HACIENDA LUISITA, Tarlac Violent clashes broke out here yesterday between policemen and thousands of protesting sugar mill workers, leaving seven people dead and 50 others injured, initial reports said.
The clashes followed days of protest actions by workers demanding better wages and the reinstatement of more than 300 laid-off colleagues, including union leaders.
Police said the injured rallyists were taken to nearby hospitals. Three workers succumbed to injuries while being treated at the Tarlac Provincial Hospital, three others at the St. Martin de Porres Hospital and one at the Northern Luzon Command Hospital.
The riot erupted as negotiations broke down and policemen were sent to dismantle the picket lines, according to the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).
Initial reports said riot policemen used water cannons, shields and truncheons to disperse the demonstrators gathered at the gates of the plantation.
At least two Army armored personnel carriers were seen guarding the farm.
Witnesses said security forces fired shots and tear gas while the rioting workers used clubs, slingshots and firebombs.
The Central Azucarrera de Tarlac Labor Union (CATLU) was in a deadlock in its collective bargaining agreement with management as it was demanding a P100 salary increase and a P30,000 signing bonus for each member. The CAT management maintained it can only give a P12 wage hike and a P12,000 bonus.
The United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU), on the other hand, was demanding the reinstatement of 327 farm workers laid off by Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) last Oct. 1.
Labor Assistant Secretary and spokesman Benedicto Ernesto Bitonio said a dispersal team was supposed to serve the return-to-work order by Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas to the striking workers.
Instead of complying with the order, the workers reportedly hurled fire bombs while some of them fired handguns, prompting policemen to disperse the rallyists.
Policemen were earlier ordered to stand down as "backdoor" negotiations are under way in Manila with the presidents of CATLU and the ULWU.
The informal negotiations were meant to peacefully resolve the mass actions that shut down the operations of Luzons biggest sugar mill, owned by the family of former President Corazon Aquino.
Management claimed that it is losing about P5 million a day due to the labor lockout and even Central and Northern Luzons sugar planters and their employees have been affected.
As Luzons biggest sugar refinery, the CAT is capable of milling more than 7,000 tons of sugar cane a day. There are other sugar mills in Pampanga but these are small and could hardly accommodate all the sugarcane harvests in Central and Northern Luzon.
As tension continues to mount here, political leaders in the province, particularly Gov. Jose Yap and Tarlac City Mayor Genaro Mendoza, renewed their appeal to both camps to exhaust all means to peacefully settle the labor dispute.
Bitonio said the Department of Labor and Employment would try to resume negotiations as soon as possible. With Ric Sapnu, Mayen Jaymalin, AFP |