Media Release August 2, 2000 NATIONAL STUD FARM EMPLOYEES TO "AANHIN PA ANG KABAYO KUNG WALA NA ANG MGA EMPLEYADO". LIKE the racing horses they breed and feed, the National Stud Farm (NSF) employees have also their families to care for - feed, clothe, shelter and children to be sent to school. But unlike the horses in their care, the employees have suffered neglect for more than 4 months now - they have not received a single centavo of their salaries. Moreover, they fear that they were deliberately left in the dark as to the status of their jobs. This condition have left the employees no other option but to stand for their rights and assert what is due them. Starting today, the 45 employees have decided to stage a worker's strike and made their picketline at the NSF compound. The NSF was instituted since 1968. This income-earning agency is directly involved in supervising and regulating the country's racehorse industry and breeding of the country's horses. Part of their function is to prevent the illegal importation of racehorses into the country. In 1996, the Philippine Stud Book (PSB) was recognized and approved by the International Stud Book Committee (ISBC). With this imprimatur, Philippine horses can now be exported and raced abroad. The NSF employs more than 50 employees. We, the public sector employees under the banner of the militant Confederation for Unity, Recognition & Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) are saluting the dedication and yes, courage of the employees by refusing this inhuman condition. We believe that what is happening is a deliberate attempt to lay-off the employees. It started when the government-prepared national budget for this year has excluded appropriations for the NSF. Like the Economic Intelligence & Investigation Bureau (EIIB), the NSF has been given a PhP1 peso budget, de facto abolishing its functions and services. But treacherously, the employees were not told of the real score by the Department of Agriculture (DA) where the NSF is an attached agency and under its own management. They let the employees render services for 4 straight months without being compensated for it. This is callous and unjust and we will not let these officials run unscathed. They have to be made accountable for their actions. Moreover, we support the Agriculture employees' claim that this is part of the planned reorganization of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agencies. There will be abolition of agencies, privatization, mergers and devolution all intended to streamline the employees, jeopardizing at least 20, 000 workers nationwide. As such, the issue is more than just salaries but jobs and their security of tenure. The employees can rest assured that we will rally together, mobilize our ranks to defend their jobs. NO TO REORGANIZATION! NO TO LAY-OFF! RELEASE THE SALARIES OF THE NSF EMPLOYEES NOW! |
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