STA. CRUZ, Davao del Sur— Coconut industry workers here on Wednesday staged a picket to protest what they said was a collusion between desiccated coconut exporter Franklin Baker and three other firms to skirt labor laws.
The workers said under a recently signed agreement, some 1,100 coconut industry workers, many of whom have been on the job for years, had been reverted to being newly hired employees at Franklin Baker.
They said the agreement that the desiccated coconut firm signed with its raw coconut suppliers—B/L Investment Inc., Golden White Coco Traders and Mactan—had put to waste their length of service.
The three coconut suppliers will now act as manpower agencies for Franklin Baker after the latter agreed to absorb the workers.
“Many of us have worked for more than 10 years already but they would regard us as new employees now. We might be able to agree if they give us separation pay,” said Jimboy Marciano, spokesperson for Samahan ng Manggagawang Kontraktwal (Sama-Ako).
Carlo Olalo, the spokesperson for Kilusang Mayo Uno in Southern Mindanao, said “the collusion between Franklin Baker and the three companies is clearly an attempt to evade responsibility to workers.”
“The experience of coco workers in Davao del Sur exposes the evils of labor-only contracting and other forms of labor policies that make workers vulnerable to exploitation,” he said.
“The scheme to absorb all workers from [the three companies] and make them agency hires is the handiwork of Franklin Baker, which designed this scheme in order to frustrate all workers’ attempts to become regular workers. This is happening all over the country because contractualization is legal,” Olalo said.
The management of Franklin Baker and of the three other firms had declined to comment when the Inquirer sought their side on the protest.
But Sta. Cruz Mayor Joel Ray Lopez said he had talked with the Franklin Baker management and it had agreed to look into the complaint of the workers.
Lopez said he was now trying to broker negotiations between the workers and the companies as the workers’ protest was growing and could escalate unless amicably resolved.
It was learned that a smaller protest was also held last year over the same issue. Orlando Dinoy, Inquirer Mindanao