Clark workers union to stage prayer rally

CLARK FREEPORT -- Employees unions of Clark Development Corporation (CDC) will stage a prayer rally and noise barrage on Monday in protest of the implementation collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).

The workers will stage their protest actions during lunchtime in front of the CDC President's Office at the parade ground.

The groups have come up with a joint manifesto of solidarity in urging the government commission to uphold the Constitutional and labor rights of government employees inside the former US military facility.

The groups manifesto stemmed from the letter of Government Commission on GOCC (GCG) Chair Cesar Villanueva to CDC Chair and OIC Eduardo Oban Jr. stating that “the Commission formally informs CDC that with the Issuance of EO7 (executive order no. 7) and pursuant to the enactment of Republic Act 10149, CBAs between employees and GOCC employers may no longer be negotiated.”

In their manifesto, government workers at Clark Freeport led by the Association of CDC Supervisory Personnel (ACSP), Samahan ng mga Manggagawa DMIA (SMD) and the Association of Concerned CDC Employees (ACCES) stated that they are pursuing five common issues.

The manifesto stated that CDC should: respect the right of self-organization and freedom of association and the existence of unions in GOCCs; implement signed CBA agreements of unions with their respective government agency as prescribed by the Philippine Constitution and Labor Code of the Philippines; uphold the rights of the GOCC workers on the issue on Personal Economic Relief Assistance; resolve the issue of wages and benefits of GOCC workers; and implement the judicious use of government funds coming from the GOCCs.

The letter of Villanueva stemmed following the agreement of ACSP and CDC Management to seek for a voluntary arbitration following the non-implementation of concluded CBA negotiations on March 2012.

The agreement for voluntary arbitration after the ACSP, supervisory union of CDC, filed unfair labor practice case against CDC for the non-implementation of the CBA despite the approval of the CDC Board of Directors, wherein Villanueva was then the presiding CDC Chairman.

The union groups in Clark said the GCG should respect the right of workers to organize as enshrined in the Philippine Constitution.

They claimed that Villanueva should also uphold the rights of labor groups as specified in the Labor Code of the Philippines.

RA 10149 (GOCC Governance Act of 2011) has become more powerful than the Labor Code (Articles 242, 244, and 246) which enshrined in the employees right to collective bargaining, adding that “it effectively abolished this right as all salaries, incentives, and benefits of GOCC employees are now to be dictated by a single super power commission,” the employees claimed.

Villanueva also said in his letter to Oban that “it should be clear that under the regime set under RA 10149, GOCCs, whether chartered or non-chartered, are without authority to set their own compensation frameworks, nor are their Governing Boards are authorized to enter into collective bargaining negotiations or be bound to arbitration proceedings that would set the compensation framework outside of the Compensation an Position Classification System (CPCS) that is being developed by the Commission for final approval of the President.”

Presently, there are two CBA that have yet to be implemented -- the agreement between the rank and file union of CIAC which have yet to be implemented despite the signing last 2010 and CBA of the supervisory group of CDC, which was the subject of Villanueva’s letter, the worker unions stated.

Early next year, ACCES are set to negotiate with the CDC management the new life of their CBA after its five year contract ends.

But with the present situation with CIAC’s SMD and CDC’s ACSP, CDC’s rank and file union might suffer the same fate because of the prohibition being stated by Villanueva as stated in RA 10149 and EO7, the workers lamented. (Reynaldo G. Navales)