Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz yesterday announced that a looming strike of more than 280 teachers and employees of the Wesleyan University in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija was averted after the DOLE’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) conducted a series of conciliation and mediation conferences that settled the worker’s dispute with the school management.
Baldoz, citing a report from NCMB Executive Director Reynaldo Ubaldo, said that through conciliation-mediation, the Wesleyan University management and the Wesleyan University Philippine Faculty and Staff Association (WUPFSP) agreed to settle their dispute which arose from the concerned teacher’s and employee’s money claims based on the provision of their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) covering the periods 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011.
“Part of the settlement was an agreement that both parties will meet on July 18, 2011 to discuss the amount to be distributed to the affected teachers and employees and the scheme of distribution based on the school’s income and cash flow,” Baldoz explained.
“The Office of the Secretary of Labor and Employment will also monitor the manner of payment of the above-mentioned money claims, including the implementation of the agreed cashing program, or the Basic Compensation Scheme provision of the CBA,” she added.
The Wesleyan University’s labor union filed a notice of strike on account of alleged unfair labor practice and violation of some provisions in their CBA on 09 February 2011. Several conciliation conferences were held to convince the parties to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution to their differences, but to no avail.
“The NCMB successfully averted the threat of strike by the teachers and employees by bringing them to the negotiating table to reach an agreement with the management on how their dispute can be settled,” said Baldoz, adding:
“With the settlement of the dispute, industrial peace and harmony has returned to the University that will ensure its unhampered operation.”
Wesleyan University is a Filipino-owned tertiary educational institution that employs 400 employees, 280 of whom are represented for collective bargaining purposes. Labor Attaché Leonida V. Romulo facilitated the settlement.
