THE Carmen Copper Corp. (Carmen Copper) and the Carmen Copper Workers’ Labor Organization (CCWLO) won another Outstanding Grievance Machinery for Industrial Peace Award for maintaining harmonious labor-management relations and implementing best practices in resolving workplace grievances.
The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) and the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) gave the award on Nov. 21, 2019, during the 21st National Convention on Labor-Management Cooperation held in Cagayan de Oro City.
Carmen Copper was also the national winner in 2017.
The award is given by the Dole and the NCMB every two years to deserving companies in recognition of the labor and management’s efforts in resolving issues at the company level, thereby promoting company efficiency, employee productivity, competitiveness and overall industrial peace.
Carmen Copper is an organized establishment with over 2,400 employees, and 78 percent of its manpower are members of the union. CCWLO is Carmen Copper’s sole and exclusive bargaining agent.
Industrial peace
Since the five-year collective bargaining agreement with CCWLO was signed in January 2015, Carmen Copper has sustained industrial peace. There were neither strikes nor lock-outs as both parties maintained open communication to ensure immediate resolution of grievances.
In the last three years, 95 percent of employee offenses have been resolved at the plant level.
Carmen Copper ensures that substantive and procedural due process is always observed, and the investigative bodies are impartial in resolving cases.
“The grievance management system has resulted in the employee’s changing of behavior as the fair and swift resolution of cases at the plant level has sent a clear signal that the grievance committee is serious in improving discipline among our employees,” said Carmen Copper assistant vice president for human resource Valentino M. Dones.
Recognizing the employees as its core assets, Carmen Copper promotes employee development by ensuring that their talents are continuously upgraded through trainings and other opportunities for growth.
Carmen Copper also gives utmost importance to the safety and health of all employees. The company upholds the highest standards of occupational health and safety as demonstrated by its TUV Rheinland certification on the British Standard for Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (BS OHSAS 18001:2007).
The mining firm was recently cited for Most Improved Safety Performance for achieving the highest improvement in safety and health programs implementation and accident statistics by the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.