Thursday, March 27, 2008 Chiong offers to negotiate in dispute
NAGA City Mayor Valdemar Chiong yesterday said he is willing to help mediate in the dispute between the management of Salcon Power Corp. (now SPC Power Corp.) and the Salcon Power Independent Union to avert energy crisis.
Chiong said Naga City needs industrial peace because of investors interested to start businesses in the area.
One of the applicants is Unilab, which will put up a Sarimanok Feedmill with an investment of P300 million.
“If given a chance, I will talk with both parties to settle their differences for the sake of the people”, Chiong said.
Management
Tomorrow, the National Conciliation Mediation Board NCMB) will again conduct another conciliation meeting to settle the differences of the Salcon management and the union.
Union president Gaudioso Iso Jr. said they were forced to file a notice of strike with the NCMB last March 14 because the Salcon management continued to recognize their union even if the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has already issued a certification that they are the sole and exclusive bargaining agent of the rank and file employees of the company.
Respect
“The management should respect the law, and should respect our rights”, Iso said.
If the dispute will not be settled, union secretary Noel Tolentino said, the strike will push through after the cooling off period will lapse on April 14.
Rights ignored
Tolentino said that if the strike pushes through, the management should be blamed for ignoring their rights, especially regarding the security of tenure as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Toledo said the issue on security of tenure is important because Salcon of Singapore has already sold all its shares to Filipino investors who changed the name of the company from Salcon Power Corp. to SPC Power Corp.
NCMB 7 Director Edmundo Mirasol told Sun.Star Cebu that his office will do everything to come up with amicable settlement for both parties tomorrow.
Chiong said the operation of the Naga Power Plant Complex should not be hampered by any strike because it may affect the supply of electricity not only to Naga City but to entire Cebu.
The mayor admitted that Salcon is paying taxes to the City Government and has projects in the preservation of the environment.
According to the mayor, SPC and the Korean Electric Power Co. (Kepco) will soon build the 200-megawatt coal-powered plant which can employed about 1,000 people during the construction period. (EOB)
