Home | To bottom

Standing our ground

By Lepanto Employes Union

August 4, 2005

We have been on strike for two months now, enduring Lepanto management’s harassment and intimidation, including using the Philippine National Police (PNP) to break our will and determination in our struggle for just wages and benefits. The turn of events has led to the dismissal of some of our officers and members. Ours was a social issue from the start, as it affects our living conditions, primarily our families. And it is also because of our families that we pursued for wage increase and benefits.

We maintain our position that management and the LEU enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to reinstate our dismissed members and officers. Lepanto claims that this demand is non-negotiable for the officers; but for us, this too is non-negotiable, as it only aims to bust the union and the workers’ solidarity. Without a solid, organized union, it would be easier for Lepanto to pursue its real mandate of corporate greed at the expense of oppressed workers. Our collective strength through our union remains our weapon to protect our rights and welfare and actually benefit from these. That is precisely why Lepanto is very willing to reinstate everyone but the union officers. No union, no problems it is for the company. But we also cannot allow this.

The key to this conflict’s solution is in Lepanto’s hands: grant our wages and benefits and reinstate our dismissed members and officers. Then it would not be complaining losing P6 million daily. This statement by the company only proves our claim that operations are still paralyzed, even as it reports to the media that underground operations have normalized.

The company and the PNP capitalized on the July 23 incident to charge us and our supporters with so many things. But they are missing the point. It was the company and then the PNP that violated our human rights from the start. And for these, they must be held accountable. The PNP was instrumental in the company’s execution of violence and threats against us, sweeping our picketlines at dawn, dispersing us and even arresting and detaining our officers without any clear violation of law. Again, we reiterate our call for the PNP to pullout from Lepanto. The PNP is even claiming now that NPAs were even seen among us. There is no truth to this claim, as it only intends to justify its presence here.

Our call for the resolution of this conflict did not just appear from out of the blue. We are talking here of wages and benefits that are realistic; of just compensation that we deserve and are entitled to. We have exhausted other means to settle our demands through negotiations and conciliation, but the management’s stand drove us to strike.

The growing support for our battle was again shown on July 23. This has shaken the company so that it has diverted its attack to organizations and individuals helping us. It even reports to some papers that operations are back to normal. Clearly, Lepanto is deceiving the public on the real score, and we denounce it for doing so. We reiterate our stand in this labor dispute. Lepanto knows very well that had it given in to our demands way earlier, things would not have reached this point. We will remains steadfast in our struggle.

STRUGGLE FOR A JUST AND REASONABLE CBA!
REINSTATE OUR OFFICERS AND MEMBERS!
LONG LIVE THE LEPANTO EMPLOYEES UNION!
LONG LIVE THE WORKERS! #

Home | Back to top