Here are excerpts of letters to Coconuter about alleged abuses of SM with its valued tenant and employees. We took three letters and we intend to send this to SM Management and to local newspapers. Your signatures while joining are very significant for us to have clout with the government, media and big businesses. Please let us join and be counted.
First Letter
Funny you mentioned about SM's policy on those who rentin stalls.
I couldn't agree with you more.
The company that I used to work for bought one of their e-business citing that our company will be the owner of the business while they handle the management side. It was decided that my former company will initially operate a call center and it will be housed in the 5th Floor of SM Manila and we pay rent for the place. All went smoothly. Except aside from the rent, portion of the income was still given to them. So what you were said was true. We found this to our disadvantage and we met with Baby Boy (Henry Sy, Jr).
Then one day, one of our signatories skipped signing a check for the monthly rental. To our shock. SM sent a platoon of security guards and blocked the entrance to our call center. They also sent their accountants demanding payment or else the barricade will not be removed.
You can just imagine the anger my bosses felt for SM's act. Considering we were not just ordinary tenants but their partner in their e-business. And to make matters more complicated, they were the ones handling the management aspect of the business and OUR COMPANY WAS PAYING THEM for their management services. No matter how much talk, they insist our group talk to SM Prime. SM Prime is the group responsible for all properties of SM. And they insist on paying the rent within the day or else the barricades will not be removed and interest imposed per day of delayed payment. Without any recourse, and our signatories are all out of town. I was sent to the nearest authorized signatory to have the check signed. The nearest signatory was in CEBU. I flew to CEBU to meet up with the signatory at the airport, he signed the check and I flew back to Manila. That was the shortest visit to CEBU that I had in my life and it took all of 30 minutes. The plane ride going to and coming back was longer.
You can just imagine what happened when the next Board Meeting was held. The Board gave them a piece of their mind. The management of SM in our call center was clipped of its administrative powers.
Impressive as their malls might be. There is underlying horror that lies within. And one more thing, all businesses within SM are required to place their CASA (Check and Savings Account) with Banco de Oro (BDO) also owned by SM. And don't get me going, there was an incident when BDO refused to honor a check we paid to one of our equipment suppliers. But that is another story.
Noi Ramirez
http://genkuro.blogspot.com/
Second Letter
nagwork me dati sa SM ... seasonal pa, ini exploit talaga nila mga Filipino, tapos un pinirmahan namin contract 5 months tapos hanggang 2 months lang kami sapilitan kami pinag resign on the spot pinagawa kami ng resignation letter totoo po,yun mga katrabaho namin unti-unti nawawala, tawag namin na weekest link"gudbye" wala naman ako magagawa nun kaya hinayaan ko nalang pero dapat talaga malaman ng mga tao yan ginagawa ng mga instik na yan!
Third Letter
You know, its really sickening that Henry Sy has made it up there. Yes, the SMC Corporation is one of the best known and necessary institutions in the Philippines, BUT, he's only wealthy due to the hard work and exploitation of his employees.
They get paid pittance (about P300 a day!), and their contracts only last 6 months (have you heard of the film Endo? http://oggsmoggs.blogspot.com/2007/07/endo-2007.html )that way the company doesn't have to provide any health benefits etc etc,
Do you know why the women have to wear open toe shoes? Apparently thats to prevent them from stuffing any goods in their shoes! Damn, how their feet must ache after their 12 hours shift.
I've also been told that the stalls in the mall, not only pay fixed monthly rent, but also a fixed percentage of their (the stalls) profit- so the more they earn, the bigger cut that SM gets- I think this is called corruption.
Would it really hurt Grand Sy's fortune to increase the salary of his employees by say P100 a day- he would still have his mountain of a fortune, and such a small increment would make such a big difference for everyday people who work to make ends meet. I guess people have no choice to be exploited when they need to work to live, so everyone gets caught in the cycle, the only winner is the corporation.
These are only three instances of malpractices by SM against its own employees and against a well respected tenant. If they can do this to a well respected call center, what else can they not do. Progress in business does not mean stepping on the rights and integrity of Filipinos. SM became big because of the ordinary Filipinos.
Tags: SM, ShoeMart, Big Buisness, Corporation, Richest Man in the Philipppines, Slave in Our Own Country, Api-Apihan, Tinatapakan
Posted by: Mel Alarilla
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