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Lepanto workers defy DoLE anew

LEU refuses P25-P27-P29 decision

MANKAYAN, Benguet (June 16) — Already on its third week of strike, the Lepanto Employees Union (LEU) refuses to back down even with Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) Sec. Patricia Sto. Tomas’ decision pegging the general wage increase at P25-P27-P29. The workers’ demand for benefits, meanwhile, are at a standstill except for the P10 increase in housing allowance as specified by DoLE.

The LEU remains steadfast in its call for a P29-P29-P33 wage increase, benefits, and the reinstatement of terminated union officers.

“Daytoy a desisyon ket saan a mangsungbat kadagiti rason nu apay a napan kami nagstrike, saan a nakabatay iti pudno a pangkasapulan mi a mangmangged nudiket pabor daytoy iti kumpanya,” (This decision does not resolve our demands. In essence, it favors the mining company) LEU President Ninian Lang-agan said.He added that the union remains steadfast in its decision to strike.

Company management said it could only afford a P21-P27-P29 wage hike because it is not earning. Workers continue to refute this, claiming that Lepanto has the means to expand its operations but not increase its workers’ wages.

“Tiempo na itatta, daytoy dawdawten tayo a nayon a ganar. Ket patibkeren tayo garud daytoy a laban ta ammo tayo daytoy dawdawaten tayo” (Our call for just wages and benefits is only due. We only have our determination to strengthen because we know the basis of our demands), Lang-agan said before the miners at the picketlines. Lang-agan said that the company is doing everything in its capacity to break the union’s solidarity.

“Ar-aramiden da amin tapno mangburak ti panagkaykaysa tayo. Saan tayo koma nga agpa-allilaw kadagiti alok ti kumpanya” (The company is so desperate that it has resorted to breaking up our unity. But let us not allow this. Let us not be deceived), he said to the LEU membership.

On June 16, company representatives escorted by some 50 PNP elements, in full battle gear, attempted to open the Tubo gate thrice, but the workers did not allow this. With the increasing deployment of the police in the area, workers barricaded this picketline despite strong rains. The following day, still with PNP escorts, management had the Nayak gate opened. Workers resumed the barricade immediately after. Some 60 PNP elements arrived in the morning of June 18, mostly from outside the region. LEU Auditor Ronald Maslian criticized the PNP for siding with company management and allowing itself to facilitate the entry of supplies in the mines. He said that with this kind of situation, the workers have no choice but to intensify their struggle. The PNP should maintain themselves 50 meters away from the picketlines as provided by government policy, he added.

Desperate measures

KMU Cordillera’s Tony Baggay explained that clearly, company management is employing union busting tactics when it terminated union officers and still pushed with its counter proposals. He added that essentially, Sto. Tomas’ pronouncement is futile when it did not say anything about reinstating the officers.

“Saan met laeng a nakasurat ditoy desisyon nga awan koma ar-aramiden ti kumpanya a retaliation kas ti panagikkat kadagiti nagstrike a mangmangged no malpas ti welga ket agsubli kami iti trabaho,” Lang-agan added. (It was not stated in this decision that the company will not retaliate by dismissing workers who participated in the strike upon returning to work). Miners expressed disgust with the DoLE secretary’s decision since it was very close to the company’s proposal.

“Kunak man sumensentro ti DoLE ditoy a gusot. Apay ngay nga isuda ket maka-kumpanya?” (Why does the DoLE seem to be on the company’s side?), a miner at the Nayak picketline asked. KMU Cordillera Spokesperson James Tulipa said countless workers suffered due to Sto. Tomas’ anti-worker decisions, as in the Hacienda Luisita massacre on November 16 last year where brutal dispersals caused the death of several workers due Sto. Tomas’ Assumption of Jurisdiction (AJ) order.

NORDIS also learned from the workers that management has been going around convincing workers with records of absences without leave to report to work. Otherwise, such records would allegedly be used against them. Workers condemned company management for using the miners’ children to weaken their determination to pursue the strike. On June 16, company staff members delivered drawings of students from the Lepanto High School and Lepanto Elementary School to picketers at the Tubo gate. The drawings depicted the children’s ambitions, including essays regarding their fathers as heroes. The picketers disclosed the drawings and essays as part of the company psywar to weaken their determination to strike. Lang-agan commented that management misses the point of the strike.

“Saan da a panunoten nga isunga nagstrike kami tapno adda naan-anay a paggatang mi kadagiti kanen ti pamilya mi kangrunaan dagiti ubbing”. (We staged this strike precisely because we want to provide enough for our children.)

Just and equitable?

According to DoLE, the mining industry was in a slump for the past 20 years due to “depressed commodity prices”, including “political turmoil, and nationalistic policies”. These factors consequently led to the foreign investors’ lack of interest in the local mining industry, Sto. Tomas said in her decision. Yet, research group IBON Foundation reports that gold, as a commodity, reacts inversely to crisis such that in cases of global economic recession, the demand for gold increases, and similarly in instances of wars and currency turmoil. IBON clarifies that gold is the traditional store of value such that investors buy golf when prospects of other assets are at risk. Sto. Tomas order further states that the company has plunged into a negative P12,735,000 in 2003. Yet, the KMU-Cordillera reports that the company has raked in retained earnings amounting P2,573,845,000 in 2003.

Maslian questioned the company’s incapacity to grant reasonable wages when it could go expanding its operations, such as the three recent Applications for Financial and Technical Assistance (AFTA). These AFTAs covering 77,549 hectares in Benguet (AFTA 024); 81,000 hectares in Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya and Benguet (AFTA 025), and another 81,000 hectares in Ilocos Sur and Abra (AFTA 026). AFTAs 025 and 026 were applied for under Shipside Incorporated and DDCP, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). CPA Secretary General said that the company would need at least $50 million capital investment for such applications.

Meanwhile, the Cordillera Peoples Democratic Front (CPDF) expressed support to the workers’ strike. In an emailed statement, CPDF Spokesperson Simon “Ka Filiw” Naogsan said that workers’ demands for are but just and legitimate, such that company management should grant these. He also called on the management to reinstate terminated officials.

“Para kadagiti mangmangged ti LCMC: Napateg nga adal ti impakita yo a tibker ken nairut a panagkaykaysa idi nagwelga kayo idi 2003. Bunga daytoy, nagun-od yo dagiti singasing a pagsayaatan yo kas mangmangged ken ti kakabsat yo a mannalon. Daytoy ti puonan yo a mangbirok iti kapada wenno nair-irut pay a tibker ti urnos ken kired ti pakinakem yo para iti agdama a dangadang yo. Ipinget yo ti lumaban. Nainkalintegan ti taktakderan yo. Awan ti mapukaw kadakayo no di ti kawar ti pannakaadipen,” he said. (To the workers of LCMCo: You have demonstrated that your strength and unity were invaluable weapons during the 2003 strike. Because of these, you have won all your demands not only for the workers’ welfare, but also of your peasant neighbors. These should serve as an inspiration in your pursuit for an even greater strength and resolve in your present struggles at the picketlines. Continue struggling because you are on just ground. You have nothing to lose but those chains that enslave you.)

Workers have been preparing for possible dispersal since the DoLE’s return to work order on June 9. Violent dispersal swept the Mill Site picketline in the 2003 strike, where two miners succumbed to cardiac arrest. Maslian recalled then that the women were not spared when they were also dragged and hit by local police.# AT Bengwayan for NORDIS, with reports from Aldwin Quitasol

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