Nuwhrain Digs In As Struggle Continues Against Union-Busting At Manila Dusit Nikko

Posted to the IUF website 27-Mar-2002

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The IUF-affiliated National Union of Workers in Hotel Restaurant and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN) is holding firm in its fight to defend union rights at the 542-room luxury Dusit Hotel Nikko in Manila.

Management at the hotel has been continually seeking to weaken the union since the start of collective bargaining negotiations in November 2000. After 18 unsuccessful meetings, the union officially declared a deadlock in negotiations with some 45 separate contract items unresolved. Despite the deadlock arising from management obstruction tactics in the negotiations, the union did not give strike notice out of consideration for the difficult political and economic situation in the Philippines.

Tension at the hotel increased in December, when a letter signed by several hundred employees to the Dusit headquarters in Thailand reported on dubious financial transactions by some of the managers. Bangkok corporate headquarters sacked the Manila hotel's Sales and Marketing Director, but tension rose still further when local management granted extremely generous year-end bonuses to all 114 managerial staff- while still maintaining that the hotel could not afford to negotiate a new CBA!

On January 14, union members voted overwhelmingly for eventual strike action, at an appropriate time, if it proved necessary to break the deadlock. Conciliation meetings were initiated under the auspices of the Department of Labor and Employment, but management failed to show up for a meeting on January 17. The next day, a union general assembly met and decided that some members would shave their heads to protest management intransigence.

When the protesting workers were barred from entering the hotel and reporting for work, the union put up a peaceful informational picket - an action guaranteed by law. Management continued with the selective lockout, and on January 21 suspended 125 union members, including union officers, members with short hair, and those who participated in the January 18 informational picket. The suspensions continued on a daily basis, eventually resulting in the suspension of some 300 union members, or three-quarters of the membership. The union responded to the suspensions by filing illegal lockout charges, but on January 26, the protestors were officially terminated, prompting the union to declare a strike.

Strike action effectively closed the hotel until February 2, when the Department of Labor and Employment ordered all hotel employees - including those suspended or dismissed - to be "admitted by the Hotel to work within 24 hours." An escape clause in the order, however, offers management the option of "payroll reinstatement": keeping the sacked and suspended workers on the payroll while barring them from work, pending official confirmation of the termination order. This list initially included 225 union members, among them over 90 union officers and members who were issued dismissal papers. The back-to-work order also imposes compulsory arbitration on all issues, including the CBA.

On February 27, management began calling some workers on payroll reinstatement to report to work - but each employee was pressured to sign a "waiver" to the illegal lockout case as a condition for physical reinstatement. Under the terms of the "waiver", the employees agree not to pursue their illegal lockout case. The purpose of the waivers is to undermine the union's illegal lockout case and strengthen management's argument that the workers should be suspended/terminated for engaging in illegal picketing and strike action - despite the fact that both were union responses to the illegal lockout!

At present, 121 workers from the suspended list have been called back to work; 96 dismissed workers remain on payroll reinstatement. The union advised the suspended workers called back to work to sign the waivers, but at the same time to sign an affidavit attesting that they were forced to sign under duress, which constitutes an unfair labourLabour practice.

In view of this massive number of unfair practices, NUWHRAIN has filed another notice of strike action. Management retaliated in the courts with the contention that the union members' filing of illegal lockout cases represents "harassment" of the hotel management. All the cases have now been certified to the National laborLabor Relations commission for compulsory arbitration.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

The Dusit Nikko Hotel is the only unionized hotel in the Dusit chain, and NUWHRAIN is fighting a union-busting operation. Management at the hotel is resolved to eliminate the union presence, and is willing to keep nearly 100 union members on the payroll while barring them from work. NUWHRAIN is demanding the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of all sacked and dismissed employees and good faith negotiations for a new collective agreement. You can show your support for NUWHRAIN and trade union rights at the Dusit Nikko Hotel by sending a strong protest message to the hotel's major owner and to the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment. The messages below may serve as models. Kindly send copies of any messages you might send to the IUF secretariat. We thank you for your solidarity and support.


Model Fax Message to Mr. Tampuying Chanut Piyaoui, Chairperson, Board of Directors, Philippine Hoteliers, Inc.
Fax: + 662 587 8657
E-mail: [email protected]

Dear Sir,
I write to express my concern over the industrial relations situation at the Dusit Nikko Hotel in Manila. Management at this establishment has committed a series of offenses against basic trade union rights and against the union which organizes staff at the hotel, NUWHRAIN. The union has been seeking unsuccessfully to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement since November 2000, but negotiations have deadlocked due to the management's systematic refusal to negotiate in good faith.

The union, out of respect for the state of the Philippine economy and the health of the hotel, refrained from any industrial action, but did protest when management granted generous "gratuity pay" to all managerial staff in December last year. The bonuses were paid while management continued to maintain that the hotel was not in a position to negotiate the proposed collective bargaining agreement, thus implying that austerity was necessary for the staff who have made the hotel a success, but that different standards applied to managers.

When a group of workers cut their hair short to protest this development, and to highlight the fact that management boycotted a conciliation meeting held under the auspices of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the workers were illegally suspended and locked out of their jobs. Management subsequently imposed suspensions on hundreds of employees who protested this treatment by participating in a peaceful picket - an activity fully guaranteed by law. As a result, the union took industrial action on January 26. In doing so, the union again acted fully within the limits of the law, as a strike vote had been taken last year under government supervision and management properly notified of the outcome.

Under the terms of a back-to-work order imposed by the DOLE, 225 union members were placed on "payroll reinstatement", i.e. they were paid but barred from performing their work. Close to 100 unfairly dismissed employees remain on payroll reinstatement, while those who were suspended were pressured to sign waivers to their illegal lockout claims as a condition for returning to active employment.

I call upon you to take appropriate action to ensure that these employees are fully reinstated and allowed to return to their positions, and to facilitate good faith negotiations towards a collective agreement with NUWHRAIN.

Surely it is the interest of all to pursue the path of peaceful negotiation, rather than to spend millions of pesos per month on payroll "reinstatements" which can only be perceived as a vindictive act of revenge against the union.

Yours sincerely,

CC: Chiyuki Fujimoto, General Manager, Dusit Hotel Nikko
Fax: + 632 867 3888


Model Fax Message to Ms. Patricia A. Sto. Tomas, Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment
Fax: +632 527 3494
E-mail: [email protected]

Dear Madame Secretary,

I write to express my deep concern over the situation at the Dusit Hotel Nikko in Manila. Since November 2000, when management refused to negotiate in good faith for a collective bargaining agreement with NUWHRAIN, management has repeatedly violated the basic trade union rights of staff at the hotel.

Most recently, the train of events initiated by management's refusal to attend conciliation meetings taking place under DOLE auspices resulted in hundreds of illegal suspensions and a strike from January 26 to February 2. In response to the back to work order, management placed 225 employees on payroll reinstatement rather than physically reinstatement in their actual jobs. Some 100 workers who were wrongfully dismissed during the conflict continue in this "payroll reinstatement status. Those who have returned to active employment were pressured to sign waivers to their illegal lockout claims. this kind of coercion is manifestly an unfair labour practice.

Clearly this is an another example of management's aggressively anti-union attitude and desire to physically eliminate the union presence from the hotel. I accordingly urge you to issue a modified order directing management to physically reinstate all union members and officers in their positions of active employment. We would also urge you to use your good offices to enjoin the parties to return to the bargaining table to negotiate mutually acceptable solutions to all disputed issues.

I will continue to closely follow developments at the Dusit Hotel Nikko.

Yours sincerely,