VALENZUELA City Mayor Rex Gatchalian has ordered an investigation into alleged unfair labor practices of a rubber hose factory after its management gave a worker coins for his two-day salary.

Gatchalian said Russel Mañosa, a worker of Nexgreen Enterprise, sought his help on Monday, June 28, 2021, after he received P1,056 in five- and ten-centavo coins.

He said Mañosa had filed before the barangay a complaint over the company’s unfair labor practices such as non-remittance of statutory obligations, no overtime pay and no night differential pay.

“Nagsumbong na siya sa barangay, may patawag ang barangay or mag-inspect ‘yung baranggay kaya napikon sakanya ang may ari kaya ito ang ganti,” said Gatchalian.

The company sent only a representative, who confirmed that the coins came from the company. She said it was not intentional.

Gatchalian summoned the company owner and created a fact-finding team to look into the incident.

Initially, he said the company violated a circular issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in 2006, which states that coins in denominations of P1 to P5 can be accepted as payment for amounts not exceeding P1,000 while coins in denomination of 1 centavo, 5 centavos, 10 centavos and 25 centavos can be used to pay an amount not exceeding P100.

Gatchalian said failure to comply with the BSP circular warrants suspension of business permit.

“Pinatignan ko rin ‘yung records nila kung may prior silang infractions, labor wise or environmental wise kasi that also goes to show the type of company you run,” he said.

He reminded the companies within Valenzuela to protect and respect their workers because they form the backbone of the industries.

He said paying a worker in coins demeans the worker and is worse than physical abuse.

The complainant said he was insulted when he received the coins.

“Nakakabastos po...Nakakasama ng loob. Imbis na nagagamit na namin ang pera nakikita mo lang. Pambili sana namin ng pagkain yan,” he said. (SunStar Philippines)