DIGITEL Employees – to protest anew at different business offices Geared for hunger strike!

DIGITEL Employees are back at different DIGITEL Offices and exchanges on the first day or April to protest against the non-issuance of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Central Office of a writ of execution of the Supreme Court decision on their case and a restraining order on Digitel’s integration of operation with PLDT.

“We’ve waited long enough, and this is only what we got?” said Allan Licardo, Digitel Emplyees Union (DEU) President. “This is another station of the cross—additional to the 19 years of carrying the cross on our shoulder.” Licardo was referring to their fight for the right to self organization and to collective bargaining negotiation way back in 1994.

Licardo explained that DOLE’s decision granting the execution without a writ of execution will not do any good for the employees because it cannot force the DIGITEL management to obey the Supreme Court decision to bring the dismissed workers back to their work and start with the collective bargaining.

The simultaneous protests at different business units will last until tomorrow. If no positive result takes place, all members will go to Manila to reset up a protest center where some will stage a hunger strike.

“Hunger Strike is our last recourse if DOLE and Court will not push the decision to fruition, especially with telecom giant Digitel/PLDT bent on choking the union to its death and mangling the law to unrecognizability. Our experience reveals that we have nowhere to go under the system, as concerned authorities merely wait and see until their decisions favorable to workers such as the SC decision last January 21,2013 are reduced to mere scraps of paper.” Licardo pointed out.

PLDT “bought” Digitel via shareholding swap then closed it, integrated its operation into PLDT’s, got rid of the regular employees who are union members to replace them with contractual workers. “If this is the meaning of Pinoy’s ‘tuwid na daan’, it means that he is encouraging his people to violate orders of the Supreme Court,” Licardo lamented.

“This (maneuver from the PLDT/DIGITEL) does not contravene labor rights guaranteed by the Constitution but it also violates the approved “sale”/shareholding-swap between Digitel and PLDT as approved by the National Telecommunication Commission. Lastly, this is a continuing violation by DIGITEL, a grievous violation after violations that can be considered criminal,” Licardo further explained.

“So our resolve is to undergo hunger strike to sacrifice ourselves to bring things in order. This is a bitter pill we are willing to take not only for ourselves but for the future generation,“ Licardo concluded”. ###
Member of Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan (MAKABAYAN)

DIGITEL EMPLOYEES UNION [DEU]

PRESS RELEASE
April 1, 2013
Reference: Allan Licardo – Union President, 09225375689

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