Alta Mode in the Philippines

The workers at Alta Mode began organizing to form a union in early 2008 as the Alta Mode Workers Union with support for the Labor Party-Philippines.  The workers had an election on September 7, 2009.

Two days before the certification elections, a meeting of Alta Mode workers under the guise of an assembly of cooperative members was called. The agenda of the meeting was not cooperative matters but the certification elections and the need to defeat the AMWU in the vote.  On the day of the certification elections last September 7, all the union members and officers plus several other non-union workers were put on forced leave. This clearly constitutes employer interference in the exercise of self-organization. Article 248 (e) of the Labor Code states that it is unfair labor practice to discriminate in regard to wages, hours of work, and other terms and conditions of employment in order to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization.

The AMWU members were the first batch of workers to vote in the certification elections but since they were on forced leave they were not allowed into the shop floor and production area. Supervisors and managers were free to make a last-minute campaign among the workers since no union members were in the shop floor. AMWU won 107 votes, "no union" got 88 votes but the certification elections remains unresolved since 27 ballots are not yet counted since were challenged by the union. These ballots were cast by supervisory employees, line leaders and contractual workers who AMWU alleges are not part of the bargaining unit. The Labor Department.recently rules to include the 27 contested ballots even with the clear evidence of freedom of association violations.

Within hours after the end of the certification elections, AMWU members held a sit-down protest within the factory compound. After 24 hours, the employer conceded to a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to implement work rotation instead of forced leave and financial assistance to workers who will temporarily laidoff. But two days after the MOA was signed in the presence of Labor Department officials, the employer reneged on the settlement and put the factory on six month temporary shutdown.

AMWU officers immediately filed a notice of strike on the basis of union busting and members unanimously voted to go on strike. But due to the restrictions of the Labor Code, AMWU could not immediately go on strike despite union busting by the employer. Further, if AMWU did go on strike, workers cannot setup a picket at the factory gates since they will not be allowed inside the MEZ compound since there are temporarily out of work. Thus AMWU members had to force their way into the MEZ compound.

While AMWU members were setting up their campout at the factory gates, they discovered a truck within the factory premises that is being filled up by materials and they suspect it might be an attempt at a runaway shop. Alta Mode has sister garments companies called Frankhaus International Corp. and MK Corp. operating in Taytay, Rizal. AMWU suspects that the temporary shutdown is a ruse to shift work to the sister companies and bust the union in Cebu.

Furthermore, not only did Alta Mode management renege on the memorandum of agreement--that was forged in the presence of representatives from the Labor Department and the Export Zone Authority--but the company filed criminal charges against the union. The company filed the following charges--grave threats, illegal detention, usurpation of real rights and grave coercion. These are all due to the sitdown protest (for 2 days and one night) and later another protest (when the workers camped out outside the factory gates without deterring ingress and egress of company personnel). The union has filed a counter-affidavit with a motion to dismiss at the fiscal's office. The union argues that the sitdown and campout are peaceful concerted actions guaranteed by law and were not attended by any acts of violence.

 

As of June 19, 2010, the Alta Mode Workers Union was finally able to settle its labor dispute with its management, ending the campout at the Mactan export processing zone.  Unfortunately, the workers were not able to demand that they be allowed to return to work because management closed the factory, moving it to Vietnam.  However, the workers were at least able to receive a separation package that was much higher than that required by law.

The workers were forced to compromise due to pressure placed on them by the Labor Department, which found them guilty of holding an illegal strike.  They were also pressured by the civil case filed by the landowner of the EPZ for illegal picketing.  Obviously these cases were only filed to force the workers to settle as they were lifted after the workers compromised, choosing to receive the separation package rather than the engage in a long legal battle that could last for years.