Dismissed workers of Nakashin Davao International Inc. set up their protest camp outside the company office in Davao City on Thursday, April 21. (Contributed photo)
DAVAO CITY — Sacked workers of Japanese-owned frozen food exporter Nakashin Davao International set up a protest camp outside the company’s office in Malagamot here Thursday, April 21 to demand for their immediate reinstatement.
In a statement, Carlo Olalo of Kilusang Mayo Uno said Nakashin dismissed 75 workers on April 9, after the workers “refused to sign a blank waiver and quit claim and to write a resignation letter in exchange for P1,000.”
“Most of them had worked for the company for three to eight years and signing the waiver and quit claim would automatically cut their length of service,” Olalo said.
Lester Millado, president of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Nakashin (NAMANA) said they up the camp “because we refuse to be duped by the management’s effort in forcing us to sign the waiver and quitclaim in exchange for our length of service.”
“We should be regular workers now and yet, they want us to go back to zero,” he said.
Millado said that they filed a case on December 2015 against the company for failing to pay their Service Incentive Leave (SIL).
He said they were told by an official of the Department of Labor and Employment who was assigned to facilitate their case to “just cooperate and accept the management’s offer of settlement.”
Olalo said the company made”two rounds of illegal dismissals”, the first in January where 15 employees were dismissed and the second one on April 9 where 75 workers were dismissed.
Out of the total workforce of over 300 employees, Nakashin only has 20 regulars., he said.
“All the rest are employed by labor agencies DBS and Workstation,” said Olalo.
Olalo’s group criticized Nakashin for the dismissal and accused the DOLE for “colluding with capitalists” in pressuring workers to sign waivers and quitclaims.
“This is not the first time that a Japanese-owned company has done the exact same thing to its workers. Digos-based brickmaker Nakayama also implemented this deceitful scheme to dispose of hundreds of their workers,” said Olalo.
Olalo said the dismissed workers are assigned in tasks considered “necessary and desirable” to the business including receiving, blanching, harvesting, research and development, packing, boxing, and cold storage areas.
“Their jobs should not be contracted out,” he said.The group also blamed the government’s policy of allowing job contractualization.
Nakashin is an exporter of frozen mangoes and pineapple to the European and Japanese market. (davaotoday.com)
