MEMBERS OF THE Kilusan ng Abanteng Seksyon ng Anakpawis sa NutriAsia (KASAPINA-OLALIA-KMU) mounted their strike in front of the factory in Cabuyao City, Laguna in the early morning of July 6. Hundreds of workers locked three factory gates to stop its operation and block the movement of its products.

In retaliation, goons and police elements violently dispered the picket. The police even used a backhoe to destroy the gates. Seventeen workers were arrested, including a woman, while several others were wounded.

The workers launched the strike to condemn the company for refusing to implement, since last year, the DOLE order stating that they should be regularized. At present, more than 1,000 are working as contractuals in its factory in Cabuyao. Workers also complain of low wages and inhumane working conditions.

The widespread implementation of contractualization in NutriAsia was first exposed when its workers in Bulacan mounted their strike last year. NutriAsia is the largest catsup, sauce, and cooking oil manufacturing company in the country. The company is owned by bourgeois comprador Joselito Dee Campos Jr., son of Joselito Yao Campos Sr., who is a notorious crony of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.