No displacement workers in banana industry: exec

AS ONE of the biggest employers in the region, with more than half a million people under its employ, the banana industry vows that no displacement of workers is being mulled as of the moment even as the industry expects to lose over 30 percent of its production this year.

The shortfall in production is expected from the adverse effects of the El Nino phenomenon on the high value crop, causing bananas to bear smaller and underweight fruits.

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"We believe that this is not the time to be laying off people, not at this time," said Stephen Antig, president of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, during the Club 888 forum Wednesday at the Marco Polo Davao.

While cost cutting measures are being put in place by banana companies, Antig reaffirmed that laying off workers is not one of the options.

"We are looking at compressed work weeks, energy efficiency programs, and others," Antig said, adding the 500,000 workers dependent on the industry shall not fear for losses of jobs.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has warned last Sunday that "severe" job loss in Mindanao is a big possibility due to a crippling power shortage.

"Industries reeling from recurring brownouts there are already aggressively carrying out coping strategies that include fewer work shifts and the rotation of workers," said Ernesto Herrera, TUCP secretary-general.

He said the Department of Labor and Employment should step in and find ways to mitigate the plight of workers displaced by the brownouts that last from eight to 10 hours, and extend them emergency assistance.

Among the power-intensive industries being hit hard by the brownouts are steel and cement manufacturing, canning, commercial fishing (particularly cold storage), mining and quarrying, food processing, telecommunications, and retail trade. (CPM)