2011-2013 CBA
retirement plan pdf
MSMMJN stands for “Malayang Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Mead-Johnson Nutrition”, and is the duly-registered union of all rank-and-file employees of Mead-Johnson Nutrition, a US-based food conglomerate operating in the Philippines since 1968 and one of the biggest in the industry. First established in 1972 as the Mead Johnson Employees Union (MJEU) and then located in Pasong Tamo, Makati, the union has evolved through time and has had a storied past unique among employees’ organizations in pharmaceutical companies. From its early beginnings as a company (or “yellow”) union affiliated with the Philippine Transport and General Workers’ Organization (PTGWO), MJEU was eventually transformed into an independent workers’ organization hewing along the lines of genuine and patriotic trade unionism.
Its defining moment came in June 15, 1976, when it staged a strike over unfair labor practices and became part of the powerful wave of militant worker’s actions that spontaneously broke out at the height of Martial Law. The strike was quickly suppressed not only by the company but also by the Marcos government, who immediately rounded up the strike leaders and imprisoned them in military camps such as Camp Crame and Fort Bonifacio for 15-30 days. Although all of the union leaders were eventually fired, the sacrifice resulted in overall positive gains for the union.
This “baptism of fire” steeled the union in its future dealings with the company, and left an indelible mark in its history and traditions. It has participated in intra-union alliances that seek to better the lot of workers not only in the drug and food industry, but also among Filipino workers in general. It has also involved itself in advocacy of social and political issues that correspond to the basic interests of the broader Filipino public.
An independent union for about eight years following the strike and its subsequent disaffiliation with PTGWO, MJEU (by now renamed as the “Malayang Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Mead Johnson” or MSMMJ) eventually became part of the Drug and Food Alliance (DFA), a broad trade union federation that it helped form in the late ’80s, on the eve of the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship. The DFA consistently supported the revitalized union in its collective bargaining struggles and spearheaded its broadening efforts, a necessary undertaking in an industry that has been historically backstopped by the state in its opposition to independent and genuine trade unionism.
In the early ’90s, Bristol-Myers-Squibb (or BMS, itself the product of a merger) bought out Mead Johnson, leading to the agglomeration of unions within the two companies. The closure of Bristol wiped out the entire pharmaceutical production of the company, and laid off some 78 managerial and rank-and-file employees. Since then, a renewed struggle has commenced against efforts by the company to erode union gains on wages, job security and democratic rights. Now renamed the MSMMJN and having just concluded its CBA, the union under its president Reynaldo Hernandez faces the challenging task not only of defending and consolidating past gains, but also of forging a broader and more strategic path for the union’s future.
