A NATIONAL labor leader urged the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) to give immediate attention to the “looming employment crisis” at the beverage giant Coca Cola Femsa Philippines.
Roland de la Cruz, national president of National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (Nacusip), said he personally appealed to Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III, in a recent dialogue, to act on the plight of at least 600 Coca-Cola workers.
Of the number, 100 are from cities of Bacolod and Iloilo.
De la Cruz, also the vice president Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), said these employees are facing imminent danger of losing their jobs.
“I requested for immediate government intervention to avert such catastrophic scenario of which the labor secretary gave his assurance,” he added.
During the dialogue, also attended by President Rodrigo Duterte and other officials of the agency, Nacusip-TUCP along with other labor groups appealed to the President to sign the executive order on contractualization.
The group said this is the third time that they demanded Duterte to make true to his campaign promise to end contractualization and “endo” or end of contract scheme.
“In all three meetings, the President kept on assuring the labor sector but failed to fulfill his campaign promise,” De la Cruz said.
He added that they felt the workers are just being played since it has been almost two years and three meetings yet nothing had happened.