The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) express its warm solidarity with the workers of J&T Express and their unions in Manila and Pampanga who launched their respective strikes against the unfair labor practices of one of country’s leading logistics company.

On March 3, around 100 J&T riders and truck drivers, led by the PH Global Jet Express Inc. Employees Union (PHGJEIEU), an affiliate of the Association of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO), launched a strike at the company’s garage in Hermosa, Tondo, Manila. The striking workers complained about long-term contractualization of on-call workers (OCWs), unjust transfer of regular employees to XLR8 Courier Services, union-busting and other unfair labor practices.

On March 7, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) summoned the J&T management and the J&T workers’ union for a conference at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) wherein the two parties signed an agreement stating their decision to resolve the ongoing labor dispute. Just a few days after the agreement was signed, however, at least 100 truck drivers and delivery riders, including the union president and union officers, were suspended for 30 days by XLR8 Courier Services because of their participation in the strike.

The J&T management’s suspension of the union president, union officials and other workers are clearly retaliatory actions against the workers and their strike. We condemn these actions not only because they violate the agreement between the J&T management and union, but also because they violate workers’ sacred and Constitutionally-guaranteed right to unionize, collectively bargain and strike.

We call on the DOLE to immediately look into the J&T labor dispute, protect workers’ rights and hold the management accountable. Strike is a legitimate form of workers’ action and the J&T and XLR8 managements should respect their workers’ right to strike. They should immediately lift the suspension and compensate the workers for the income that they lost during this unjust suspension.

Meanwhile, the Kilusan ng Manggagawa sa J&T Express Pampanga, an affiliate of the National Federation of Labor (NFL), also launched its strike on March 26 in Mexico, Pampanga. The workers are complaining about the non-implementation of their Collective Bargaining Agreement, union busting and the illegal dismissal of six (6) union officers.

The J&T management is displaying a worrying anti-worker behavior in its Manila and Pampanga workplaces. It should listen to its workers who are merely asserting their basic labor rights. The DOLE and government should see to it that the J&T management upholds the rights of its workers.