LAPU-LAPU - Around 4,000 garment workers have reportedly been laid off without notice by a sportswear manufacturer, which reportedly supplies major brands including Adidas, Under Armour and Lululemon, in the Philippines.
The Partido Manggagawa (Labour Party) called on the government to step in to help the workers who it said had been dismissed by the Sports City group at four factories in the Mactan Economic Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Lapu-Lapu City.
The party described it as "the mother of all layoffs" and joined the MEPZ Workers Alliance in appealing for assistance from both the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
