Appeal n° 314 (6 March to 10 May 2008)

Toyota, the world’s leading car manufacturer since 2007, prides itself on being "the most admired" one too. The multinational attributes this distinction to its constant concern to satisfy its customers and to its environmental awareness evidenced mainly in the launch of the first hybrid car. The firm’s slogan is a confident: "Today, tomorrow, Toyota". Yet "today", as for the past seven years, Toyota is refusing to recognize an independent trade union’s freedom of association and right to collective bargaining in one of its factories in the Philippines, even though these are recognized by Philippine law. "Today" the Philippine army is directly involved in the labour conflict. What hope is there for "tomorrow"? The multinational recently announced that it was planning to upscale its activity substantially by 2012, mainly by expanding production in China, India and Russia. If in these three countries it reproduces the behaviour in the Philippines that we have been denouncing for years, admiration for the multinational is unlikely to last.

Toyota set up its first production plant in the Philippines in 1988. From the start the firm flouted its workers’ rights, especially the fundamental right to free association and collective bargaining -indispensable for improving working conditions and complying with labour laws. Ten years later, when the workers decided to form an independent union, the Toyota Motors Philippines Corporation Workers Association (TMPCWA), the firm categorically refused to recognize it.

Seven years of struggle for workers unfairly dismissed

In 1999 the TMPCWA won the trade union elections but the Toyota management refused to recognize these results and tried in every way to challenge their validity. The mediator from the Philippine labour relations bureau and the Labour Minister himself attempted to intervene, but to no avail: Toyota refused to negotiate with the legally elected union. In February 2001, to protest against the firm’s clearly anti-union attitude, the TMPCWA organized a series of peaceful demonstrations outside the ministry. Toyota then decided to sack them, and a total of 233 workers were left without jobs because they had tried to defend their rights. To support their colleagues, workers at the factory organized a strike picket outside Toyota’s two factories in the Philippines and demanded their immediate reinstatement. With the support of the parent company in Japan and of other Japanese multinationals in the Philippines threatening to leave the country if their interests were not protected, Toyota obtained the assistance of the police which, together with private guards, violently dispersed the demonstrators. Yet in 2003 and 2004 the Supreme Court had ruled that the strike was legal, and had enjoined Toyota to agree to collective bargaining. From 2001 to 2006, the ILO’s Committee for Trade Union Freedom issued no fewer than four recommendations urging the Philippine state to ensure that the TMPCWA’s rights were respected. Toyota, clearly supported by the Labour Ministry, seemed nevertheless to remain deaf to the workers’ demands.

Connivance with the Philippine Army

Peuples Solidaires has been supporting the TMPCWA in its struggle for the past few years, and has already launched three Appeals concerning Toyota, in 2004, 2006 and 2007. We are therefore extremely concerned to learn that on 10 January 2008 a military detachment of the 202 infantry brigade of the Philippine army was moved into the area near the TMPCWA offices, in the Pulong Santa Cruz district, officially with the mission of supporting the local population’s development. The untimely visit of three members of this unit to the TMPCWA offices on 24 January and 4 February 2008, and their questioning of union members, suggest renewed attempts to intimidate the union. At the same time, a special police station was set up on the company’s premises to protect Toyota’s Laguna site. The TMPCWA has furthermore learned that the members of the infantry brigade near their offices have free access to the Toyota factories. The TMPCWA fears that the presence of this military force will lead to violence, kidnappings or even murders. The Philippines is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for trade unionists, and the presence of soldiers near a union in conflict does not augur well. "Nothing justifies a military presence in this part of town" explained Ed Cubelo, chairman of the TMPCWA; "the Pulong Santa Cruz community is not known for being a den of criminals or a threat to security, which might have justified something like martial law...".

The fact that the 202 infantry brigade has tried to make the local population believe that the TMPCWA unionists are actually members of the New People’s Army (NPA), a paramilitary group dependent on the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), considered as a terrorist organization, simply amplifies our fears for the unionists’ safety.

