Sacked: ABS-CBN fires more employees
For half of her 16- year service, Weng Hidalgo was a reporter for broadcast giant ABS-CBN though she was never regularized. In 2003, she filed a regularization complaint against the network before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).
Hidalgo was elated when the network offered her a regularization contract last September. But her happiness quickly faded when ABS-CBN refused to honor her 16 years in service. She was also asked to drop her labor complaint against the company.
She declined the offer and in a few days found herself out of work.
Hidalgo is among the increasing number of ABS-CBN employees who have been sacked since June this year. Based on the latest count of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), a total of 112 ABS-CBN employees have so far been sacked, an increase from the 40 the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) first reported last Aug. 2.
Network Corporate Communications Head Ramon “Bong” Osorio said in an earlier statement that “Contrary to what other groups have written and claimed, ABS-CBN is not dismissing or retrenching employees. In fact, we are even hiring for new positions from the IJM pool.”
Not unique
Hidalgo’s case is no different from that of other employees sacked by the TV network. All those sacked have on-going labor cases against the company. All are fighting for regularization and its benefits.
Many of these employees had also been serving ABS-CBN from 10 up to 20 years before they were sacked. Like Hidalgo, many of those sacked were offered regularization without crediting the years they had served and were also asked to drop their labor case against the company.
These employees, mostly technical staff members like cameramen, audio men, video editors and others, are part of the Internal Job Market (IJM), the network’s in-house employment agency.
ABS-CBN, however, has claimed that IJM is only a database of all accredited talents. They have also denied that there is massive retrenchment in the company.
The IJM Workers’ Union
To fight for their rights, employees from the IJM formed the IJM Workers’ Union in March 2009. They were able to register the union with the Dept. of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in July 2009 but their petition for certification election was denied in November the same year at the DOLE-attached agency the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). The certification election would have entitled them to bargaining collectively with the TV network.
NLRC mediator-arbiter Catherine Parado ruled that there is no employer-employee relationship between ABS-CBN and IJM employees because IJM is “independent” of the network.
However, in an Aug. 13 DOLE resolution, Sec. Rosalinda Baldoz ruled otherwise and granted the petition of the union for a certification election.
Resolution
In a 16-page resolution, DOLE ruled that there indeed is an employer-employee relationship between ABS-CBN and IJM employees. For one thing, DOLE ruled, IJM employees are directly hired by the TV network and are supervised by in-house technical directors and/or supervisors.
IJM employees are also subject to discipline by the company’s Technical Operations Division, and the promotions of technical employees are approved by the Head of the ABS-CBN Entertainment Group. This means that ABS-CBN has a direct supervisory function over the employees from IJM, which amounts to an employer-employee relationship.
Regular, not ‘talents’
DOLE also ruled that IJM employees cannot be considered “talents” because “there is no indication that the contract entered into is on the performance or completion of a specific job, work or service within a definite or predetermined period, regardless of whether such job is to be performed or completed within or outside the premises of the principal.”
It also ruled that the IJM employees said to be “talents” perform activities which are “necessary and desirable” to the network, and rejected ABS-CBN‘s claim that IJM is a contractor. It also ruled that the IJM set-up is in the nature of an in-house agency and therefore illegal.
Contractualization
IJM employees who have been with the company for more than one year are supposed to be regular employees under the law, said DOLE.
Book Six, Article 28 of the Labor Code of the Philippines mandates that an employee who “has been engaged to perform activities which are usually necessary or desirable in the usual business or trade of the employer” is considered a regular employee. Regularization can happen either after six months for employees under probation, or after a year of service, whether continuous or broken.
As noted in a 2008 report in PJR Reports, contractualization is common in the Philippine media as most TV network reporters and other media workers are hired as “talents” who have no job security.
Hidalgo was under contract for most of the period of her employment in ABS-CBN. But she said that there were also times when she did not have any contract at all. Usually, the period covered by the contract was from January to June and July to December.
In 2003, when ABS-CBN started to introduce IJM, Hidalgo filed a petition for regularization before the NLRC. It was dismissed in 2006 for lack of substantial evidence, but was granted in 2009. The case is still under appeal by the TV network.
In March this year, management told her she would be under probation for six months. She was eventually offered a contract for regularization. However, because of the strings attached with the contract, Hidalgo declined.
When asked the reason for her termination, Hidalgo said ABS-CBN’s reason was simply end of contract.
‘A sense of security and stability’
In his latest statement, Osorio said on Aug. 16 that “ABS-CBN is nearing completion with the process of matching the network’s new strategic directions with the needed manpower to efficiently move its plans.”
ABS-CBN claims that it offered regular positions and long-term contracts to qualified employees from the IJM which they consider a database of talents.
Osorio said also said that “We recognize the value of the IJM workers who have worked for our programs. But while we are unable to continue engaging the services of some, we are ensuring work for a majority. We chose this difficult path to prepare our organization for the new demands of a changing media landscape. Such demands require us to be efficient and to provide our employees a sense of security and stability.”
Finally, ABS-CBN said that its actions are all in accordance with the law and that it has been fair and transparent.
Respect employees’ rights
Meanwhile, the massive retrenchment in ABS-CBN has generated concern from various media and labor organizations across the country and the Southeast Asian region.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia-Pacific, UNI Global Union, composed of 900 trade unions including UNI-MEI (Media, Entertainment and Arts) and affiliates across the region met in Bali, Indonesia on Sept. 29-30. They called on media employers in the country to “end violations of worker’s rights to decent and secure working conditions, including efforts to prevent workers from joining unions.”
The delegates, composed of about 37 media organizations across the region including IFJ-member NUJP, called on ABS-CBN to abide by Philippine labor law and to recognize the right to job security.
In Congress, Anakpawis Party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano filed a House Resolution for the House Committee on Labor and Employment to probe the alleged union busting by ABS-CBN and the dismissal and contractualization of its employees.
Still fighting
Other groups like Anakbayan have also shown support for the sacked employees.
Last Oct. 12, some 100 people formed a picket line in front of ABS-CBN in Quezon City including sacked employees of the TV network and various progressive groups. They demanded from the management to reinstate them.
Hidalgo, on the other hand, said she is grateful for all the support she is getting. Progressive groups that she once covered as a reporter have sent her text messages expressing their support and their alarm over what happened to her and other IJM employees.
Recently, Hidalgo started reporting for broadcasting network TV5.
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