro-foreign capital and anti-labor. It not only serves the interest of foreign monopoly capital, in the persona of transnational companies. It is a recolonization of the Philippines by foreign powers.
On November 30, the Nagkaisa broad coalition is in unity with regional and global movements against corporate greed. People before profit! Another World is Possible. We call on Noynoy Aquino to adhere to the Constitutional provisions on “full protection to labor” and the “national economy”.
Economic struggle at the factory and shopfloor level must extend to the political arena. The labor movement must transcend traditional localized unionism to lead the discourse on policies and laws that affect the Filipino masses. We challenge the contending parties in the 2013 elections – especially the Liberal Party Coalition (LPC) and United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) to present concrete proposals on how to alleviate poverty and resolve the everyday problems of the masses.
In two decades, Philippine governments have swallowed hook, line and sinker the policies endorsed by foreign institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Now, it must be said again, the Filipino people are not better off with the policies of liberalization, deregulation, privatization, and flexibilization of labor. Workers are fed up and we demand immediate action.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The Filipino workers took the bitter pills of neoliberal policies. But instead of recuperating from crippling poverty, they suffer even more from the following conditions:
Low Wages and Cheap Labor Policy. The minimum wage is not even half the “cost of living” – the necessary costs for a decent life for a working class family. Workers are forced to go on overtime because of starvation wages. Even with the Philippine putting up a “baratilyo” or “bargain sale” of its workers, foreign direct investments have not picked up as fast as it did in our neighbors in the Southeast Asian region.
Outsourcing and Contractualization. To promote cheap and docile workers, employers have restricted the regularization of its workers even for those who perform usually necessary and desirable work for six months. The scourge of contractualization ravaged not only our security of tenure but also our rights to self-organization and bargain collectively.
Lack of regular employment and cheap labor policy force our kababayans to migrate and seek greener pastures overseas; hence, its by-product, the tacit policy of labor migration, which have made our economy dependent on dollar remittances from overseas Filipino workers.
High Power Rates and Privatization of the Power Industry. With the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA on June 2001, power rates in the country have gone up. The cost of doing business in the Philippines is among the highest in Asia due to the high cost of electricity.
Spiraling oil prices. Government insists on the oil deregulation law despite the indisputable fact of unabated oil price hikes and incessant protests from civil society groups including workers’ organizations. The Noynoy Aquino regime put up a review committee on this issue. But instead of drafting proposal to reverse deregulation, it became a mere mouthpiece of the oil oligarchs.
Neoliberal economics is pro-foreign capital and anti-labor. It not only serves the interest of foreign monopoly capital, in the persona of transnational companies. It is a recolonization of the Philippines by foreign powers.
On November 30, the Nagkaisa broad coalition is in unity with regional and global movements against corporate greed. People before profit! Another World is Possible. We call on Noynoy Aquino to adhere to the Constitutional provisions on “full protection to labor” and the “national economy”.
Economic struggle at the factory and shopfloor level must extend to the political arena. The labor movement must transcend traditional localized unionism to lead the discourse on policies and laws that affect the Filipino masses. We challenge the contending parties in the 2013 elections – especially the Liberal Party Coalition (LPC) and United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) to present concrete proposals on how to alleviate poverty and resolve the everyday problems of the masses.
Coke Workers Pressed FEMSA to Stop Coke’s War Against Regular Jobs
“Hey Coke, how many regular jobs have you killed today?”
This is the chant of hundreds of workers belonging to the Alliance of Coca-Cola Unions in the Philippines (ACCUP) and their supporters from the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL-Sentro) and NAGKAISA during a rally today in front of the Coca-Cola headquarters in Makati. The workers demanded the owners-to-be of Coca-Cola – FEMSA – to immediately cease the company’s unrelenting war against regular jobs.
Coca-Cola Philippines is up for sale by The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC). For months now, Coca-Cola FEMSA from Mexico has been conducting due diligence and has sent a team to the Philippines to look at the company’s assets.
“To ensure a smooth transition, FEMSA should demonstrate its good faith by declaring its commitment to fully respect workers’ rights,” Fred Marañon, spokesperson of Alliance of Coca-Cola Unions in the Philippines (ACCUP) and president of Coca-Cola San Fernando Rank and File Union, said. “FEMSA should call on Coca-Cola management to stop ramming down on our throats its anti-worker policy called P3,” he added.
P3, or Performance, Participation and Presence, is an evaluation program that lacks any consideration of fairness and equity in determining wage increases. It also removes workers’ hard-won protection against arbitrary and unfair punishment or dismissal as well as protection against discrimination. More importantly, it precludes the use of grievance procedures in questioning the penalties that are imposed to those who ‘fails’ the performance appraisals.
“P3 has started claiming its victims in Coca-Cola plants where management has succeeded in imposing the program through various ruses,” Marañon said. “The worst part is, workers who fail their P3 evaluation continue to live in fear even after they are fired,” he added.
The campaign to enforce P3 is backed by the Coca-Cola Philippines’ head of security, an ex-US Special Forces officer who specializes in the “demolition” of opposing groups and using fear, intimidation and blackmail to suppress dissent. Under this situation, few have dared to speak out.
ACCUP is now pushing for a Congressional inquiry on Coke’s practice of employing security officers from abroad without legal employment status.
“We will sustain and even escalate our campaign unless FEMSA stops the imposition of P3 in all Coca-Cola plants,” Marañon declared.
This is the chant of hundreds of workers belonging to the Alliance of Coca-Cola Unions in the Philippines (ACCUP) and their supporters from the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL-Sentro) and NAGKAISA during a rally today in front of the Coca-Cola headquarters in Makati. The workers demanded the owners-to-be of Coca-Cola – FEMSA – to immediately cease the company’s unrelenting war against regular jobs.
Coca-Cola Philippines is up for sale by The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC). For months now, Coca-Cola FEMSA from Mexico has been conducting due diligence and has sent a team to the Philippines to look at the company’s assets.
“To ensure a smooth transition, FEMSA should demonstrate its good faith by declaring its commitment to fully respect workers’ rights,” Fred Marañon, spokesperson of Alliance of Coca-Cola Unions in the Philippines (ACCUP) and president of Coca-Cola San Fernando Rank and File Union, said. “FEMSA should call on Coca-Cola management to stop ramming down on our throats its anti-worker policy called P3,” he added.
P3, or Performance, Participation and Presence, is an evaluation program that lacks any consideration of fairness and equity in determining wage increases. It also removes workers’ hard-won protection against arbitrary and unfair punishment or dismissal as well as protection against discrimination. More importantly, it precludes the use of grievance procedures in questioning the penalties that are imposed to those who ‘fails’ the performance appraisals.
“P3 has started claiming its victims in Coca-Cola plants where management has succeeded in imposing the program through various ruses,” Marañon said. “The worst part is, workers who fail their P3 evaluation continue to live in fear even after they are fired,” he added.
The campaign to enforce P3 is backed by the Coca-Cola Philippines’ head of security, an ex-US Special Forces officer who specializes in the “demolition” of opposing groups and using fear, intimidation and blackmail to suppress dissent. Under this situation, few have dared to speak out.
ACCUP is now pushing for a Congressional inquiry on Coke’s practice of employing security officers from abroad without legal employment status.
“We will sustain and even escalate our campaign unless FEMSA stops the imposition of P3 in all Coca-Cola plants,” Marañon declared.
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