“It is revolting that his company has denied a steady source of income to its workers and violated their right to unionize.”
CABUYAO CITY, Laguna — About 800 workers of San Miguel Integrated Logistics Services Inc. (SMILSI) were barred from reporting to work beginning July 6 after management placed them on floating status, a move that labor rights advocates said bears the hallmarks of union busting just months after workers secured the right to collectively bargain.
The workers, organized under the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa San Miguel Logistics–Independent (USMILSI-IND), said the company justified the move by claiming it had lost a bidding process covering its warehouse, transport, and bundling operations. The notice effectively left hundreds of workers without regular income while requiring them to remain on floating status under unclear employment arrangements.
The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) points out that the layoffs cannot be separated from the workers’ recent gains in their fight for union recognition.
Two months before the mass layoff, the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) ordered SMILSI to negotiate a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with USMILSI-IND. The union won the certification election in September 2023 and was recognized by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) as the workers’ sole and exclusive bargaining agent in December of the same year.
“The second-richest Filipino globally is perfectly capable of upholding and improving the labor rights of the workers that he employs,” CTUHR Executive Director Kamz Deligente said in a statement.
“It is revolting that his company has denied a steady source of income to its workers and violated their right to unionize,” Deligente added.
Workers said they were instructed not to report for work starting July 6 and were allegedly pressured to sign company documents despite the absence of clear guarantees on their wages, benefits, and eventual return to work.
While management attributed the layoffs to the outcome of a bidding process, CTUHR questioned both the justification and the timing.
“Workers have every reason to doubt the management’s claim that they are being laid off because of the outcome of a bidding process,” Deligente said. “Even if true, this should not have an immediate and drastic effect on workers to the point of violating legal procedures for termination.”
SMILSI, a major subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation, provides logistics services for Magnolia, Purefoods, and other San Miguel brands.
For CTUHR, the case illustrates how workers’ hard-won labor rights remain vulnerable even after securing legal recognition.
“San Miguel Integrated Logistics Services Inc. appears to be violating not only its workers’ right to job security but their right to unionize and collectively bargain as well,” Deligente said. “It does not want even a modest reduction in its profits, which improving the state of its workers’ labor rights would entail.”
On the day the layoffs took effect, workers and labor groups under Defend Workers Southern Tagalog staged protest actions in Santa Rosa and Crossing, Calamba, demanding the immediate reinstatement of all affected employees and the recognition of their union.
The labor coalition argued that the mass layoff deprived hundreds of workers of their livelihoods at a time when Filipino families continue to grapple with rising prices and stagnant wages. They also warned that the move threatens to undermine workers’ constitutional rights to organize and collectively bargain.
The CTUHR called on the DOLE to investigate the mass layoffs and hold the company accountable for possible violations of labor rights, stressing that protecting workers’ security of tenure and freedom of association is essential amid the worsening cost-of-living crisis.
For the workers of SMILSI, however, the struggle extends beyond recovering their jobs. It is also a fight to defend the union they spent years building and the collective bargaining rights they had only recently won. (RTS, RVO)
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