1,000 workers cry rescue from layoff

AROUND 1,000 workers, majority of them women, of a SouthKorean- owned factory in Cavite are hoping that the Department of Labor and Employment ( DOLE) could change the mind of the firm’s management to save the workers from being jobless just as Christmas is fast approaching.

The workers’ union and the management of Faremo International Inc. in Cavite’s Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) Department of Labor and Employment on Monday afternoon.

In a statement sent to TheManilaTimes on Sunday, the union said Faremo International has decided to close the company immediately.

garments factory in EPZA.

It supplies garments to global brands such as Gap, JCPenney and Kohl’s.

The union said the owners of Faremo International had chosen to shut the company down rather than grant demands of the workers.

Among the demands are recognition of the union that was formed last year, end of verbal abuse of workers, grant of due - ers’ monthly salary as prescribed by the Minimum Wage Law.

All these demands, according to the union, are contained in the Collective Bargaining Agreement concluded last May but were eventually rejected by the management.

The union was told that Feramo International would end up bankrupt if the employees’ demands were accepted by the management.

It has proposed work rotation so that the 1,000 employees would not be jobless but the management ignored the proposal.