1,800 Bataan ecozone workers face layoff

MARIVELES, Bataan -- Some 1,800 factory workers of SS Ventures at the Bataan Export Processing Zone here are facing a bleak Christmas with the possible closure of the company this year.

Workers Labor Management Council president Danilo de Guzman said the Adidas Group, a German sportswear company which have a contract with their company, is ending their supply deal by the end of this month.

De Guzman said since March, the supply order of Adidas which is supposedly160,000 pairs of shoes every month, have gone down to only 20,000 pairs lately.

He said many of their workers have been retrenched and only some 800 worked eight days a month when they used to work 25 days.

The workers said one of the reasons for the slowdown of supply order is the anti-Filipino mentality of Adidas sourcing manager Horst Staff, a German.

They also said Horst Staff, whose wife is a Chinese sealed a deal with Evervan shoe factory in China and pulled out orders from SS Ventures.

The workers have appealed to Adidas board chairman Glenn Bennet to give them at least one year extension while the management of SS Ventures look for buyers. This is similar to what they did in Thailand when the company extended the contract for one year and even provided them raw materials.

They are also asking the help of “Pambansang Kamao” Manny Pacquiao, who endorses NIKE shoes, to help them get orders from their company. By Mamer Bañez and Zeny Soriano - People's Journal