terror in the Philippines: “worse than Marcos”
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=176290
Terror in the Phillipines Liza Featherstone
In October, I wrote about workers at the Chong Won garment factory in
the Phillipines, who produce clothing for a number of retailers and
brands, including Wal-Mart. Back then, workers were on strike
defending their legal right to organize. Yesterday I caught up with
Father Jose Dixon — “Father Joe” — a priest at the Workers’
Assistance Centre in Cavite, who has played a major role in
supporting the workers’ efforts.(Naomi Klein wrote about Father Joe,
and this organization, in her ground-breaking 1999 book No Logo.)
Soft-spoken and cheerful, despite the grim situations we’re
discussing, Father Joe is visiting the United States to testify
before Congress about the dismal and deteriorating human rights
situation in his country. I interviewed him at the United Nations,
where he was attending a meeting of social justice-minded religious
leaders. He said that factory management still refuses to negotiate
with the workers’ union.
A February investigation of Chong Won by the Worker Rights Consortium
(WRC) — the monitoring group founded by the student anti-sweatshop
movement — found violations of minimum wage, forced overtime and
many other laws. It also found that factory management had colluded
with local authorities to retaliate violently against striking
workers: indeed, the report states, “with respect to freedom of
association, Chong Won’s misdeeds are among the most egregious and
persistent that the WRC has encountered.”
As the factory’s most powerful customer, Wal-Mart could easily
pressure management to respect the workers’ rights. In fact, the
right to freedom of association is part of Wal-Mart’s own code of
conduct for suppliers (a fact that many of its U.S. employees would
find pretty darkly hilarious). Last fall, Father Joe and the workers
met with representatives of Wal-Mart, who said they would pressure
the management to do the right thing; he now thinks that they were
“not serious.” The retailer has taken no action and workers now fear
Wal-Mart might pull out altogether, instead of using its economic
power to improve the situation. Says Father Joe, “We are just asking
Wal-Mart to follow its own code of conduct with respect to the right
of workers to collective bargaining.”
Father Joe says the workers are determined to continue their strike
and that they are still in “high spirits.” The picket line is a
lively place, he says: “It’s become an area for study, for
discussion, to raise up their political consciousness.”
Write to Wal-Mart and tell the company to act now. Rajan Kamala is
the Director of Compliance at Wal-Mart: rkamala@wal-mart.com. Can’t
hurt to drop a line to the factory management, too:
Mr. Yong Ryul Kim, President, Chong Wong Fashion Inc.; South Ave.
PEZA; Rosario, Cavite 4106; Philippines. Fax: (63)(46) 437-0314; Tel:
(63)(46) 437-0316/19; Yongryulkim@yahoo.com
To join a North American support campaign for Chong Won, and learn
about other actions you can take, go to the Maquila Solidarity
Network website, which will be updated next week. United Students
Against Sweatshops also has a campaign on this, as does the
International Labor Rights Fund.
The Chong Won situation needs to be viewed in the context not just of
Wal-Mart’s global indifference to workers, but also of the
murderously hostile environment in the Phillipines. Since President
Arroyo took power in 2001, there have been 836 political killings, 48
of them labor activists.
Father Joe and other WAC activists have been followed by spies, and
have received threatening messages. The organization’s director was
found murdered in September. These days, they avoid going out alone
at night, or working late at the WAC office. This climate of fear,
Father Joe says, is “much worse than under Marcos.” Indeed, in just
three years of Arroyo there have been more extra-judicial killings
than in Marcos’s entire two decades in power. Under the late
dictator, those who faced the most repression were people in the
armed, underground resistance. Today, the targets of political
violence are engaged in legal organizing activities, which as Father
Joe points out, are “above ground, so we are like sitting ducks.”
Under Marcos, Father Joe faced arrest — and indeed, was jailed –
but “now, I could lose my life!”
In addition to Wal-Mart, it’s a good idea to get in touch with
governmental authorities, since they are implicated both in the Chong
Won situation, and the killings in the country at large. Here are
their addresses:
HE Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; President, Republic of the Philippines;
Malacanang Palace; JP Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila; 1005
Philippines. Fax: (+63 2) 736-10-10; corres@op.gov.ph
Atty. Lilia B. De Lima; Director-General, Philippine Economic Zone
Authority (PEZA); San Luis St. Cor. Roxas Blvd., Pasay City. Fax:
(63) (2) 772-3375; 891-6380; cez@pldtdsl.net ; erd@peza.gov.ph ;
dglbl@peza.gov.ph
Mr. Arturo Brion; Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment;
Executive Bldg., San Jose St., Intramuros, Manila. Fax: (63) (2)
527-2121; 527-2131; 527-5523; 527-34-94; osec@dole.gov.ph