It was June 6, 2016 when the union, Tinig ng Mga Manggagawa sa C& F Mfg. Phils. Corp. or the Voice of the Workers in C&F Mfg. Phils. Corp…filed for a Petition for Certification Election to determine the representation of the workers in collective bargaining. The union is a newly-registered union and was only issued Certificate of Registration on May 30, 2016.

It was on the very same day, June 6, 2016, when the company management informed the Department of Labor and Employment - Cavite Provincial Office that they are subjecting to "retrenchment" some 87 regular workers of the company. More than 60 of these workers are union officers and members. On the same day, at night time, the night shift workers learned about their mass lay off through the posted "announcement" of their management in the bulletin board and the next day, June 7, 2016 the day shift workers were held at the guard house and not allowed to enter the premises of the company anymore. Workers tried to seek a dialogue with the management but to no avail…

According to this "announcement" the reasons for the mass lay off: declined orders from main customer, financial loss, production inefficiency, and increased total labor cost…But according to the illegally retrenched workers, none is true of these reasons. The real and sole reason is simply union busting…