“NUJP sees union busting behind TV5 job cuts”

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)…accused TV5 of “union busting” after news reports surfaced that around 100 employees were axed...

“We cannot but see union busting as the real motive behind the sudden retrenchment of more than a hundred of our colleagues. Of those laid off, four are union officers and 98 are union members,” NUJP said in a statement.

Around 100 employees from the news and operations of TV5 Manila were let go, consisting of camera and field crews, drivers as well as production personnel…

“By diminishing the number of union members, the TV5 management aims to weaken the union and replace its regular workers with contractual or agency-hired employees,” the NUJP said.

PLDT head and CEO Manuel Pangilinan…confirmed the latest wave of layoffs, saying that its television unit has struggled to post a profit,  characterizing the event as “painful” and necessary. He also said that it is “the last of the cost-cutting situation.”…

…“The entire media industry is full of un-unionized workers who suffer long working hours without security of tenure, just pay and benefits,” the group said…