3 Hanjin unions set certification election

REPRESENTATIVES of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines (HHIC-Phil) and leaders of the workers’ union Alyansa ng Manggagawang Organisadong Pilipino-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (AMAPOTUCP) have agreed on a venue for the conduct of a certification election of the three company unions.

This after a series of talks failed to determine where to hold a certification election for the recognition of the workers’ union of Hanjin located at the Subic Bay Freeport.

About 30,000 workers of the shipbuilding giant earlier this month said they will go on strike if no agreement is reached on the venue for the certification election.

Bobby Flores, AMAPO-TUCP president, said Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) officials have set the venue at San Pablo basketball court in Castillejos town where workers of three sub- contractor companies of Hanjin will participate in the voting.

Under the rules, each of the labor organizations in subcontractors Sushicor, Zambanas, and Hacor Phil Corp. needs to get 50 percent of the yes votes plus one of the workers to be certified as a union. Once unionized the workers can negotiate a Collecting Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with their respective companies.

A vote less than the required number will be in favor of Hanjin. Figures provided

showed Hacor has 374 workers, Sushicor 1,580, and Zambanas 2,092.

AMAPO-TUCP said it has organized a union in each of the 18 sub- contractor companies of Hanjin and 14 of these unions have received an order for the conduct of a certification election. About 30,000 of the 38,000 Hanjin workers are now members of the AMAPO-TUCP federation.

The representatives of Hanjin and the labor unions have met eight times to negotiate the terms of the certification election particularly the venue.

AMAPO-TUCP initially wanted the venue near the gate of Hanjin shipyard in Redondo Peninsula but Hanjin reportedly objected and suggested the Subic Gym located across the bay, about two hours of travel time from the shipyard.

On September 27 Sushicor workers will be the first to conduct the certification election from 5:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. Zambanas workers will vote on September 28, and Hacor workers on September 29.

The certification election of other unions within Hanjin will be scheduled depending on the agreement between the firm’s management and the labor union.