Mattel to Close Its Operations in Philippines : Bitter Strike Blamed; 4,000 Will Lose Jobs
Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and other toys, is pulling out of the Philippines following a bitter strike at its Manila facilities.
“The decision was a culmination of a series of union and labor force actions that hampered our ability to operate there,” a spokesman for the Hawthorne-based company said Thursday.
Mattel’s exit, the first by a major American corporation since President Corazon Aquino came to power two years ago, will eliminate about 4,000 jobs in that country.
Mattel, which has manufacturing operations in 10 countries, said it would transfer the Philippine operations elsewhere but had not yet decided where.
The Philippine subsidiary had two plants in the Manila area that produced Barbie dolls and accessories exclusively for export. Mattel operated a plant in Cainta for costumes and accessories and another in Pasig that made dolls and costumes.
In early December, Mattel decided to close the Cainta plant and move its operations to the Pasig plant, a cost-saving measure that resulted in layoffs of 1,850 workes.
‘Loss of Confidence’
Mattel’s action prompted a worker blockade at the Pasig plant on Jan. 21, two days after the workers voted to strike. Though 85% of the Pasig employees reported to work, the blockade made it impossible to take materials in or out of the factory, the Mattel spokesman said.
The strike by Mattel Workers Union has been scheduled to begin Wednesday, the Mattel spokesman said.
Mattel closed the Pasig plant in Manila on Monday, leaving 2,200 more workers jobless. In a statement, Mattel said it decided to withdraw from the Philippines due to “the union’s unwillingness to comply with reasonable, legal actions to reopen company facilities.”
In the Philippines, Mattel Philippines President J. D. Harper told Reuters: “We are shutting down our operations because of the worldwide situation and our loss of confidence in our ability . . . to produce and manufacture toys in the Philippines.”
A Philippine Labor Department official said the closings occurred despite reconciliation talks between officials, workers and Labor Secretary Franklin Drilon.
The official said Harper told the Labor Department in a letter that Mattel’s sales had suffered over the past two years and the company had been forced to make drastic cuts at all its manufacturing facilities.
In a statement, the union said the closing was capricious and illegal because it breached a collective bargaining agreement that was not due to expire until 1990. Mattel called the workers’ action illegal.
Mattel Philippines, established in 1976, earned $913,460 in 1986 on sales of $13.8 million. The parent company, which slashed its U.S. work force by about 600 over the past year and closed a plant in Paramount, lost $951,000 in 1986 on sales of $1.06 billion.
