THE Visayan Electric Co. Employees Union (VECEU) received a P200,000 grant under the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) 7’s Workers Income Augmentation Program (Winap).
The grant was approved recently through the assistance of Lilia Estillore, Dole 7’s Labor Relations Division (LRD) head.
The LRD oversees the implementation of projects such as the Winap.
VECEU president Casmero Mahilum made the announcement during a celebration recently.
The formal signing of the Memorandum of Agreement was done at the Dole 7 office.
A memorandum of agreement will soon be signed by the union and the Visayan Electric Co. (Veco) Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Vemco) for a joint venture using the Winap grant.
Proposal
Under the helm of Vemco president Rocky Pardillo, the cooperative helped out the union in preparing the project proposal.
VECEU and Vemco held initial discussions on the joint venture.
Additional details, like the proposed mini grocery within the Veco compound, will be discussed in future meetings.
The project aims to help maintain status quo in the beneficiaries’ lifestyle and ensure their standard of living will not be within the poverty level.
Productivity
It will also ensure that they will not be badly affected by the present economic crises, which may result to low productivity.
Winap, also known as Dagdag-Kabuhayan para sa mga Manggagawa, is a program of Dole aimed at assisting low-income organized and unorganized workers in the formal sector set up and operate their own business or livelihood projects.
Assistance
In a brief on the program, Labor Secretary Arturo D. Brion said the program also seeks to assist employers to finance and provide mentoring, market access and other resources necessary for the operation of the workers’ business or livelihood undertakings.
