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Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Labor office takes cognizance on Oroport dispute
By Danilo V. Adorador III
AN ASSUMPTION order from the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) effectively crippled the chances of Phase II Port Union (PPWU-ALU-TUCP) workers to stage a strike against OroPort, the city's lone port service provider.
Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) Regional Vice President Nicandro Borja immediately condemned the order, served by National Labor Conciliation Board (NCMB) Director Florido Akut during the scheduled conciliation meeting between PPWU-ALU-TUCP and OroPort Tuesday.
To express their dissent, Borja said they refused to receive Dole's assumption order and suggested the document could have been spurious.
"We will verify this tomorrow (Wednesday). This order surprised us very much, considering this was done with haste as if to deliberately stifle our right to strike," Borja told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro Tuesday evening.
An assumption order, Borja said, meant that the Labor Secretary has taken up the case for a compulsory mediation in which span strikes are not allowed.
Borja also decried Akut's decision to serve the assumption order, saying this violated the truce agreement mapped out during Monday's conciliation talks between the ALU-TUCP leadership and OroPort management.
"We felt betrayed. We have signed the agreement to show that we are temporarily casting aside our strike plans. And now, this," Borja lamented.
Borja also said ALU-TUCP was "bothered" with Akut's decision not to inform them of DOLE's order "outright" during the meeting, "but instead attempted to conciliate first when he knew all along what was going to happen."
Akut was not immediately available for comment.
Because of this new development, Borja said ALU-TUCP is now contemplating to file a second notice of strike and will present new grounds for such action.
"We will cite the illegal dismissal of some 200 PPWU workers and other unfair labor practices not mentioned in the first notice of strike," he said.
Earlier, OroPort spokesman Noel Tan denied any unfair labor practice on the management side. Tan also denied the alleged illegal dismissal of PPWU-aligned workers and favoring the other union in OroPort--the Macajalar Labor Union (MLU).
(October 26, 2005 issue)
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