Pinag-aaralan na raw ng kompanyang Regent Foods Corporation (RFC) na lumipat ng pwesto ng opisina matapos ang gusot sa pagitan nila ng lokal na pamahalaan ng Pasig City.
Kaugnay ito ng pagtulong ni Mayor Vico Sotto sa 23 empleyado na pinakulong ng kompanya dahil sa kanilang protesta.
““These people are not criminals; they do not have the goal of hurting you. They are fighting for what they believe to be just. You can continue with the labor dispute without sending the poor and powerless to jail!” ani Sotto sa kanyang online post kamakailan.
Ikinalungkot ng pamunuan ng RFC ang umano’y pagmamatigas ng lokal na pamahalaan na posibleng makaapekto sa 400 nilang empleyado.
“Moving forward, RFC may simply accept its fate that the Pasig City Administration will unjustly make life hard for it and its 400-strong workforce, and contemplate simply bringing its business elsewhere—a truly painful outcome for a corporation that has considered Pasig City its home for … three decades now,” ayon sa statement ng RFC.
Naging tahanan na rin daw kasi ng kompanya ang Pasig City sa loob ng tatlong dekada.
Bukod dito, hindi rin umano sila pinakinanggan ng alkalde sa kanilang paliwanag.
“Mayor Vico, however, refused to listen to RFC’s side and consciously turned a blind eye to the plight of the majority of RFC’s employees. He also failed to see the company’s humanitarian effort in providing its affected employees financial assistance during such a dark time in the company’s history,” dagdag ng kompanya.
Kamakailan nang bantaan ni Sotto ang RFC kung hindi nito ibaba ang kaso laban sa 20 inarestong empleyado at tatlong nadamay na sibilyan.
Giit ng alkalde karapatan ng mga empleyado na magpahayag ng kanilang protesta lalo na’t wala naman daw sa mga ito ang nang-atake o namisikal sa ginawang aktibidad.
Sa kabila nito, nagmatigas ang kompanya at sinabing itutuloy nila ang kasong physical injuries laban sa mga napalayang empleyado.
“RFC still maintains its position and will not be cowered by the mayor’s threats. RFC trusts the justice system, not because it can afford to, but because it has to. RFC can only hope that Mayor Vico will also offer it the same courtesy, as is required by the basic of rules of fairness,” hirit ng kompanya.
