http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20100319-259648/8-workers-hurt-in-picket-line-violence
8 workers hurt in picket line violence
By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
03/19/2010
Filed Under: Strike, Labor, Economy and Business and Finance, Protest
MANILA, Philippines – At least eight striking workers of a bakeshop on Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong were hurt in a skirmish at the picket line with pro-management employees and guards Friday morning.
The confrontation occurred at about 10:30 a.m. in front of Goldilocks’ cake and food plant when about 100 members of the “loyalist” union, Buklod, allegedly attempted to break up the strike of the Bukluran ng Independenteng Samahan na Itinatag sa Goldilocks (Bisig).
The confrontation started when a delivery truck coming from Ideal Street maneuvered as if to enter the gate, followed by the pro-management workers. But they were blocked by the strikers in the middle of the street.
“We were asking them to leave since we're all workers who want the same thing. But one of the guards threw sand at us. That's when the skirmish started,” Bisig president Joel Lachica said.
The two camps hurled rocks, sand and broken pieces of hollow blocks at each other on the boulevard facing Ideal Street, stalling traffic for 30 minutes. The fighting ended when anti-riot police officers stepped in between them.
Several members of Bisig sustained wounds in their legs, knees and arms. Lachica identified eight of them as Danilo Gicana, Wilson Dy, Carlito Geda, Roberto Carrabacan, Ronald Macalalad, Cillo Crucillo, Canuto Barba and Adolfo Manaog.
Leody De Guzman, president of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, one of the militant labor groups that joined the picket, said the dispute stemmed from the complaint of 127 Goldilocks workers who were laid off over an alleged illegal strike.
He said they started the picket in the early morning of March 11 and would remain on strike until their demands were met.
Lachica said they only wanted two things from the Goldilocks management: to reinstate the 127 retrenched workers and to call for a certification election to determine the true union. He said Buklod was actually the “losing union” and that Bisig was the rightful bargaining agent.
The picketers occupied a 40-50 meter stretch of the sidewalk fronting the Goldilocks plant, which they festooned with banners and streamers bearing protest messages, as well as flags of the different labor groups.
In an interview over dzBB radio, an employee who belongs to Buklod said the fight did not start from their end, and that they only wanted to return to work peacefully.
The Mandaluyong police chief, Senior Superintendent Carlos de Sagun, said the police would adopt a hands-off policy unless ordered otherwise by the labor department, the courts or other agencies with the mandate to do so.
He said the police were required under the law to stay within 50 meters of a labor picket unless the situation turns violent. “We're monitoring the situation. We can only act when it gets violent, but otherwise, we can't intervene,” he said.
De Sagun added: “The management keeps trying to enter [the compound], but we told them that we can't help them. We have to be nonpartisan in labor matters like this.”
8 workers hurt in picket line violence
By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
03/19/2010
Filed Under: Strike, Labor, Economy and Business and Finance, Protest
MANILA, Philippines – At least eight striking workers of a bakeshop on Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong were hurt in a skirmish at the picket line with pro-management employees and guards Friday morning.
The confrontation occurred at about 10:30 a.m. in front of Goldilocks’ cake and food plant when about 100 members of the “loyalist” union, Buklod, allegedly attempted to break up the strike of the Bukluran ng Independenteng Samahan na Itinatag sa Goldilocks (Bisig).
The confrontation started when a delivery truck coming from Ideal Street maneuvered as if to enter the gate, followed by the pro-management workers. But they were blocked by the strikers in the middle of the street.
“We were asking them to leave since we're all workers who want the same thing. But one of the guards threw sand at us. That's when the skirmish started,” Bisig president Joel Lachica said.
The two camps hurled rocks, sand and broken pieces of hollow blocks at each other on the boulevard facing Ideal Street, stalling traffic for 30 minutes. The fighting ended when anti-riot police officers stepped in between them.
Several members of Bisig sustained wounds in their legs, knees and arms. Lachica identified eight of them as Danilo Gicana, Wilson Dy, Carlito Geda, Roberto Carrabacan, Ronald Macalalad, Cillo Crucillo, Canuto Barba and Adolfo Manaog.
Leody De Guzman, president of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, one of the militant labor groups that joined the picket, said the dispute stemmed from the complaint of 127 Goldilocks workers who were laid off over an alleged illegal strike.
He said they started the picket in the early morning of March 11 and would remain on strike until their demands were met.
Lachica said they only wanted two things from the Goldilocks management: to reinstate the 127 retrenched workers and to call for a certification election to determine the true union. He said Buklod was actually the “losing union” and that Bisig was the rightful bargaining agent.
The picketers occupied a 40-50 meter stretch of the sidewalk fronting the Goldilocks plant, which they festooned with banners and streamers bearing protest messages, as well as flags of the different labor groups.
In an interview over dzBB radio, an employee who belongs to Buklod said the fight did not start from their end, and that they only wanted to return to work peacefully.
The Mandaluyong police chief, Senior Superintendent Carlos de Sagun, said the police would adopt a hands-off policy unless ordered otherwise by the labor department, the courts or other agencies with the mandate to do so.
He said the police were required under the law to stay within 50 meters of a labor picket unless the situation turns violent. “We're monitoring the situation. We can only act when it gets violent, but otherwise, we can't intervene,” he said.
De Sagun added: “The management keeps trying to enter [the compound], but we told them that we can't help them. We have to be nonpartisan in labor matters like this.”
