Ponce Engineering Services, the employment agency of the contractual workers of the Tanduay Distillers Inc.-Bacolod Plant, denied in a press statement yesterday the workers' claim of union-busting, and said the agency never prevented them from forming an organization.

“Ponce Engineering Services never restrained, coerced or restricted them of their right to form an organization for their own mutual aid and benefit,” the press statement said.

It also said the eight contractual workers, including Von Lachica, president of Samahan ng Manggagawa sa TDI, were not terminated from their work. Their five month contract had already expired thus, the cessation of their work assignment at Tanduay, with whom Ponce Engineering Services has a job contracting agreement, it added.

Lachica admitted this during their mediation hearing before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, the agency added.

“If at all, these workers ceased working with Ponce Engineering Services, it was by reason of the expiration of their contract and has nothing to do whatsoever on their right as workers,” the agency said.

On Dec. 8, 19 members of the Samahan ng Manggagawa sa TDI, who are assigned as machine operators, voted to hold a strike on their complaints of union-busting and illegal termination against the TDI management and their agency.

They also claimed that four of them were re-assigned to pull out weeds when their duty is to man the machines.

But the agency said that as contractual employees, Ponce Engineering Services has the prerogative where to assign the remaining employees, whose contracts have not yet expired since the job to be undertaken is within the premises of Tanduay.

“What is important is that they are paid in accordance with the minimum wage and they render a minimum eight hour work,” the statement added.

The agency said union-busting is clearly absent considering that there is a union of rank and file (regular) employees inside Tanduay, of which these contractual workers are not its members.

It also said that, being a newly-formed organization of contractual employees, they admitted during the Dec. 11, 2007 hearing, not having a pending negotiation for collective bargaining agreement with Tanduay.

“Not being employees of Tanduay and (in) the absence of a pending negotiation for CBA, the contractual workers have therefore, no right to strike against Tanduay,” Ponce Engineering said in the statement, pointing out that the contractual workers were sadly misled and cannot decide what they really want.*

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