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Rabbit workers still on strike despite MOA

BAGUIO CITY (Oct. 27) — Members of the Philippine Rabbit Employees Union (PRBEU) vowed to retain their picket lines in spite of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed between the union and the management.

In an attempt to end the seven-month long strike, a MOA was signed on October 22 by Philippine Rabbit Bus Line president Nicholo Paras-Nisce and PRBEU president Alex Bagtong.

“Never again will we be fooled by the treacherous management,” said Bernard Visaya, the union’s executive secretary, expressing doubts on the management’s sincerity after it failed to comply with the first MOA after the first strike in 2002.

“Biased decision”

“We will not lift the picket line because we do not believe in some of the provisions of the second MOA,” the workers said in the vernacular. They mentioned one of the contents of the MOA ordering all workers to be readmitted except for 6 of them who will resume work only in January but will be paid accordingly for the meantime of their daily wages until they get back to work.

Even before the strike was launched, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) ordered an assumption of jurisdiction, also ordering the suspension of 270 workers suspected to join the strike. On October 5, the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) supposedly identified the 13 strike “leaders”. Five of them will be admitted upon the resumption of operations. The other six will be readmitted in January, while the other two will yield to the management’s decision.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)–Cordillera, upon knowing the plight of the PRBL workers, commented that the decision of the NLRC was one-sided and biased for the management.

Other contents

The MOA orders PRBL management to pay the wage differentials based on Wage Orders 6 & 7 in the amount of P 16,124 for every worker. This was however agreed to be paid in an installment basis: 10% will be given upon the resumption of operation, 10% each for the succeeding months of November and December, and the other 50% on February 28, 2005.

Tax refunds for the years 2000 to 2003 will be given in an installment basis also: 50% will be paid on or before January 30, 2005, and the remaining half on or before March 30, 2005.

The retirement pay of workers who wish to avail of the compulsory retirement will be paid upon the resumption of operation until April 2005. The remaining 25% of the 13th month pay for 2003 will be given also upon the resumption, including full back-wages.

The management also said in the MOA that there will be no case or punishment against the strikers, and the management will not interfere in the conduct of elections as it will be determined by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).

However, the workers said that the second MOA is no different from the first MOA signed on December 18, 2002. They also consider it an impossible deal as they already had impressions that the management is not trustworthy as it failed to implement the first agreement.

Proof of incapability

The resumption of operations was set by the MOA on October 22. However, not all workers were absorbed, especially the bus drivers and crew, due to the lack of available buses in good condition as these were stocked for long.

The workers complained that Nisce selected who should report to work, prioritizing casual employees and those who did not participate in the strike. Some of the regular mechanics supposed to be in charge of repairing disabled buses were also not able to report and were told by the management that they can only report three times a month. The management also has the option to send them letter if they will still be needed by PRBL.

Nisce told the workers that the office cannot afford to pay many workers of their wages so they must rehire them a little group at a time, but he is still accepting new and casual employees.

Earlier, PRBEU members here in Baguio expressed dismay over Bagtong’s entry into MOA with Nisce, as they noted loopholes in the said agreement. Their hesitance on the MOA was proved visibly when the workers in Tarlac were disarrayed in the so-called resumption of PRBL operations. However, they did not put all the blame to Bagtong as they still want him to be the union president.

Not yet over

Contrary to reports featured in two national dailies, the seven-month long labor strike is far from over in one of the country’s oldest transport companies.

As far as the PRBEU members in Baguio are concerned, the picket lines will remain until the contents of the MOA are clarified to them and ensured of implementation. Such assurance will be acquired the moment the DoLE itself and Tarlac governor Jose Yap witness the MOA.

The DoLE and the governor will hold the management liable if it doesn’t comply with the provisions of the MOA. They will have the power to give sanctions to the PRBL in case violations on the MOA are committed.

Contradicting statements

In another national daily report, the bus company refielded its buses last Friday to ferry commuters from Metro Manila to Central and Northern Luzon and back basing it to the ruling of the NLRC that the strike is illegal.

The management claimed that the strikers are members of a mere union faction but at the same time acknowledged that it had paralyzed the bus firms’ operations after it went on strike due to the non-implementation of the first MOA. The said strike started on April 3, just a day before Holy Week started and the number of passengers boomed.

To contradict the management’s claim that they are merely a faction, the workers were able to get a certification from DoLE stating that the other union in PRBL, the NLM-Katipunan-PRBEU, was only recognized for the years 1996 to 2001. Since it did not renew its certification nor filed its updated list of members and financial statement in 2002, Bagtong’s PRBEU is clearly not a faction as no other union exists in PRBL.

In a letter by the management to the workers on October 18, it even recognized the present PRBEU. In one of its paragraphs, it read “The PRBEU is a free union that is independent from other unions or organizations and is the duly recognized collective bargaining unit that represents the workers and employees of Philippine Rabbit.”

The union’s entry into the MOA also proves its legitimacy.

A renegotiation to be witnessed by the DoLE representative and Tarlac governor is yet to be scheduled. # Aldwin Quitasol for NORDIS

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