Disputes resolved as Eastern Visayas records ninth year of ‘zero strike’

published April 12, 2012 in BusinessWorld

TACLOBAN CITY -- Two strikes were averted as the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) here marked the ninth consecutive year of “zero strike” for Eastern Visayas.

Records at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) showed that the labor unions of the Leyte II Electric Cooperative (Leyeco II) based in this city and the Specialty Pulp Manufacturing, Inc. (SPMI) in Baybay City filed notices of strike in February.

Tomas B. Biboso, NCMB’s regional conciliator-mediator, said both were resolved last month.

“We have done our best to resolve their concerns in order to prevent a strike. We want to maintain the status of the region as labor strike-free for nine years already,” Mr. Biboso toldBusinessWorld.

Based on the notice filed on Feb. 15, the Leyeco II employees union which has 107 members sought an across-the-board wage increase and grocery allowance. The complaint was settled within 28 days.

Leyeco II, which has around 60,000 member-consumers, is the sole power distributor in Tacloban City and the towns of Babatngon and Palo in Leyte.

The NCMB declined to disclose the amount demanded by the worker’s group but Mr. iboso said both parties agreed through conciliation that the management would set aside P3.017 million for wage increases and allowances for this year alone.

In the case of SPMI, among the demands of the 63 union members were salary increases for 2011 to 2013, pay increase for senior employees, leave credits, sick leaves, vacation leaves, rice allowance, transportation allowance, and a signing bonus.

“Last month, both parties agreed on the benefits, after more than just three hours of conciliation-mediation proceeding,” Mr. Biboso said.

The SPMI management agreed to provide salary increases ranging from P11.50 to P14 daily and seniority increase of P1.00 per day. These amounted to P5.6 million worth of benefits, reached through amicable settlement.

The company is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and export of food grade and non-food grade bleached and unbleached specialty pulp, mainly from abaca or Manila hemp as well as other natural long fibers and jute.

DoLE Regional Director Exequiel R. Sarcauga said the nine successive years of zero strike can be attributed to the establishment of industrial peace councils, the promotion of a “social accord,” labor education, litigation of cases, and enforcement of labor standards.

“With our continuing education drive for both workers and employers, they are more capable of resolving concerns within the workplace.

Some companies adopted the code of good practices, which means that they are one with us in ensuring compliance of labor standards,” Mr. Sarcauga said.


The last strike in Eastern Visayas recorded by the NCMB was on Feb.24, 2003, by mployees of the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative in Borongan, Eastern Samar. Utility workers struck after a deadlock in collective bargaining agreement negotiations. -- Sarwell Q. Meniano