Cigarette factory workers lose jobs in Malolos

CITY OF MALOLOS — Cigarette demand has dropped due to the smoking ban and the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law (Republic Act No. 10963), prompting Mighty Corp. to dismiss workers, according to the company’s executive vice president Oscar Barrientos.

Close to 20 of these workers and members of their union staged a picket on Monday at the firm’s factory in Barangay Tikay here.

The workers have filed an illegal dismissal complaint in the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), which has set a hearing on Feb. 26.

“The smoking ban dropped the sales of cigarettes by about 10 percent. The tax issues are another reason [for the decision to remove workers],” Barrientos said on Tuesday.

The NLRC case sought to prevent Mighty Corp. from speaking to the displaced workers, he said.

Separation package

Barrientos also said 18 workers who sued the company refused to accept the company’s separation package while 22 others had agreed after the company undertook its redundancy program.

Mighty Corp. was sold to cigarette giant, Japan Tobacco Inc., for P46.8 billion in September last year, to secure the money needed to cover its unpaid taxes under a government settlement deal.

The company was given two years to operate the factory. “We no longer have control as to how much cigarettes are sold in the market. All we do now is manufacture cigarettes,” Barrientos said. —Carmela Reyes-Estrope