BACOLOD City – The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) is calling the attention of the public and policymakers to the plight and protest of 400 employees who were retrenched in 2020 due to the privatization of the Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA).
Amid high unemployment in the country and the well-known problems brought about by privatization, the mass layoff of 400 employees due to a joint venture with Prime Water Inc. deserves closer scrutiny, CTUHR stressed in a statement.
The BACIWA employees, led by the Bacolod City Water District Employees Union or BEU, have been protesting against their dismissal due to the privatization deal, and the dismissal of many among them for opposing the water district’s sudden and swift privatization.
The BACIWA employees reject the BACIWA management’s claim about redundancy, stating that the management has been hiring employees to replace them in their former positions, and even asks them to re-apply for their former positions but under new, more unprotected terms.
According to CTUHR, the public and the country’s policymakers should listen to the BACIWA employees, who continue to hold protests in front of the National Civil Service Commission in Batasan, Quezon City, calling for the swift resolution of their case, their immediate reinstatement and the granting of full back wages.
It added that many rights are at stake in the issue:
* employees’ right to security of tenure;
* right to freedom of expression;
* right to freedom of association;
* public’s right to sufficient, safe, and affordable water for personal and domestic use
“The Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government should investigate the BACIWA privatization contract. If it is really serious in upholding labor and human rights, it should dialogue with the BACIWA employees, represented by the BEU, to attain justice in their case and reverse the violation of their rights,” stated CTHUR in a statement./PN
