spark solidarity

JOLLIBEE’S WORKER ABUSE GOES GLOBAL! On the dismissal of protesting Jollibee employees in New Jersey

Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK) stands with workers protesting their unjust layoff from the Jollibee branch in Journal Square, New Jersey, in the United States of America. We are disgusted, but entirely unsurprised, at the way Jollibee has treated its workers.

The protesting workers revealed last July 6 that they issued a demand for higher wages and a fairer workplace, and were met with termination. Jollibee, a popular fast food chain in the Philippines, remained silent regarding the issue.

For Filipinos familiar with them, this is nothing new for the Jollibee Foods Corporation. They have been guilty of abuse, wage theft, worker discrimination and mistreatment for years and years in the Philippines, and it appears that they operate no differently abroad.

Perhaps the most high-profile incident on Jollibee’s record of abuse is its history of contractualization. The Department of Labor and Employment ordered the corporation to regularize its record-high 6,000 contractual workers in 2018, but there have been no signs of them doing so. Instead, they continued with their abuse by collecting payments from workers’ "Coop Share, Coop Christmas Paluwagan Fund, and Coop Savings Fund,” and terminating any worker who dared question their practices.

There is clearly nothing “jolly” about working for Jollibee. Instead, their workers are only faced with insecure employment, low pay, no benefits, and the knowledge that even raising their voices could put them out of work. If Jollibee really is planning a “North American takeover,” it is a sign for workers in North America to prepare to fight for their lives and livelihoods. The exploitative juggernaut is coming to town.

As long as capitalists continue to be rewarded for their abuse of workers with ever-rising profits, no worker will ever reach a decent standard of living, let alone prosperity. “Filipino values” like diligence and hard work are nothing when the people who employ workers chronically stomp on their necks and refuse to tell them why.

As abuse of workers is an essential feature of this capitalist society, we have only one choice: to educate ourselves, organize, and fight back. Beyond simply calling out the failure of Jollibee to meet legal and humane standards of employment, we should ensure that workers’ own organizations all over the world are strong enough to repel any further abuse.

We have no one to rely on but ourselves, but we have nothing to lose but our chains.

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