Technical, Electrical and Engineering Union Press conference: Left to right Jim Wyse, hunger striker, Eamon Devoy, General Secretary Designate of the TEEU, John Recto, hunger striker and John Guinan, hunger striker - more photos below
Heavy guns brought to bear on behalf of Pinoy under threat of deportation
Dublin
A Filipino electrical engineer who had his immigration status revoked and was under threat of being deported from the Republic along with his family has been reprieved after high level representations were made on his behalf.
John Recto, from Dasmarinas City in Cavite, who was deemed to have been unfairly dismissed from his position at Green Isle Foods, a subsidiary of giant British combine Northern Foods, has been reinstated as a legal immigrant in a very short time after his status was revoked. He had worked for the company for seven years when he was embroiled in the dispute, which lasted six months, ending in a hunger strike and victory for the workers. Hunger strikes have a particular resonance in Irish history.
The Labour Court in Ireland found that the men had been unfairly dismissed and that they should be reinstated with no loss of earnings or be paid substantial compensation for the loss of their positions.
The hunger strike, along with severely damaging publicity to the company and top level lobbying, mean the Recto family sleep safely tonight.
John who is married to Liezel (originally from Dumaguette), have three children Shaun 7, Kenan 6 and Emmanuel John, one year old who was born in Ireland.
This revocation happened because, said the authorities, he had been out of work for more than six months. The facts proved to be wrong, leaving the immigration bosses in Dublin to quickly realize this position was untenable and Recto's former employers with egg on their faces after being publicly humiliated when it was shown they had behaved at best in an irresponsible manner, and at worst had been culpable of dirty tricks and anti-labor practices, as well as possibly conducting an illegal campaign to win their case.
The dispute which led to John Recto and some of his workmates being unlawfully dismissed saw them and others going on a hunger strike, their employer being castigated for Victorian labor attitudes and ending with questions being asked in the Irish parliament began when an employee of Green Isle Foods was sent by accident a company document outlining cutbacks at the frozen food company. This led to a period of instability with the company threatening employees over knowledge of this document.
Investigations showed that in fact the company itself was at fault with insecure IT systems and management failures. There was also a campaign by the company to use as an excuse the "discovery" of pornographic material on some computers. This blew up in the company's face as no employees had direct access to the internet, and that the pornographic material had entered the computers via unsolicited emails from an unknown source which the company's own firewalls and IT systems should have prevented.
It is also of note that John was never at any time accused directly of having pornography on hos work station computer.
The good tidings that the Recto's have had their legal status reinstated comes as welcome news to the family who live in Naas in Kildare. The company also agreed a settlement with the men's union, the Technical Engineering & Electrical Union (TEEU). The details of this settlement cannot be publicized as there is a confidentiality clause in place.
The level of support as well as good wishes to the Recto family from both within the Irish trade union movement and the local community was tremendous. On the opinion section of one trade union news website who covered the story, we gave up counting the messages of support and backing to the Recto's. Virtually all were of the opinion the immigration authorities had blundered badly in this case, and to their credit, they (Irish immigration) changed their position almost overnight.
Green Isle Foods and its parent company, Britain's giant Northern Foods, had said they did not recognize the Labour Courts, nor did they wish to settle on terms put forward by the unions in the normally accepted ways of Irish law. However, they were happy to apply for and gain grants from the Irish government of 43 million Euros.
Image 1
A happy and relieved Recto family can sleep soundly now they have had the legal status reinstated
Image 2
John Recto with fellow hunger strikers, John Guinan and Jim Wyse at a TEEU press conference
Images 3 & 4
Letters from the Immigration Service confirming John's status
Posted at: 05:46 | Add Comment
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