NAKASHIN WORKER. Estella Mae L. Partoza, one of the 75 dismissed workers of the Japanese-owned company Nakashin Davao International holds the video recording of the dispersal of the protest camp that they have put up since April 25. The dispersal happened after the Regional Trial Court ruled the strike illegal and the dispute civil, not of labor, in nature. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
The sheriff of the court, Joseph T. Castro led the dismantling of the barricade. He was assisted by the police.
The barricades were put up by the striking Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Nakashin union since April this year after the management allegedly forced the workers to sign a blank waiver and quitclaim and to write a resignation letter in exchange for P1,000.
The company has put up its own barricade plastered with tarpaulin versions of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) documents signed by City Director Ma. Theresa M. Francisco, dated June 21, 2016 declaring NAMANA as “not registered with the Davao City Field Office” of the agency and that there was in fact, no pending cases or Notice of Strike, Notice of Lockout, and Preventive Mediation filed against them.
According to the ruling, the barricade is illegal. It said it “successfully paralyzed the operations of [Nakashin] and the possible loss of job of regular employees due to business losses suffered by [Nakashin] by reason of disruption of its business operation.”
The court also ruled that the dispute between the 75 dismissed workers and Nakashin Davao International was civil, not labor. Therefore, the court ruled that the case was within its jurisdiction.
However, Kilusang Mayo Uno Southern Mindanao Region Secretary General Carlo Olalo disagrees, saying that the dismissal was illegal of the 75 workers and the ruling had made it a labor dispute, and therefore should only be handled by DOLE “.
“The Regional Trial Court has no jurisdiction here because this is a labor dispute. The case here is about Nakashin and their illegal dismissal of these workers whom until now have not been able to sit down with the company to negotiate,” Olalo said in an interview.
Olalo called on DOLE to stay true to their promise of ending contractualization by sending out a letter to the Supreme Court asserting their jurisdiction over labor disputes like that of Nakashin.
“We are calling on the labor department to intervene and facilitate the negotiations between Nakashin’s owner, Keisuke Nakao and the workers, and for them to assert that this is their jurisdiction, and not that of the Regional Trial Court, because this is a labor dispute, not a civil one,” Olalo said. (davaotoday.com)
