Workers won’t return to work at Parañaque factory unless health safety measures assured – BMP

MANILA, Philippines – A workers’ union in Parañaque has refused to return to their factory lines without their company’s management placing health safety measures against COVID-19 first, labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) confirmed.

BMP said in a statement on Monday that the union at rope manufacturing company Everbright Net and Twine along Edison Avenue in Sun Valley would only return to work if their requests — factory disinfection and occupational safety measures — are acted upon.

According to Lakas Manggawa sa Everbright president Teddy Fernandez, they do not want to stop working especially after the pandemic forced the government to suspend work.  However, they would not also risk having themselves and their family infected with the latest coronavirus strain.

“Walang manggagawa na nais tumigil sa trabaho lalu pa hindi naman pinaghandaan ng gobyerno ang ayuda para sa manggagawa nang biglaan nitong ipatupad ang lockdown.  Halos lahat ng pangangailangan namin ay kailangang bilhin, at para magkaroon ng pambili, kailangan naming ibenta ang aming lakas-paggawa kapalit ng sweldo,” Fernandez said.

(No worker wants to stop working especially since the government did not prepare social aid for workers when they immediately enforced this lockdown.  Almost all of the needs should be bought, and to earn income, we need to work in exchange for salaries.)

“Subalit kung mapepeligro naman ang manggagawa dahil sa kanyang pagtatrabaho, nawawalan ng saysay ang trabaho. Imbes na maging hanapbuhay, ito ay nagiging hanap-patay. Hindi kami magdadalawang-isip na maglunsad ng mass action para sa mass testing,” he added.

(But if working would place workers and their families in danger, then jobs would make no sense.  Instead of making a livelihood, it would turn into seeking danger.  We would not hesitate to launch mass actions for mass testing.)

Fernandez explained that what they would do instead is to follow the guidelines of Parañaque’s city government, which is to submit workers to mass testing before even returning to workplaces.

Last May 15, Mayor Edwin Olivarez released guidelines for the implementation of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), which says that only people who would test negative of COVID-19 will be allowed to return to work, while workplaces would also be disinfected.

BMP President Luke Espiritu commended these steps from Parañaque’s government and other local government units (LGUs) which have prioritized mass testing for returning workers, chiding the Department of Labor and the Department of Trade and Industry for saying that mass testing is optional.

Previously, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that employees are not required to undergo COVID-19 testing before returning to work, as testing kits should be prioritized to those who were exposed to the disease.

READ: Virus tests not needed for returning workers

“It is a far cry from the lame DTI-DOLE guidelines on workplace prevention and control of COVID19, which places the conduct of mass testing by employers as a mere option,” Espiritu said.

“Local trade union leaders could easily see through the shameless profiteering by abusive employers, who have no regard nor care for the welfare of their workers, in spite of the life-threatening COVID19 pandemic,” he added.

As of now, Metro Manila is under a MECQ, which means that some industries are now allowed to operate with 50 percent of its workforce.  However, latest information from health authorities shows that the COVID-19 infection curve is not flattening, as there are now 12,718 COVID-19 cases, with 831 casualties and 2,729 recoveries.

Worldwide, over 4.724 million persons have been infected, 315,423 of whom have died while 1.737 million have recovered.