IF ONLY the management of the Korean Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) plant in the City of Naga, southern Cebu recognized the Kepco Cebu Employees Association-Workers Solidarity Network (KCEA-WSN) as its official union organization, then the group will cancel its plan to conduct a labor strike against the Kepco management.
This according to WSN federation officer Dennis Derige in an interview with SunStar Cebu on Thursday, March 2, 2023, after majority of KCEA-WSN’s members agreed to hold a labor strike that could possibly cripple the power plant’s operations and cause a massive power disruption in Cebu.
Derige said if the strike pushes through, it could affect Kepco’s operations and could affect households across the provinces of Cebu and Negros Oriental.
Kepco, whose plant is operating in Barangay Colon, City of Naga, produces 200 megawatts of power from coal. They also supply power to the Visayas grid.
Derige has high hopes that the Korean management of Kepco will declare KCEA-WSN as their only collective bargaining agent and renegotiate the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for five years.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), a CBA pertains to the “contract executed upon request of either the employer or the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees incorporating the agreement reached after negotiations with respect to wages, hours of work and all other terms and conditions of employment, including proposals for adjusting any grievances or questions under such agreement.”
Derige explained they were supposed to craft a new CBA as their current one was set to expire in June 2021; however, they failed to do so due to the imposed health protocols brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
They were able to craft a new CBA by July of that year, but it was reportedly denied by Kepco’s management. The management also wanted to initiate another certification election in order to establish a new union.
However, Derige claimed that Kepco’s management failed to conduct a certification election just 60 days before the expiration of KCEA-WSN’s CBA.
Derige added that according to labor laws, KCEA-WSN has the right to remain as Kepco’s sole collective bargaining agent since no other union organization had challenged them since the expiration of the five-year CBA.
Derige added that Kepco filed petitions before Dole’s Central Visayas office and at their Central Office in Manila to question the validity of KCEA-WSN’s proposed CBA.
But both regional and central offices favored KCEA-WSN in both petitions, he added.
Currently, details regarding the planned labor strike are being withheld by the KCEA-WSN.
Derige said that after the seven-day cooling-off period, the strike will push forward if both parties are unable to reach a settlement.
He hinted that the strike may happen in the upcoming weeks.
Under the cooling-off period rule, Dole 7 has to convene both parties to settle amicably.
On Wednesday, March 1, Derige said Dole 7 officials met with representatives of the KCEA-WSN to raise their demands to the Kepco management.
Meanwhile, Kepco’s management sought the help of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board on Thursday afternoon, March 2, to discuss matters concerning KCEA-WSN’s plan to strike.
A Kepco official said they will not issue a statement yet on the matter. (EKV)