2,600 plant workers lose jobs

Screengrab from www.fpip.com

A Japanese company making computer parts shut down its last remaining plant in the Philippines, displacing about 2,600 workers in Batangas province.

Hoya Glass Disk Philippines cited a “slump” in profits as the reason for closing its plant at First Philippine Industrial Park in Tanauan City in Batangas, an official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) said on Monday.

“The company filed a notice of closure 30 days ahead,” said the official, who requested anonymity for lack of authority to speak on the matter.

The workers were served  quit-claim notices by the management during a general assembly on April 30, or a day before International Labor Day.

“Nothing was mentioned about the closure until we were served with the quit claims and checks worth the separation pay,” Ian Ordoño, president of the independent Kalipunan at Saligan ng Manggagawa sa Hoya Glass Disk Philippines, told the Inquirer in a phone interview.

Ordoño insisted that the closure was illegal and that the workers “were forced to sign [the claims] and were held like hostages—otherwise, they would not be able to claim their final salaries.”

Among those retrenched were about 800 employees who had worked before at the company’s plant in Cabuyao City, Laguna province, he said. That plant closed down in June 2013.

Another plant in General Trias town, Cavite province, was shuttered a month ahead of the Batangas plant.

The Inquirer tried to seek comment from Batangas’ DOLE chief, Predelma Tan, but she was in a meeting and unavailable for a phone interview.

Hoya Glass Disk manufactures glass components for computer hardware.

Ordoño, a production line leader for 14 years, said regular employees earned about P500 a day while contractual employees received P300.

Contrary to the management’s claim, the company was earning $27 million or P1.188 billion yearly, the union claimed.

As of Monday, around 200 workers, mostly union members, had refused to sign the quit claims notice, Ordoño said.

The union filed a notice of strike and charged the management with unfair labor practices in the regional office of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.

“We could not simply take the separation pay without any investigation,” Ordoño said.