PETRON WORKERS TO START GETTING BENEFITS FROM P600M CBA

PETRON WORKERS TO START GETTING BENEFITS FROM P600M CBA

Labor Dispute Ends and Potential Crippling Strike Prevented

The rank and file employees of the Petron Corporation – Bataan Refinery are expected to start receiving the benefits from the recently concluded Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the company and the Petron Bataan Refinery Union of the Philippines (BRUP) – Philippine Trade and General Workers Organization (PTGWO).

“We are very glad that after 8 months of tense negotiations, more than 20 meetings at the plant level and another 20 conferences at the various branches of the DOLE - National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), and most important, the abated potential crippling strike, the CBA was concluded, signed and ratified by the almost 600 union members.

“We would soon get our first paychecks under the new CBA. Now it is time for us to go back to work, work even harder, so that we would be able to reciprocate the understanding and generosity which was extended by our company Chairman Ramon S. Ang, our President Lubin Nepomuceno, and the rest of our company management.”, stated Engr. Alexander Chan, Union President of the Petron BRUP – PTGWO.

It is not only the union members who are delighted over the conclusion of the CBA, which granted the employees a total wage increase of P20,800 over a period of 5 years. Apparently, the management was likewise very satisfied that for the same period, industrial peace is guaranteed for the giant petroleum company, which is expected to commence operations for its multi-million dollar and highly sophisticated second refinery.

“During the signing, the management of our company, while having been generous with the approval of the P4,000; P3,700; P4,300; P4,300 and P4,500 annual increases, the 2-month salary signing bonus, and all the other benefits in the CBA, still expressed their sincerest thanks over the peaceful conclusion of the CBA negotiations.”, continued Chan.  

The CBA negotiations almost had a disastrous end. The union, which was represented by Chan and other officers Israel Martin, Enrico Carreon, Mark Corpin, Abelardo Dapat, Marc Bagtas, Gerald Medina and Hanz Fondevilla filed a Notice of Strike with the NCMB-DOLE Region 3 after a negotiations deadlock ensued. 

“The management made an offer which was almost half of what the union received in the previous CBA cycle. Then they refused to budge from this offer. After several more meetings, we were forced to declare a deadlock and recommend for the union to utilize its weapon of last resort, which was to stage a strike.”, narrated Atty. Hernan G. Nicdao  counsel of the BRUP and National Secretary of the PTGWO, to which the BRUP is affiliated.

The PTGWO is one of, if not, the biggest federation of labor unions in the country today. A beacon of responsible trade unionism, the 60-year old federation counts among its affiliates, unions in the Petron Pandacan Depot, San Miguel Beer and other SMC companies, Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines, Maynilad, Manila Water, Security Bank, Meralco Industrial, Meralco Builders, Steel Corporation of the Philippines, and around a hundred other labor unions all over the country. Its former National Secretary, Atty. Arnel Z. Dolendo recently ascended to its presidency following the untimely demise of its former President, former SSS Commissioner and OWWA Trustee, Victorino Balais.     

After the filing of the Notice of Strike, DOLE NCMB immediately took cognizance of the issue. However, with barely 2 hearings, the Petron Management filed a Petition for Assumption of Jurisdiction by the Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. The petition argued that as the union members unanimously approved the strike vote, a strike would be imminent. It alleged that a crippling strike on the Petron Refinery, an industry indispensable to the national interest, would adversely affect the country’s economy.

“If the petition were granted, the strike would have been ordered to be prevented, even if the union has not even staged any preliminary move to actually conduct it. Still, the BRUP-PTGWO never blinked. We did not even bother to file a comment or opposition to the management’s petition. From the beginning, we were very confident that Secretary Baldoz would never arbitrarily grant a petition that would shackle the fundamental rights of our workers to collective bargaining and concerted action, even the right to strike.”, noted PTGWO President Atty. Dolendo.

Instead of issuing an Assumption of Jurisdiction Order, the DOLE proceeded with the tedious process of mediating between the parties. The DOLE-NCMB team, led by Usec Rebecca Chatto, NCMB Executive Director Reynaldo Ubaldo, Directors Tess Cancio and Jay Javines, took turns in presiding over heated mediation conferences in the NCMB Main, Quezin City and Region 3 Offices, and even at the Office of the DOLE Secretary.

“Our patience soon paid off. We promised that the union shall not engage into any concerted activity that would prejudice a peaceful settlement of the labor dispute. We guaranteed that we would not go on strike as long as the management would break the deadlock and give a reasonable offer for the employees.

The result was the P600 Million CBA package, which is refuted to be the country’s biggest CBA package of all time. And, it was a win-win situation, not merely for Petron and the union member-employees, but also with the DOLE as an institution and the country as a whole.”, concluded Dolendo.