By LITO RULONA
Correspondent
AN executive of the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. (Cepalco) yesterday said there was no reason for members of the company’s labor union to go on strike given the benefits the workers have been receiving all these years. Marilyn Chavez, Cepalco senior manager and community relations department head, said this after the labor union threatened to go on strike following a deadlock in negotiations for a fresh collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Aside from above-the-board salaries, the Cepalco workers were also entitled to many perks. This, according to Chavez, is enough to give workers no reason to go on strike.
Chavez said the workers were enjoying salaries in compliance with the country’s labor law, and about 38 percent of them were receiving salaries of at least P30 thousand or more.
She said the workers were enjoying rice and 400-kilowatthour electric consumption allowances, and Cepalco also approved medical allowances.
Other perks include mid-year bonuses, Christmas bonuses, Christmas cash gifts, and the 14th month pay. She said the Cepalco workers were receiving more benefits compared to their counterparts in other areas in the region. The benefits, according to Chavez, depend on the workers’ length of service but she reiterated the basic salaries of Cepalco’s rank-and-file employees were above average.
“Sobra na kaayo ang among gihatag ngadto kanila,” Chavez said. Last week, the 170-member strong union filed a notice of strike after their negotiations for a new CBA reached an impasse. Nicandro Borja, northern Mindanao vice president of the Alliance of Labor Union-Trade Congress Union of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), said the union has been asking for the following:
• profit shares for every employee at the end of every fiscal year;
• P2,400-increase in employees’ monthly salaries;
• additional Christmas bonus;
• inclusion of family members of employees in hospitalization benefits; and
• signing bonus upon approval of the new CBA.
Borja said the Cepalco management rejected the union’s demands but offered a P1,600-increase in the employees’ salaries.
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