29 Oct 2016

About 1,200 regular and contractual workers of a Korean-owned garments factory in Cavite province lost their jobs after the management claimed its clients had pulled out, prompting a company shutdown.

Faremo International Inc., one of the leading garments producer inside the Cavite Export Processing Zone in Rosario town, filed a notice of permanent closure on Oct. 21 in the Department of Labor and Employment…

 “[The company] said one of its major clients, [a popular clothing brand], had stopped issuing [purchase orders] so they did not have any reason to continue production,” Orihuela [director of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board in Calabarzon] said in a telephone interview…

But the Faremo workers’ union doubted this claim and suspected the shutdown was meant to suppress the recently formed union.

Jessel Autida, 42, a machine operator of eight years and union president, said talks of company losses only began after the union and the management sealed its collective bargaining agreement in June…