Thursday, March 13, 2008 Board mediates in rift between port workers, operator By Victor L. Camion
THE National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB)-Central Visayas intervened Wednesday in the conflict between the new cargo-handling operator and workers in the port of Dumaguete City.
NCMB Regional Director Edmundo Mirasol said his office is trying to reconcile the conflicting parties.
Mirasol, who also hails from Dumaguete City, admitted that his office is not authorized to come up with a resolution on the conflict.
He is however hoping that port workers affiliated with the Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and the Prudential Customs Brokerage Services, Inc. (PCBSI) management will reach a win-win solution at his level.
Mirasol said the union, represented by ALU-TUCP provincial coordinator Felizardo Calimpong, had filed a notice of strike late last week.
Calimpong, in a separate interview, said the union is open to conciliation.
Lawyer Joel Obar, counsel for PCBSI, said management also welcomes the mediation.
Obar described Calimpong as a professional who respects the rule of law.
Over a hundred port workers are protesting PCBSI's takeover of Dumaguete City port operations at past midnight Tuesday.
There was heightened tension when stevedoring and arrastre workers tried to block the personnel of PCBSI from coming into the port area.
Guards on duty armed only with nightsticks called for police assistance after they were stoned by striking workers.
"I am thankful to Feling (Calimpong) for pacifying the emotion of his members," said Obar in Cebuano, adding that management understood the workers' feeling.
The new port management refused to absorb all union members into its workforce.
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), through newly installed port manager Renato Titulenero, turned over cargo port operations to PCBSI on Tuesday. The firm won the bid to handle cargo operations at the Dumaguete port way back in 2006.
