Workers continue to hold picket as firm closes down
Seventeen employees of a fashion accessory company in Mandaue City held a picket after they were barred from entering the factory by their employer, Ecstacy Fashion Accessories Inc. yesterday.
A memorandum was issued by the management that the company is temporarily closed due to lack of market of their products.
Dennis Eco, a 34-year-old worker who has been in the company since 2003 said he never expected to lose his job without due process.
He said he doesn’t believe that they don’t have enough markets since the firm’s subcontractor continues to produce accessories for them.
The employees said their conflict with management started when they organized an employees union in May last year.
They formed the union after two of their colleagues were allegedly sacked without due process.
Eulogio Bejec, president of Ecstasy Fashion Accessories Independent Worker’s Union (EFAIWU), said 17 out of 34 rank-and-file employees voted in favor of organizing a union in a survey conducted by the company.
They asked the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole-7) to recognize them as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent but until now, DOLE-7 has not yet released their certificate.
Bejec alleged that since the organization of their union, the company delayed the processing of their loans with SSS or Pag-ibig.
Most are from other provinces outside Cebu and are just renting someplace to stay.
Ecstacy Fashion Accessories Inc. was established in 1983 by a Swiss national.
It was sold to another Swiss national with a Filipino business partner who is managing the company.
Cebu Daily News tried but was unable to interview management’s side. Dole-7 said it hasn’t received any report about the labor feud in Ecstacy.
DOLE-7 Director II Edmundo Mirasol said he will immediately send someone to check and mediate the dispute.
Mirasol said as of last year, they were able to settle 92 percent of the labor conflicts in the region. Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza and Reporter Candeze Mongaya
