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Saturday, August 13, 2005
Sacked telephone operators demand jobs back
By Jenny Molbog-Mendoza
DAVAO CITY -- Officials of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) company's labor union are calling on management to implement a Supreme Court order reinstating 383 employees dismissed by the firm in 2002.
Manggagawa sa Komunikasyon ng Pilipinas (MKP) local external officer for Mindanao Edgar Cadiz said Thursday the posts held by the employees were declared as redundant by the telephone company in 2002.
Hence, Cadiz added, the 383 telephone operators were not among union members told by Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas to return to work after they staged a rally to demand higher wages and benefits in December 2002.
The SC, in a 21-page ruling released last July 14, ordered PLDT to reinstate to their posts the 383 displaced telephone operators.
Of the 383 retrenched employees, 72 were from the Davao City office; 81 from Metro Manila; 45 from Tarlac; 11 from Calamba, Laguna; 14 from Lucena; 36 from Batangas; 19 from Cavite; 15 from Malolos, Bulacan; and 40 from Iloilo.
Among the reasons cited by PLDT in issuing a "notice of separation due to redundancy" to the telephone operators on November 27, 2002 included:
* technological changes where new technologies necessitate reduction in workforce
* position declared redundant due to collapsing/merging of functions where the required number of personnel became less
* process improvement and automation of function, which renders the positions as redundant since the new process or automation requires less personnel;
* and functions or positions that are affected adversely by market forces, thereby necessitating reduction of current workforce to match the reduction of workload.
Davao-based PLDT employees in a discussion with their manager were told that "he cannot do anything in terms of reinstating the affected employees since he has not yet received any decision from the Industrial and Employee Relations in Manila."
The affected employees believe it's just a matter of time before they get their old jobs back.
"Masaya talaga kami sa decision ng Supreme Court (We are very happy with the Supreme Court's decision)," said Nap Pamaran Jr., MKP representative of Davao. But they also know that getting their jobs back will not be easy despite the SC ruling.
"Sa nakikita namin ngayon, parang ayaw ng management na tuparin ang sinasabi ng Supreme Court. Kasi kung meron pa silang gusto, dapat ay matagal na nilang ginawa to think na July pa inilabas ang decision. In fact, 'yung order mismo ng Supreme Court na-publish na sa (Philippine Daily) Inquirer. Lumabas na nga pero deny pa rin ang PLDT na wala silang natatanggap (It seems like the management refused to follow the Supreme Court order. If they really want to do it, they should have done it a long time ago since the decision came out last July. The Supreme Court order was even published in a national paper but they refuse to follow saying they haven't received the order yet)," he said.
The employees recently staged a picket to pressure the management to act on the SC ruling and reinstate all dismissed employees nationwide.
Should the PLDT management fail to recognize the claims of the retrenched employees, the MKP said their 4,000-strong rank-and-file members will not hesitate to launch another nationwide strike, not only in defense of the 383 workers, but in defense of everybody's right to job security and welfare.
(August 13, 2005 issue)
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