DAVAO CITY — A labor group on Tuesday tells fast food giant Jollibee Food Corporation (JFC) to practice what it preaches after an official of the company released a statement Monday that reminded the general public to treat their dispatched riders with the respect after a deceitful customer posted how he fooled the food company’s delivery crew went viral on social media.
The controversy stemmed when a certain Jay Bee arrogantly posted in social media last week that he intentionally beat the 20-minute delivery guarantee of Jollibee to avail himself the P200 worth of gift certificates for late deliveries prompting Jollibee Philippines public relations director Arline Adeva to issue a public statement.
“How can an official of Jollibee demand respect for their own crews when they themselves are guilty of systematically employing anti-worker schemes in their company,” said Leody de Guzman, national chairperson of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP).
“It is common knowledge that the overwhelming majority of its more than 13,000 employees in the Philippines alone are contractual employees, while the inconsequential few do not even enjoy the protection of a labor union,” De Guzman said.
The group said it is only right for Jollibee to periodically remind the public to be courteous, but it also demanded that “the Jollibee management must be the first to practice what it preaches by recognizing their employees’ constitutionally guaranteed right of its workers to be hired permanently after the probationary period of five months.”
“With or without the controversy, Jollibee and its franchisees should foremost respect its workers by recognizing their rights and giving what is due them by the fruits of their own labor and avoid making hypocritical public statements that make them appear that they abide by labor laws,” De Guzman said.
In a recent disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, JFC reported to have gained a net income growth by 10.2 percent year-on-year to P1.2 billion, while revenues also improved 10 percent to P23 billion in the first quarter of 2015.
The same report likewise cited that JFC opened 60 stores in the first quarter of the year, 49 of which are in the Philippines and the 11 are abroad.(davaotoday.com)
