COMPOSTELA, COMPOSTELA VALLEY­­­­-- Thirty-nine workers of the striking Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa San Jose (NAMASAN-NAFLU-KMU) were detained again by some 30 elements of Compostela and Nabunturan Philippine National Police here, November 23 at around 2:00 in the afternoon. The workers were arrested while picketing the premises of Davao Fruits Corporation (Packing Plant 52), a runway shop of Packing Plant 95 where the workers used to pack Cavendish bananas for export. As of press time, the workers are still being detained at the Compostela Police Station.

The arrest, the PNP maintained, was an execution of the writ of preliminary injunction issued by the Compostela Valley Provincial Trial Court in Nabunturan, which discouraged workers from further “blockade or blocking of the entrance of the packing plant, and hampering the delivery of the bananas which would lead to its possible wastage.”

The detained strikers were illegally terminated from work on August 12 by the Fresh Bananas Agricultural Company under the Japanese-owned Sumitomo Fruits Corporation and AJMR. In September 26, for more than two days, some 80 workers and their families were also arrested and detained for allegedly violating the temporary restraining order issued by the Provincial Trial Court in Nabunturan.

Romualdo Basilio, ad hoc regional chairperson of the National Federation of Labor Unions, said that the recent arrest and detention-- like the previous arrest and detention-- were not only arbitrary but also illegal. “First of all, the workers were not blocking the egress or ingress (entrance and exit) of the packing plant. They were picketing on the sides of the packing plant and have not caused the damage of the bananas. Second, the preliminary injunction neither categorically indicated the arrest or detention of the picketing workers, nor did it provide that they be made to vacate the premises of the packing plant,” he explained.

The labor leader, also the concurrent chair of Kilusang Mayo Uno-Southern Mindanao, further challenged the legality of the arrest since the elements of the PNP had no warrant of arrest to show. “The elements of a warrantless arrest were not present in the case. It is not a continuing crime to demand to be unconditionally reinstated. Until now, the workers are still being detained despite the fact that there is no case filed against them in any court. Clearly, the arrest was merely an attempt to quash the unity of the workers.”

Basilio condemned the arrest and detention, even the release of the preliminary injunction, as the handiwork of the FBAC-AJMR-SUMIFRU management to undermine the concerted action of the workers. “The NAMASAN strike has now stretched to more than three months and because of the unity of the workers, the management desperately pulled all possible remedies it could muster to discredit the demands of the workers.”

He added, “The workers refused to conform their concerted action to the directives of the court ultimately because they do not believe that the court has authority over the case. The management, the court and the PNP-- even the Department of Labor and Employment-- are still refusing to face the fact that this is labor dispute.”

“We denounce this attack against the struggling workers of NAMASAN. This has always been the mode of operation of the capitalist and the government through the DOLE; maim the unity of the workers fighting for their basic rights and welfare,” concluded Basilio