Many workers and unions in Australia and other imperialist countries have been involved in campaigns to stop jobs from being sent offshore to Third World countries. Unions in the rich countries usually think that this is an issue that only affects them, but the off-shoring of jobs to other countries, or to "free trade zones", heavily impacts on workers in Third World countries, as capitalists try to drive workers' wages and conditions ever lower.
Four organisers from the Philippines' biggest left trade union centre, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP — Solidarity of Filipino Workers) — BMP president Leody de Guzman, general secretary Teody Navea, treasurer Michelle Canos, and BMP-Negros region organiser Rosendo "Tindoy" Elola — described the challenges facing them to Green Left Weekly.
Teody Navea explained that since 1994, neoliberal globalisation has had a major impact in the Philippines. The worst affected industry has been the garment industry, which was also the BMP's strongest area. He said that the first casualty was Aris Philippines Wear, which closed in 1996. Its union was the BMP's oldest.
"The latest casualty is Gelmart Industries, considered one of the biggest garment factories in the Philippines. In 2003, the biggest garment factory, Novelty, was another casualty. Before the onslaught of globalisation in 1994-96, Novelty Philippines employed about 10,000 workers. By the time it was closed in 2003, there were only 2365 workers left."
Navea explained that there was no prior warning that Novelty was closing. Workers went to work on a Monday morning in September 2003 to find signs at the gates saying the company had closed down. Then the management of the US-owned company flew out of the Philippines without a word, evading its financial obligations to the workers.
Impact of globalisation
"Gelmart is the latest casualty. But Gelmart Industries, unlike Novelty, informed the workers that it was suffering financial losses so there would be a temporary shutdown to recover while the company tried to come up with credit to continue its operation", Navea said.
"But after shutting down for about four months, management informed the workers that it would close down. Globalisation isn't only affecting the garment factories. It is affecting all kinds of industries where BMP unions are — for example, glass companies and metal companies. All the BMP unions are being affected by globalisation — downsizing, contractualisation [a form of casualisation — hiring workers on short-term contracts]."
Leody de Guzman said that since 1994, globalisation had resulted in the loss of almost 35% of BMP members, mostly from the garment industry.
Navea explained that the other effect of globalisation is contractualisation. The number of regular workers among BMP union members is declining because they are being laid off and replaced by irregular workers.
Rosendo "Tindoy" Elola said that "the situation in the sugar industry in the Visayas region, particularly in Negros Island, is also affected by globalisation. There used to be 18 sugar mills in Negros. Now, there are only eight sugar mills in Negros Occidental, and three in Oriental Negros.
"In 1985, the Victorious Milling Company had 10,000 workers. Now, it only has 1000 workers. The retrenched workers had to go into the services sector like jeepney drivers or bicycle transport, or become vendors in the city.
"The sugar plantations were also affected by globalisation. Now in Negros, sugar palm workers are only employed on contractual piece-work. None of them are regular workers anymore."
Economic zones
When companies close down, Guzman said, they usually shift to other parts of the Philippines that have lower average wages or to government-established economic zones. These zones are virtually independent of laws and government regulations. Capitalists who set up in these economic zones are given the privilege of not paying taxes for up to 10 years.
BMP treasurer Michelle Canos said that companies in the economic zones are allowed to implement a "no union, no strikes" policy. Workers applying for jobs are made to sign contracts that stipulate no union is allowed.
Working conditions in the economic zones are substandard. "We have stories about women using diapers so that they don't get up from their job to go to the rest rooms", she said.
Despite these conditions, the BMP waged a major struggle in 2006 in an economic zone in Laguna, in the southern part of Metro Manila. At a factory that made chips for mobile phones, negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement were deadlocked.
Canos said that the workers, most of them women, responded by locking themselves inside the production area. They occupied the factory because they were not allowed to go on strike. If they had struck, the police would have quickly dispersed them. The occupation lasted five days and was the most militant action by workers in the economic zones.
Navea said that the BMP had been able to stop factory closures once management decided to shut down, so it had to fight to ensure that the companies honour their financial obligations to workers.
In the case of the Novelty closure, when the management snuck out of the country, the union federation organised a stoppage of all BMP unions to demand that the government help the Novelty workers. The Novelty workers are still fighting to liquidate the property of management so that they can secure their payment.
Factory takeovers
Guzman said there had been examples of workers taking over factories after businesses shut down, but that they hadn't been successful. "One example was RIL Industries where workers took the factory over, but after two months they closed it down because they had no market.
"Another example was a ceramics factory in Manila. The workers took it over but had to close it down after 12 months … Another example was a transport company being run by taxi drivers. It also had to close down."
Globalising labour
Canos told GLW, "As early as 1994, BMP launched a campaign against globalisation. It organised a big caravan going to Subic where the APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] summit was being held. Seven thousand jeepneys packed with people attempted to get to the APEC summit but were blocked by the military."
"The position of the BMP is that if you globalise capital, you also should globalise labour", Canos explained. "There should be no boundaries to organising labour, and no boundaries if workers want to go elsewhere for work. They should have that right. There should be free movement of labour."
Only 2-3% of workers (around 400,000) are organised in unions, presenting the BMP with a massive challenge. This is a big decline from the 1980s, the result of regular workers being replaced by contract workers on lower wages. Nine labour centres cover union members.
Minimum wage
Navea said that there are "300 different kinds of minimum wage for different regions and areas in the Philippines". The minimum wage in Ciudad is 350 pesos a day. In southern Tagalog, the minimum wage is 280 pesos. In Negros, the minimum wage is 213 pesos for an industrial worker but only 130 pesos for an agricultural worker. In Cebu, the minimum wage is 235. But in Negros Oriental, workers are categorised into Class A, Class B, and Class C, by municipality and city, with each class having a different minimum wage.
According to the government's National Economic Development Authority, a family of six must earn at least 600 pesos a day in order to survive.
Canos said that the Philippines constitution includes a right to a family wage. But the labour department has redefined the family wage. Instead of setting a minimum wage for a family with one breadwinner, it sets a minimum wage of 746 pesos for a family based on the earnings of the whole family.
"Only 3% of salaried workers are covered by CBAs [collective bargaining agreements] so that means that only 3% of workers get the minimum wage or more. The rest depend on the goodwill of capitalists. Their rights are not protected", explained Canos.
Canos said that one garment factory in the Philippines received international attention when the management made workers take a tablet, which they were told was a vitamin tablet. It turned out that it was a stimulant which kept workers awake for three days straight to keep them working.