24 MARCH 2019
On March 25, 2019, Monday, around four hundred (400) family members, children and supporters of the fifty three (53) locked out workers from Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Hanjin Shipyard (SAMAHAN), Workers for People’s Liberation (WPL) and Friends of Hanjin Workers (FHW) will gather at the Mehan Garden at 8:30AM and troop towards the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Intramuros Office by 9:00AM to demand the return to work of locked out employees.
“Kahit nagkakasakit, naaaksidente at may posibilidad na mamatay gaya ng mga katrabaho naming naaksidente sa yarda, nagtiyaga kami at nagtrabaho ng maayos alang-alang sa aming mga pamilya. Ngayong nasa ilalim ng voluntary rehabilitation ang kompanya, kalabisan ba ang kahilingan naming manatili sa trabaho bilang maintenance sa yarda at isama kami hanggang sa muling pagbubukas nito?” lamented Efren Vinluan, SAMAHAN President.
Early this month, 113 of the 312 workers for shipyard maintenance were locked out of the worksite because they refused to sign the Voluntary Retrenchment Package (VRP) offered by the Hanjin management. The VRP stipulates a back-to-zero employment record, ‘five-month contracts’, as well as a quit claim form. Workers brought their plight to the Labor Department Sec. Silvestre Bello III, who said that the VRP is illegal, but refused to help bring the workers back to the shipyard.
