But in reality, the code seems to have had little impact on the plight of Triumph workers. According to an international alliance of garments workers, the Clean Clothes Campaign, citing a case in Triumph’s subsidiary in Thailand, Triumph is misusing the courts to take action against a union leader, a union president no less, who had successfully led workers in collective bargaining negotiations with Triumph prior to her dismissal.

In the Philippines, the Triumph union at the FTI has barely enjoyed the benefits it won less than six months ago yet its members already losing sleep and forced to picket over the threat of massive layoffs.

On top of the diminishing raw materials that would keep all of them working in full swing as before, Triumph’s workers learned from FTI that the company has not yet renewed its lease contract with FTI. It is due to expire in October this year.

Expiring Contract

Next month, the government will sell by public bidding 103 of the 120 hectares of the FTI complex. The remaining 17 hectares are already owned by the National Food Authority (NFA) or are under arrangements with the FTI. Of the 103 hectares, 24 are under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Export Processing Zone (PEZA) since 2004, when it was declared a special economic zone. It covers as existing locators some decades-old lessees such as electronic companies and garment factories, including Triumph.

Though Finance Undersecretary Crisanta S. Legaspi has said the winning bidder will honor FTI’s existing lease contracts, Triumph has yet to renew its contract. “The management won’t tell us their plans beyond October,” Cano said.

Neighboring electronic companies have made it known that they will move to special economic zones in provinces such as Laguna, where some of them already have factories. Triumph workers said they have heard of reports about a manpower agency in Laguna hiring for Triumph production there.

“Triumph management told us they have asked the said agency to cease hiring for Triumph,” said Dante Alfaras, union board member working at the cutting and pre-production at Triumph. But the workers were not reassured.

They have, after all, reason to doubt Triumph’s sincerity. “For five years, they denied that Star Performance is a sister company,” the union said.

Fearful of Retrenchments

Triumph’s move to reduce its local raw materials and the possibility that it will start production in Laguna leave Triumph workers on tenterhooks. Moreover, many are fearful of massive retrenchments because of the impending privatization of FTI, which is now being refocused as an information-technology park. Given its record, the union said, Triumph may end up becoming a runaway shop.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno has said that relocating to another area is a common tactic by companies like Triumph in order to get rid of regular employees, destroy unions and replace them with contractual workers who are paid lower wages and are given lesser or no benefits.

The workers are blaming the Arroyo government, too, for pushing them into such a precarious position. They had struggled alongside neighboring workers and communities against the privatization of FTI. Now they’re also blaming wage rationalization for encouraging multinationals to move production to the provinces, where minimum wages are lower.

Many of Triumph workers have been with the company for most of their productive lives, said dela Cruz, the union president. Their families depend on their earnings. The slightly better wages they’re receiving now are the result of years of painstaking union struggle with Triumph.

“We can’t lose our jobs,” dela Cruz said. “It would be like losing our life.” (Bulatlat.com)

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