Firm blasted for keeping workers off regular status
STA. CRUZ, Davao del Sur Coconut industry workers here on Wednesday staged a picket to protest what
they said was a collusion between desiccated coconut exporter Franklin Baker and three other firms to skirt
labor laws.
The workers said under a recently signed agreement, some 1,100 coconut industry workers, many of
whom have been on the job for years, had been reverted to being newly hired employees at Franklin Baker.
They said the agreement that the desiccated coconut firm signed with its raw coconut suppliersB/L
Investment Inc., Golden White Coco Traders and Mactanhad put to waste their length of service.
The three coconut suppliers will now act as manpower agencies for Franklin Baker after the latter agreed to
absorb the workers.
Many of us have worked for more than 10 years already but they would regard us as new employees now.
We might be able to agree if they give us separation pay, said Jimboy Marciano, spokesperson for
Samahan ng Manggagawang Kontraktwal (Sama-Ako).
Carlo Olalo, the spokesperson for Kilusang Mayo Uno in Southern Mindanao, said the collusion between
Franklin Baker and the three companies is clearly an attempt to evade responsibility to workers.
The experience of coco workers in Davao del Sur exposes the evils of labor-only contracting and other
forms of labor policies that make workers vulnerable to exploitation, he said.
The scheme to absorb all workers from [the three companies] and make them agency hires is the
handiwork of Franklin Baker, which designed this scheme in order to frustrate all workers attempts to
become regular workers. This is happening all over the country because contractualization is legal, Olalo
said.
The management of Franklin Baker and of the three other firms had declined to comment when the
Inquirer sought their side on the protest.
But Sta. Cruz Mayor Joel Ray Lopez said he had talked with the Franklin Baker management and it had
agreed to look into the complaint of the workers.
Lopez said he was now trying to broker negotiations between the workers and the companies as the
workers protest was growing and could escalate unless amicably resolved.
It was learned that a smaller protest was also held last year over the same issue. Orlando Dinoy,
Inquirer Mindanao
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/663310/firm-blasted-for-keeping-workers-off-regular-
status#ixzz3oK9AgsnK
Talks between coconut firm, workers stalled
By Ruji Peter S. Abat
Saturday, February 21, 2015
NO NEGOTIATION took place between the coconut workers and Franklin Baker Co. on Friday as the coconut
company has yet to study the workers' proposal.
Samahan ng Manggagawa Laban sa Kontraktwalisasyon (Sama-Ako) Sta. Cruz Chapter spokesperson
Jimboy Marciano told Sun.Star Davao in a phone interview that Franklin Baker's representative Louella Ang
came unprepared for the negotiations.
Ang is the owner of B/L Investment Inc., which is one of the three companies absorbed by Franklin Baker
Co. as labor contracting agencies.
"Walay nahitabong negosasyon kay dili daw sila makadesisyon tungod wa pa nila nabasa among proposal.
Dugay na man mi nakapasa ug proposal pero gi-deny niya nga wa siya nangayo. Bantog naghatag mi ug
proposal sa iyang lawyer pero dili daw gihapon matagaan ug desisyon kay apeke na daw sa oras, (There
was no negotiation since they told us that they can't make any decision as they have yet to read our
proposal. We have submitted our proposal long before but she denied asking for a proposal. So we gave a
copy of the proposal to her lawyer but the latter also can't decide due to the time constraint.)" Marciano
said.
He said they submitted the proposal on February 6, but Ang denied receiving a copy.
The proposal, Marciano said, contained the list of the workers under B/L Investment, Inc. who demanded
for the payment of their length of service before they start working for Franklin Baker Co.
"We also submitted a list of able-bodied and young workers and we proposed that we should sign a
memorandum of agreement before we are absorbed," Marciano said.
Their next negotiation was then set on February 28 while the two other companies Golden White Coco
Trader and Mactan will sit down with Franklin Baker Co. tomorrow, Monday.
Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)-Southern Mindanao spokesperson Carlo Olalo, in a separate statement,
condemned the delay in the negotiations saying, "Louella Ang, B/L Investment Inc., a Franklin Baker
external, used dilatory tactics in the negotiation with protesting desiccated coco workers. Ang and her
lawyer said they were unprepared to answer the proposal submitted by the workers last Feb 6. We
condemn this dilly dallying as unbelievably cruel considering the dire situation of the workers whose
families have suffered for more than 2 months without income."
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on February 22, 2015.
http://archive.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2015/02/21/talks-between-coconut-firm-workers-stalled-
393496
Coco workers set up camp as talks start
Thursday, February 19, 2015
THE coconut workers locked in a labor dispute with their new employer set up camp outside facility in Sta.
Cruz, Davao del Sur, Thursday, ahead of negotiations between the two sides.
Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)-Southern Mindanao spokesperson Carlo Olalo texted Sun.Star Davao that former
workers of B/L Investment Inc. will be the first to negotiate with Franklin Baker Co. today, while former
workers of Golden White Coco Traders and Mactan will have their turn on February 23.
Franklin Baker has agreed to a deal transferring 1,100 employees from the three companies under a five-
month contract.
The employees want a guarantee of tenure from the firm.
"We are willing to go back to work on the condition that we will be guaranteed tenure and the length of
service will not be discontinued for all workers of the externals," Samahan Manggagawang Kontraktwal
(SAMA-AKO) Sta. Cruz Chapter spokesperson Jimboy Marciano, told Sun.Star Davao.
Marciano said the workers "reject re-application. We demand a memorandum of agreement between us
and the labor agencies, as well as the principal, that our absorption into Franklin Baker will not cut our
length of service."
Marciano's statement came after Franklin Baker allegedly told the workers to comply with re-application
requirements. He said the work in the Franklin Baker Co. will be a shift from manual to mechanized labor,
leaving most workers unqualified because they lack training.
Workers of the three companies have stopped working since December 8 after their employers agreed to
become labor contractors for Franklin Baker.
Marciano also said the company does not comply with the health and occupational standards.
"We demand that Franklin Baker comply with the labor standards and install adequate ventilation, safety
equipment, and medical services for the employees," he said.
Olalo said the labor dispute stemmed from contractualization, which he claimed is an instrument for
management to abuse workers and deprive them of their benefits. (RSA)
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on February 20, 2015.
http://archive.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2015/02/19/coco-workers-set-camp-talks-start-393215
Coco workers push labor demands vs Franklin Baker
Posted on February 3, 2015 by Ma. Cecilia Badian
WORKERS of three different coconut companies based in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur will mount a picket on
Wednesday, February 4, to stage a protest following their transfer to another coconut exporting company.
Carlo Olalo, spokesperson of the Kilusang Mayo Uno in Southern Mindanao, said that the picket of the
workers from B/L Investment Inc., Golden White Coco Traders and Mactan against Franklin Baker Co. will
last until February 5.
The protests of the coconut workers started last month after the three companies signed a deal
transferring them to Franklin Baker Co. The employees were assigned to manpower agencies following the
signing of the deal that transferred 1,100 employees to the Franklin Baker Co. for five months.
However, the workers claimed that they have been working for five up to 20 years, and that with the said
deal, their length of service will be disregarded.
Olalo, said in a text message yesterday, that there is no complete response from Franklin Baker on the
workers demands for security of tenure and separation pay of the retirees.
However, Franklin Baker Co. president and CEO Jerry Lorenzo, in an earlier statement, said their company
had committed no violation when they pushed through with the deal, claiming the workers remained under
their respective companies and the only change is that the workers will report to a different facility.
The contracting arrangements between B/L Investment Inc., Golden White Coco Traders and Mactan were
allowed by law, the statement added.
Franklin Baker cannot hide behind the cover of the externals to evade accountability to the displaced
workers. It remains to be the chief architect of contractualization which is the biggest threat to workers job
security in Sta. Cruz and all over the country. Olalo said, adding that as long as Franklin Baker continues
to profit from this scheme at the expense of the toiling workers, it is responsible for the ongoing labor
dispute and must answer the workers demands.
Sta. Cruz town officials and the Department of Labor and Employment are still mediating the case.
http://mindanaotimes.net/coco-workers-push-labor-demands-vs-franklin-baker/
