"Trade union violations revealed in fact-finding mission", 24 April 2018

A National Fact Finding Mission (NFFM) headed by the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) condemned...the rise of human rights violations and union busting in Compostela town.

...[V]iolations intensified after eight KMU-affiliated unions of Sumifru Philippines submitted a proposal for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to the management.

The NFFM documented 286 human rights violations involving cases of coercion, displacement from their homes, harassment, intimidation, illegal entry into their houses and planting of fake evidence.

Eliazar Diayon, chairperson of MAPARAT Montevista Workers Union said that soldiers falsely accused the workers as front liners of the New People's Army (NPA), and forced them to surrender.

...The authorities also wanted workers to join in the management unions rather than in KMU-affiliated unions, he added.

KMU pointed out that the clear intent of these human rights violations was union busting.

KMU national secretary-general Jerome Adonis said that the 66th IB is harassing Sumifru Union members, calling them terrorists and warning them against engaging in legitimate union activities.