Employees of the Superstar Coconut Products Incorporated in Maa, Davao City, who were earlier poised to call a strike against management for redress of grievances, called off the planned work stoppage after SCPI management reportedly agreed to address their demands in a meeting last Friday.
The workers, who are members Kahugpungan sa mga Trabahante sa Superstar (KTS) Union, have asked management to implement labor standards and stop union busting.
The union submitted a notice of strike to the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) last May 6, which meant that anytime from May 13 the union would stage strike.
The workers had earlier twice called for a dialogue with management, the first through the initiative of Councilor Edgar Ibuyan and the second through Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, but were allegedly snubbed by management which did not send a single representative, according to Marven Morales, the KTS secretary.
Last May 9, some 60 women workers and a support group from progressive organizations picketed the Davao office of the Department of Labor 11 to demand that their complaints against the company be looked into.
“Kontra-trabahante ug kontra-kababayen-an ang kompanya sa Superstar. Angay lang nga paspasan na og pag-imbestiga sa DOLE ang reklamo sa mga mamumuo ug patubagon ang mga tao sa management nga wala nag-atiman sa kahimtang sa ilang mga trabahante nga kadaghanan mga babaye,” said Corazon Espinoza, vice-chairperson of GABRIELA and head of the local urban poor women’s organization, Samahan ng Maralitang Kababaihang Nagkakaisa.
Of the 60 workers who filed complaints against the Superstar management, 15 visited the office of Vice Mayor Duterte last May 10 to ask for his assistance regarding their concerns. However, Duterte told them that he would no longer meddle in the issue and told the group to rely instead on legal processes.
On Wednesday, the union members again picketed the Dole 11 office, and managed to have a dialogue with management in the presence of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board during which management said it would look into the workers’ complaints and submit its decision at the next meeting, which was last Friday, May 13.
One of the top 1000 corporations in the country and considered as the largest coconut products manufacturer in Mindanao, Superstar is reportedly producing and exporting coconut by-products like desiccated coconuts, coco powder and coco oil valued in the millions of pesos daily. With almost 1,000 employees, half of whom are women, Superstar was rapped by union members for allegedly not following labor standards.
The complaining workers said they have placed on hold their planned strike after Friday’s meeting and expect management to make good on its intention to address their demands accordingly. [Lorie Ann A. Cascaro]
