Justice Denied: the Plight of the Detained Workers of Karnation Industries

Joseph looked across his dimly lit room, past the bars that separated him from the rest of the world. He tries to feel hopeful – after two years, he may be able to spend New Year with his family. He wonders though, how he can raise the amount for his bail.

Sixty thousand pesos for his freedom, however temporary. Sixty thousand pesos more, on top of the already high emotional and economic price that his trial has cost him and his loved ones.

Labor Dispute

Joseph Atienza, 36, married and with 3 children, is facing the charge of serious illegal detention filed against him by individuals connected to his former employer, Karnation Industries and Export, Inc. of Cainta, Rizal. The company manufactures and sells goods such as handicrafts on a wholesale or retail basis. The company also exports products to countries like Taiwan , Singapore , United States , Italy and Canada.

In May 2, 2007, Atienza, a member of the company’s chapter of Congress Labor Organization, participated in a strike that arose after the owners failed to respond to their valid complaints. The workers were protesting illegal dismissal, non-payment of holiday pay, 13th month pay, night differential and salary that was only half of the P320 mandated daily minimum wage at the time.

During their protest, the strikers left the gate open, enabling the company to operate and allowing vehicles, employers, and residents to come and leave the compound freely. On the eight day of strike, however, they were arrested by the local police. They were accused of padlocking the gate, as a result of which the complainants could not leave the company premises. Thus began nine hundred and forty days of injustice.

It appears that the complainants – described by the prosecutors as employees of Pansy Accessories and therefore ‘innocent bystanders’ – actually included an incorporator and an employee of Karnation. The strikers also declared that Karnation Industries uses the name of Pancy Accessories Corporation for their export transactions. (See interview by Mayday Productions)

Human rights trampled upon

Over the next months, the group of arrested workers experienced the slow grind of the country’s judicial process – one in which the parties seeking the implementation of fair labor practice find themselves defending their actions instead.

They experienced emotional and physical suffering with their court case – their private lawyer left after a few hearings and receiving attorney’s fees, and the union organizer abandoned them after their detention. Lawyers also came and went, with the jailed workers lacking the funds to sustain the assistance. 

All 20 of them were incarcerated in a four-square meter room prison cell, which left no space for everyone to sleep at the same time. They were fed inadequately, and at times their food was served late. Soon, many of them succumbed to illnesses, including Melvic Lupe and Leo Paro. They died due to tuberculosis and various complications, leaving their family deeply anguished. More of them are at high risk of suffering the same fate, having been observed symptoms of beriberi, tuberculosis, skin diseases and malnutrition. 

The Struggle Continues

In November 2009, a newfound hope arose among the detained Karnation employees after a Regional Trial Court in Morong, Rizal granted their petition for bail. This progess in their legal fight has been made possible under the counsel of their new lawyer, Atty. Remigio D. Saladero of Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center (PLACE).

As of now, 14 out of the 18 Karnation workers are temporarily out of prison after posting bail (through a surety bond) a week before Christmas. However, the release of the remaining four workers was questionably put on hold by the court after the complainant filed last December 28 a motion for reconsideration to revoke the granting of bail. The court is scheduled to hear the motion on January 11, 2010. But until the court has overturned its decision to grant bail, the remaining detained workers should be allowed to post bail and obtain temporary freedom.

The fight, indeed, is far from over. Apart from the inhuman conditions and delays in the judicial process, the case of the unjustly detained Karnation workers revealed the equally, if not more dismal climate that the Philippine labor movement faces, which appears to be sanctioned by those in power.

Workers are deprived of their freedom of association, of speech, and of the right to seek redress of grievances. Joseph and his co-workers, in fact, faced a criminal case, like in many other cases of labor dispute where holding a strike is criminalized. Worsening the situation is the State’s marked failure in its duty to extend protection to members of the labor movement, and improving the overall employment conditions in the country.