Industrial Relations

WORKERS will have nine long weekends this year under Proclamation 1841, which lists all the regular and special holidays for 2010.

MANILA, Philippines—A Greek court directed the owner of MV Aetea Sierra to pay higher salaries to its crew that includes 12 Filipinos, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement Monday.

The Supreme Court has ruled that intra-corporate disputes are not within the authority of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) to decide on but subject to the jurisdiction of the regular courts. The Supreme Court Second Division, in a decision written by Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, affirmed an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeals…

The militant Kilusang Mayo Uno yesterday condemned officials of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) for spending P26.8 million for “entertainment” in 2008, as revealed recently by the Commission on Audit (CoA), saying the practice of charging lavish meals against public funds was “far from entertaining.”

CEBU, Philippines – The Supreme Court has upheld the decisions of the National Labor Relations Commission and the Court of Appeals against a taxi operator, Hilario Ramirez, who was ordered to pay the salary differential and 13th month of his mechanic.

PETER Drucker (1909 to 2005), the famous American management guru was vocal about the distinction between efficiency and effectiveness when he told us that “efficiency is doing the job right, effectiveness is doing the right job.”

For much of the 1990s and the first half of the present decade, many developing countries seeking integration into the global economy adopted the type of market-oriented measures pushed forward by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Much has been written about the impact of these measures (known as the Washington Consensus) on…

MANILA, Philippines – The workers’ union of the newly created Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the agency from appoint newly-hired consultants and outsiders into plantilla positions supposed to be given to former employees of the Air Transportation Office (ATO).

MANILA, Philippines – A Lebanese employer was convicted for abusing a Filipino domestic worker, the first conviction for employee abuse in the Middle Eastern country, the Philippine embassy in Beirut reported. Fayrouz Farez was sentenced on Dec. 9 to 15 days imprisonment and ordered to pay $34 in court fines, and $7,200 in compensation to…

A Lebanese was convicted of beating up a Filipino domestic helper in 2006, the first in the history of Lebanon. Fayrouz Farez was sentenced last Dec. 9 by a Lebanese court to 15 days in prison for beating up Jonalyn Malibago, 29, a native of Quirino province.

MANILA, Philippines – About 1,000 workers might lose their jobs this Christmas if the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) allows a Malaysian-backed company to take over the operations of the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC).

THE Supreme Court has ordered state-run National Power Corp.’s top officials to explain why they should not be held in contempt for ignoring its order to compensate 5,648 of its employees who were dismissed in 2003.

An illegally dismissed employee is entitled to reinstatement as a matter of right. But if the relation between employer and employee is already strained, it is more prudent to order the payment of separation pay in lieu of reinstatement. This case of Rey explains the meaning of “strained relations”.

The Constitution says that “the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved” (Art. III of Section 14(2). This is a time honored principle recognized in every civilized, fair and just society. It is a recognition of the inherent goodness in every man.

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga: Negotiations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the estate-owned Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and Clark Mimosa Employees Association have been concluded. The CDC Special Project for Resort Operation (CDC-SPRO) announced on Wednesday the “successful” conclusion of the CBA after the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on December 1.

MARIVELES, Bataan: More than 1,000 factory workers of a Korean firm at the Bataan Economic Zone here on Wednesday expressed fear of losing their job if Adidas will not extend its management contract and put in more orders.

MARIVELES, Bataan—The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said representatives of the Philippine Export Zone Authority (Peza) are currently working out a way to keep local shoe-manufacturer SS Ventures International Inc. (SSVII) from shutting operations by year-end by finding another major client.

CEBU, Philippines – The administration candidates, presidential aspirant Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro and his running mate actor Edu Manzano yesterday assured the officials of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines that their platform of government will include the issues concerning the workers.

Social Security System (SSS) President and Chief Executive Officer Romulo Neri recently said that the SSS would like to ask Congress to find ways to increase the contribution of members, in order to expand services and secure the financial stability of the fund.

MANILA, Philippines – Employees will be receiving their bonus on top of their 13th month pay this year as local firms report full recovery from the global financial crisis, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of ILO Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining. While much has changed since the Convention was adopted in 1949, collective bargaining remains a fundamental right, an important tool to improve incomes and working conditions, and advance social justice. ILO Online spoke with Susan Hayter,…

MANILA, Philippines – Police filed criminal charges against the kidnappers of two Chinese working in a plywood factory who remain in captivity in Basilan.

In illegal dismissal cases, one of the employer’s usual defenses is that there is no dismissal but that the employee abandoned his job. This is illustrated in this case of Willy, the owner of a moviehouse who even advanced the argument that his burden of proving the validity of the dismissal of his employee only…

The protracted standoff between Customs, immigration and quarantine personnel at Naia and Mactan International Airport on one hand and the Board of Airline Representatives on the other over the issue of overtime pay may come to a head sooner than expected. Airlines, both domestic and foreign, still refuse to cover these employees’ overtime pay despite…

VICTIMS SAY NOYNOY’S SECURITY AIDE HAD SHOT THEM Workers of Hacienda Luisita are seeking the reopening of the House of Representatives’ investigation into the frustrated murder case of three farm hands of the sprawling Tarlac estate after the victims’ co-workers yesterday said they were willing to testify that it was a security aide of Sen.…

WE hear it loud and clear, if not read it more than 1,953 times from annual reports and mission statements. I’m referring of course to the trite phrase “our people are the most important asset of the organization.”

SENATOR Benigno Aquino III yesterday denied that the family-owned Hacienda Luisita is poised to evict 5,000 “illegal” farmers and assailed leftist groups for using the issue against him now that he is running for president.

Can ordinary courts assume jurisdiction over a dispute concerning the terms and conditions of employment under a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)? This is the question resolved in this case of Patty and several other female flight attendants-labor union members in an airline company (PAL).

The Supreme Court has granted in part a petition of female   flight attendants of the country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) seeking to remove a gender bias provision in their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that sets the retirement age for women five years earlier than that for their male counterparts.

ILOILO CITY—A confederation of government workers and the supplier of overpriced training equipment of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) have scored the agency’s findings that pinned the blame on 14 employees and the supplier but virtually exonerated the director-general, Augusto Syjuco.