Workers at Tae Sung Philippines went back to work today.  They had been on strike since Feb. 11 to push for good-faith bargaining from management. The following is a statement from the labor group Partido Manggagawa, which had been supporting the workers and their union:

The Tae Sung union has reached an agreement with management on most points of the collective bargaining agreement and has decided to end the strike. More than a hundred workers plus scores of supporters held a victory march from the factory to the main gate of the export zone.
 
The union got a substantial pay hike which was the most contested part of the deadlocked bargaining. For the first year of the contract, workers will get an across-the-board increase of PhP8 ($.18) and the integration of PhP25.50 ($.58) in allowances into their basic pay. Workers receiving above the minimum wage get less than PhP25.50 in allowances but will still get the full amount added to their basic pay. On the second year, the wage hike is PhP5 and on the third year, another PhP5. Management also agreed to a few other benefits demanded by the union such as additional leaves and annual Christmas package. The union, however, did not get a better deal on the health insurance coverage. The union and management will sit again for the non-economic provisions of the contract.
 
Beyond the wage hike and additional benefits won after two days of the strike, the political victory is having a union win recognition and getting a contract inside an export zone that is hostile to unionism and strikes. The labor movement now has another beachhead from which it can launch a campaign to organize the rest of the export zone workers. In fact during the strike, the Tae Sung union has been approached by a worker in another factory seeking help for workplace grievances. The Tae Sung dispute and strike clearly shows that unless a significant mass of workers in the export zone is organized, then it will prove very difficult to get concessions from individual companies.
 
The Tae Sung union owes its victory to the determination of its members and to the solidarity of fellow unionists in the country and abroad. Labor groups such as PALEA, APL-Sentro and Partido Manggagawa sent delegations and extended logistical support. Finally the assistance of international groups was also key factor in putting pressure on Tae Sung’s clients. The union received information that American Power Conversion told Tae Sung to settle the dispute, and without such a demand, the breakthrough in the negotiations may not have been achieved at all.
 
 
2/13/2015