Endo in banana-land

One of President Duterte’s promise to workers is being broken in Compostela Valley, the promise to end Endo, the unfair scheme of labor contractualization.

Last March 16, the labor department issued Department Order 174 banning labor-only contracting, meaning that all companies must regularized its contractual employees. But something happened in the South Korean banana plantation Shin Sun Tropical Fruits in Compostela, Compostela Valley.

Late last March, it terminated 80 contractual workers, including 53 union members. The union, guided by Kilusang Mayo Uno, said the termination was illegal. Many of the laid-off workers have been working as contractual workers for Shin Sun for two to seven years.

The keyword is “long-time.” The Labor Code stipulates that contractual workers must be made regular by their employers after six months. The Code and the new DO 174 clearly states that employers like Shin Sun and not the labor agency should declare them as regular employees.

What happened instead was that management hired new contractual workers from a different agency. This has forced the terminated workers to declare a strike, an act that is guaranteed under the Labor Code, starting April 6 for unfair labor practice. They set up a strike camp and blocked Shin Sun gates to demand for their reinstatement as regular workers.

The strike has been going on for six weeks. Management filed a case in court prompting the police and the military to attempt to disperse the workers. But this move missed the main issue, which is the compliance of labor laws.

There is concern from industry watchers that the strike has made the agribusiness industry look bad. South Korea is the third biggest buyer of Philippine bananas next to China and Japan. In 2015, it brought around 12 percent of the country’s banana exports worth $51.6 million.

But industrial peace only comes when both sides reach an agreement. One has to consider balancing not only the interest of capitalists but also of agri-workers, whose means to survive amidst massive land conversion is to give their labor force to companies that earn millions of pesos.

Shin Sun workers said their daily wage is P258, way below the regional minimum of 340 pesos. Even if the company complies with the order to regularize the workers status and give them minimum wage, they will still spend around P700,000 a month for 80 regular workers.

This is a challenge for the labor department to come and intervene. This is also a test case for the Duterte administration, says Kilusang Mayo Uno, on its resolve to end contractualization for the benefit of the workers.--