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Monday, November 7, 2011

KMU slams union-busting in Cebu chemical plant

“Across the country, the workers’ rights to security of tenure and organize unions are under attack.”

This was the statement of labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno as it condemned Cebu-based Cenapro Chemical Corporation’s threat of termination against 19 members and officers of the union there, which is a clear case of union-busting that will pave the way for the company’s contractualization and other anti-worker schemes.

Situation of contractuals

Cenapro Chemical Corporation is a manufacturing company in Mandaue City, Cebu that produces high-quality activated carbon from coconut shell used for water filters, gas masks and gold recovery, preservatives and anti-pollutants, among others. The company is principally owned by cousins Amado and Joseph Go while 35% of its shares is owned by Kuraray Chemical Co., LTD, a Japanese-owned company based in Osaka, Japan.

According to Cenapro Chemical Employees Association, an affiliate of the Alliance of Nationalist and Genuine Labor Organizations under the Kilusang Mayo Uno (CCEA-ANGLO-KMU), two hundred of Cenapro’s total workforce of 300 are contractual workers with no job security and benefits.

Workers are exposed to charcoal dust, extreme heat of 1,000 degrees Celsius and hazardous substances such as asbestos and carbon monoxide without adequate protection. Cases of cancer and cardiac arrest have already claimed the lives of 14 workers.

Forced overtime of up to eight hours was also being practiced by the company with workers being made to work for 16 straight hours without rest.

Current labor dispute

“Faced with the company’s contractualization of its workforce and outstanding record of violating health and safety standards, the workers have every right to form their union and assert their rights,” said Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general.

“Because the union is able to defend workers’ rights and gain some victories through collective bargaining, Cenapro is trying to bust the workers’ union. It is trying to terminate 19 union officers and members so that it can push through with its contractualization and anti-worker schemes and amass bigger profits,” said Soluta.

The following are the facts on the labor dispute:
•In less than a month after the CBA signing, management started committing gross violations of the CBA by:
o Refusing to pay hospital bills of a union member who was hospitalized due to lung cancer.
o Refusing to release an employee’s retirement pay after his death last March 29.
o Refusing to pay the salary increase to two newly-regularized workers as agreed upon in the CBA.
o Refusing to pay the one-month salary the union president, whom it illegally suspended for one month on grounds of insubordination.
•Cenapro insisted on not complying with the CBA even if it was agreed, in the presence of National Conciliation and Mediation Board, that it has to grant the demand of the workers that the CBA be implemented.
•In response, the union asserted workers’ rights through different protests.
•In retaliation, the management sent a notice of termination to 19 union officers and members.

“The Cenapro management is clearly violating workers’ rights. It deserves the protests of its workers,” said Soluta.


“We support the CCEA-ANGLO-KMU in its plan to launch a strike should the management push through with terminating the 19 union officers and members. We encourage everyone, especially Cebuanos, to support the Cenapro workers’ fight,” he added. Roger Soluta, KMU Secretary General

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