Umapela ang Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na sagipin ang may 10,000 manggagawa ng Tagum Development Corporation (TADECO) na nanganganib na mawalan ng trabaho dahil lang sa sinasabing samaan ng loob ng mga karelasyon nina Davao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Antonio Floirendo, Jr. at House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

Ang mga apektadong mga manggagawa ng saging ay miyembro ng ALU-TUCP sa Southern Mindanao Federation of Labor (SMFL), na nagtatrabaho sa TADECO.

“ALU laments the legal vigilantism that has already concluded that the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between TADECO and the Bureau of Corrections is ‘null and void’. In this unseemly and hasty rush to kill off the JVA, the real injustice will be to the ordinary workers who will be the first casualty when they lose their jobs.Thousands of workers and their families futures will no longer have a human dimension as they will be reduced to subsistence survival levels, mere shadows forgotten in the spotlight of the elect and the elite,” saad sa pahayag ni Michael Mendoza, presidente ng ALU-TUCP.

“We appeal to President Duterte to look into the plight of workers and their families who have been overlooked in this teleserye brouhaha. They are the true human face to this controversy. If indeed there were legal infirmities in the JVA then corrective measures must first be made,” paliwanag ni Mendoza.

“What the legal rulings conveniently forgot were the 10,000 workers and their families. A corrective order should have been resorted to and would have been more forthcoming. Also, the correction should not be at the cost of workers lives,” dagdag pa ni Mendoza.

Ang TADECO ay isa sa mga nangungunang producer ng pang-export na kalidad ng Cavendish bananas sa Pilipinas.

(MINA NAVARRO)