Retrenched Luisita mill workers to be hired as sugarcane cutters?

By Ding Cervantes

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – The management of a sugar milling company in Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac will reportedly rehire 700 retrenched workers as sugarcane cutters.

The case of the retrenched workers of the Central Azucarrera de Tarlac (CAT) allegedly shows the worsening state of farmer-workers at the 6,453-hectare hacienda, which was formerly owned by the family of President Aquino.

The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) Tuesday they denounced the company’s retrenchment and contractualization of workers.

It said while CAT was reportedly sold last year to a businessman, it continued to be managed by Fernando Cojuangco, a cousin of the President.

The shares of the Aquino-Cojuangco firms such as the Luisita Realty Corp. and the Luisita Industrial Park Co. were also allegedly bought by CAT.

UMA acting chairman John Milton Lozande said the management claimed to have cut the perks of CAT officers, yet the company is raking in profits through the contractualization scheme.