“Sports city labour dispute: Group slams legal maneuvers at MEZ”, 07January 2020

Labor group Partido Manggagawa has slammed the suspension of the proceedings for certification election in three Sports City factories at the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ).

Dennis Derige, PM-Cebu spokesperson, accused Sports City of legal maneuverings to subvert the workers’ exercise of freedom of association. Derige claimed that the factories succeeded in delaying the holding of the certification election by appealing before the Office of the Labor Secretary.

Derige said the decision of the mid-arbiter that a certification election shall be held is supposed to be final under Section 19 of the Labor Code of the Philippines.

Petitions for certification election by rank-and-file unions in Metrowear, Globalwear and Mactan Apparel, and a supervisory union in Globalwear were earlier granted and objections by management were dismissed.

Derige said that the certification election at Sports City is a test case on the respect for freedom of association in the ecozones.

“In MEZ not a single union exists with a collective bargaining agreement due to the pernicious union busting efforts of capitalists…” he said.

“The mass layoffs and labor disputes at First Glory and Sports City are symptomatic of the epidemic of labor rights violations during the time of COVID. Employers are exploiting the covid-19 crisis to bust unions and shift to contract work,” the labor group said.