NCMB averts strike at mining firm 

The threat by the 600-strong Lepanto Employees Union - NAFLU-KMU to paralyze the operations of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation, one of the biggest mining companies in the country, fizzled out following successful conciliation-mediation efforts of the NCMB regional branch in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz announced today. 

Citing a report from NCMB OIC and Usec for Labor Relations Hans Leo J. Cacdac, Baldoz said the parties signed a memorandum of agreement on October 15, 2011, to put an end to their brewing labor dispute. The union filed a notice of strike on September 9, 2011 invoking bargaining deadlock, particularly on wage increase. 

Some 600 workers stand to benefit from the agreement, worth P18.8M spread over three years, Baldoz further said. NCMB CAR OIC Director Brenda Rose C. Odsey facilitated the settlement.  

With the agreement, the company is spared from the adverse effects of a work stoppage and is assured of continued industrial peace and stability. 

The case at Lepanto Mining is just one of the many cases successfully resolved by the NCMB during the month.  

On October 12, 2011, RCMB IV-A Director Noli S. Diega succeeded in convincing the management and union representatives of Pigmentex Inc.,  a chemical manufacturing company based in Cavite, to sign a memorandum of agreement that ended the impasse in their bargaining negotiations. 

Pigmentex Labor Union-PTGWO-TUCP filed on September 5, 2011 a notice of strike alleging deadlock in collective bargaining, specifically wage increase and allowances.    

The agreement resulted in the grant of P11.4 M in CBA economic package spread over three years, benefiting some 43 union members. 

Baldoz further said that on October 11, 2011, Conciliator-Mediator Ma. Teresita L. Cancio of RCMB III succeeded in convincing Stronghold Steel Corporation Labor Union not to take its issue against Stronghold Steel Corporation to the picket lines. 

Cancio instead managed to persuade the parties into signing an agreement, effectively ending their dispute and ensuring industrial harmony in the company. 

The parties agreed to a separation package worth P17.5 M for 168 union members. 

 “One notes that in all three disputes, the threat of a strike was very imminent,” Baldoz observes.  

“The unions in the first two cases are affiliates of two of the biggest and most active trade union centers in the country, which could have carried the fight for their locals if conciliation failed. The issue in the third case involves separation from employment of a large number of union members. Again, this could easily be a ground for a work stoppage,” she added. 

She lauded the extra efforts of the NCMB in facilitating the settlement of the three disputes. 

 “We salute the men and women of the NCMB who have been exerting their best efforts in exploring every possible means to effect amicable settlement to every case they handle,” she said. 

“This is the reason why we now have 11,484 happy and contented workers who benefited from the more than P4.1 B in monetary benefits facilitated from case settlements from January to October 15, 2011,” she said further. 

She specifically mentioned the case of the International Wiring Systems Philippines Corporation (IWSPC), a Japanese company engaged in the manufacture of wiring harness that operates at the Luisita Industrial Park in Tarlac. 

RCMB III Director Darrow P. Odsey facilitated, in September 2011, what could be the biggest settlement package in a single case when he persuaded the union and management representatives of IWSPC to agree to a P2.8 B CBA package benefiting some 3,276 workers. 

END