TO KNOW MORE

The march of the "Big Three"
From 3 to 7 March 2008, the three main trade unions in the Philippines - those at Toyota (the TMPCWA), at Nissan and at Nestlé - participated in a five-day march from the south of Luzon (known as the "investment capital") up to the president’s palace in the centre of Mailla to inform President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the three multinationals’ anti-union activities.

International solidarity campaign
The struggle of the Philippine workers at Toyota and of the independent TMPCWA has been supported for a number of years by the International Metalworkers Federation and Japanese unions which help the TMPCWA to make its struggle known world-wide. In January 2006 the "Zen-to-union" was created. This is a new union calling all Toyota workers throughout the world to unite.

The TMPCWA website: www.tmpcwa.org

Peuples Solidaires Appeals
  September 2007, "Toyota, a two-speed coronation" (Appeal n°309)
  March 2006, "Toyota takes the wrong road" (Appeal n° 292)
  March 2004, "Dialogue breaks down at Toyota" (Appeal n°269)

WRITE!

Deadline for reaction: on reception, and until 10 May 2008.

Send automatically by e-mail your protest letter and your support letter! http://www.peuples-solidaires.org/rubrique164.html

PROTEST LETTER

M. Michel GARDEL
Président de Toyota France
20 bd de la République
92423 Vaucresson Cedex
FRANCE

Monsieur,
J’ai été informé(e) par Peuples Solidaires des atteintes répétées aux droits des travailleurs dans les usines Toyota aux Philippines. Depuis sept ans, Toyota refuse de négocier collectivement avec le syndicat indépendant Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation Workers Association (TMPCWA). Je suis particulièrement inquièt(e) d’apprendre que, depuis janvier 2008, des membres de l’Armée philippine ses sont installés à proximité des bureaux du TMPCWA et dans le parc industriel de Toyota à Laguna, et qu’ils se livrent à des actes d’intimidation envers les syndicalistes du TMPCWA. Je souhaite que vous transmettiez mes inquiétudes auprès des dirigeants de la Toyota Motor Corporation International, et que vous leur demandiez d’exiger du gouvernement Arroyo : - qu’il retire le détachement de la 202ème brigade d’infanterie qui a été installé à proximité des bureaux du TMPCWA; - qu’il interdise aux membres de cette brigade de pénétrer dans les unités de production de Toyota aux Philippines; - qu’il retire le poste de police spécial qui a été installé dans le parc industriel de Toyota à Laguna.
Je vous prie d’agréer, Monsieur le Président, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées. (Signature)

Translation of the protest letter:

Dear Sir
I have been informed by Peuples Solidaires that workers’ rights have repeatedly been flouted at the Toyota factories in the Philippines. For seven years Toyota has refused collective bargaining with the independent trade union Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation Workers Association (TMPCWA). I am particularly concerned about the presence of a military detachment stationed near the TMPCWA offices and on Toyota’s industrial site at Laguna since January 2008, and of acts of intimidation against TMPCWA members. I would like you to convey my concern to the management of Toyota Motor Corporation International, and to urge them to demand that the Arroyo government:
  withdraw the detachment of the 202 infantry brigade stationed near the TMPCWA offices;
  prohibit members of this brigade from entering Toyota production sites in the Philippines;
  withdraw the special police unit stationed in the Toyota industrial park at Laguna. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

SUPPORT LETTER:

TMPCWA
1482 Elephant Street, Armor Vill.
Barangay Post Proper, Southside
Makati City
PHILIPPINES

Dear friends of TMPCWA,
I have been informed by Peuples Solidaires of the continuous refusal by Toyota’s subsidiary in the Philippines to recognize the TMPCWA and to start collective bargaining negotiations with you. I am particularly worried about the presence of a military detachment near your office and inside Toyota’s premises, as well as the presence of the LIPPAG inside the company. I support your action and have sent a letter to Toyota France requesting them to take immediate action at the Toyota head-office in Japan, to implement your demands.
With warm regards,(Signature)