Online monitors

A forgotten sector
How are our farm and plantation workers doing? Davao Today and Bulatlat say their future is bleak because of unfair labor practices and harassment.
Davao Today’s Oct. 14 report focused on the problems of workers in a banana plantation in Compostela Valley. The article showed a timeline of a labor dispute in the plantation as well as other related issues which inevitably dragged into the conflict not just the company but the military and local officials as well (“The Banana Plantations of Compostela: A History of Struggle,” http://davaotoday.com/2006/10/14/the-banana-plantations-of-compostela-a-history-of-struggle/).
For its part, Bulatlat’s Oct. 15-21 issue tackled the plight of Negros-based sugar farm workers and the exploitative system of pakyao or piece-rate labor arrangement, which has reportedly replaced the work arrangement in many sugar farms in Negros (“‘Pakyao’ Makes Negros Sugar Farm Hands Poorer,” Bulatlat, http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-36/6-36-pakyao.htm).

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