KMU blasts DOLE for Bulacan warehouse mishap

MANILA, Philippines—A militant labor group marched to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) office in Manila on Friday to demand justice for the victims of the warehouse that collapsed in Bulacan.

Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) led other labor groups to DOLE to demand that the warehouse’s construction contractor Hoclim Co Construction Corp. and principal owner Number One Golden Dragon Realty Corp. be held accountable for “their gross violations of occupational health and safety standards.”

“We demand justice for our fellow workers and their families who were killed in yet another tragic accident caused by the Aquino government and the private contractor’s criminal neglect of workers’ health and safety,” KMU secretary general Roger Soluta said.

A dozen workers died when one of the walls of a warehouse in Guiguinto, Bulacan, collapsed.

KMU said labor contractors could be freed from any responsibility to the victims since the government of President Benigno Aquino III had legalized contractualization under DOLE’s DO 18-A series of 2011.

“By legalizing contractualization, the Aquino government has allowed capitalists to subject their workers to hazardous and even deadly working conditions without being punished by law,” Soluta said. “Legalized contractual employment schemes deny justice to all victims of work related deaths.”