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Saturday, July 01, 2006
BPI signs CBA in record time, grants P3.8T pay hike
Employees of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) are getting an increase of P1,250 a month retroactive to April this year, as part of a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) signed yesterday.
“Focus on the customer and focus on the people, and the business results will follow,” said BPI president Aurelio Montinola III, who flew in for the CBA signing in Cebu City.
The P1,250 monthly increase is good for the first year and will be followed by adjustments of P1,275 a month in 2007 and another P1,275 in 2008, for a total increase of P3,800 across-the-board.
Negotiated for only three months, this CBA was the fastest settlement reached so far in the company, Montinola said. Union officials who signed yesterday represented workers in Cebu, Bicol and most of Luzon, except Metro Manila.
Mature unions
“Our unions have been quite mature. Even while negotiating, we could take care of business and our customers,” Montinola added, shortly after announcing some training program opportunities designed to “make our lives in the workplace simpler and easier.”
Apart from the increase in basic pay, the new CBA also includes provisions for a comprehensive medical and hospitalization plan, a cost of living allowance and car or housing loan benefits. The economic provisions of the five-year CBA will be up for review after the third year.
At least 5,579 employees are covered, including those in the 33 BPI branches in Cebu. Only the bank’s unions in Metro Manila have yet to conclude negotiations.
Inflation
“We want to make sure our employees stay ahead of inflation,” said Emmanuel G. Herbosa, head of the management panel that negotiated with the Federation of Unions in BPI Unibank (FUBU). FUBU negotiated for the bank’s employees in Luzon, except Bicol and Metro Manila.
Herbosa described the settlement as “unprecedented” in BPI, adding that it reflected management’s “desire to achieve a higher level of industrial peace” and “emanates from the compassionate way the bank’s owners have been dealing with us.” (IDA)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 30, 2006 issue)
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