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Lepanto labor dispute, far from over

Picketlines remain intact

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet (June 23) — The labor dispute at the Lepanto Mines in Mankayan town is far from over even after the third multipartite negotiations with Benguet Gov. Borromeo Melchor, the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) at the governor’s office on June 23.

The picketlines remain intact despite open ingress and egress and workers remain steadfast not to return to work, defying an earlier Return to Work Order by DoLE Usec. Manuel Imson.

LEU Spokesperson and Auditor Ronald Maslian said, “Saan pay a nalpas ti negosasyon,” (The negotiations are far from over) after the union and management arrived at tactical agreements here.

While leaders of the Lepanto Employees Union (LEU) and the management of the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMCo) agreed to adhere to some points already agreed upon at the second negotiation in Mankayan on June 21, there were no talks yet on the issues for which the strike was launched.

Tactical agreements

In a joint manifestation, the parties specifically agreed to open Gate 1, Gate 3, Gate 4, Tubo, Nayak and Buaki for union officers to freely consult and coordinate with their members, subject to usual security procedures. They also agreed that management is free to convince workers to return to work while the union will also have the freedom to persuade workers not to enter the workplace. Likewise, there will be a status quo at the picket lines and that the parties shall not use any intimidation, harassment or misrepresentation in convincing union members relating to the issues involved.

Ninian Lang-agan, LEU president, asked that a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) be drawn between the union and the company before going back to the negotiation on wages and deadlock issues. He said, there should be an atmosphere of peace when the negotiations resume and the labor dispute finally settled.

Defying DoLE

DoLE Regional Dir. Jalilo de la Torre at the opening of today’s negotiations, offered to submit to voluntary arbitration the termination of 75 LEU members including its officers and be reinstated in the payroll. Since the multipartite body did not agree, De la Torre asked them to submit their respective positions until 5:00 P.M. on June 24. He said, however, that the DoLE secretary’s order has settled the issue on wages on June 9. DoLE Sec. Patricia Sto. Tomas ordered P25-P27-P29 against LEU’s P29-P29-P33 and Lepanto’s P21-P26-P28.

LEU rejected the proposed wage settlement and defied DoLE’s return to work order. In a proposed MOA read by the union’s legal counsel, LEU demanded, among others, that management consider, recall or withdraw the notice of termination it issued on June 11 and that Lepanto consider all members reinstated while negotiation on the increase in wages and other benefits is ongoing. The officers said they would not report for work unless management assured them that no retaliatory action would be imposed against them and their members.

LEU also assailed Lepanto’s move at hiring new workers while the union is on strike and negotiations are underway. Lepanto allegedly announced that it needed miners and reportedly, recruits Philex retrenched workers into its workforce.

LCMCo position

The Lepanto representatives, Legal Counsel Atty. Weldy Manlong and Asst. Resident Manager Ernesto Laoagan did not want to reinstate the dismissed strikers and wanted them to “pay for the consequences of their action” by filing cases in appropriate courts. They also demanded the lifting of the strike.

DoLE’s De la Torre, however, said that the legality of the strike might be threshed out in another forum, reminding Lepanto that National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) has its hands full with thousands of labor cases up for settlement. He said it would take a long time before it could decide on the cases. He convinced management to soften its position.

The union wants an assurance that issues are settled with finality on the negotiating table and asked that the Chief Operating Officer (CEO) or the President of the Company with the negotiating panel is in attendance.

Company representatives in the negotiation said that they still had to consult the chairman and members of the Board on the issue.

Laoagan appealed to the workers to lift the strike and return to work so Lepanto could pay its obligations. He said the National Power Corporation (NPC) has served its statement of account for unpaid electric bills.

Maslian challenged DoLE officials to visit the picket lines even as De la Torre has agreed to take the issues directly to the general membership of the union and the owners of the company. He said LCMCo is on a black propaganda blitz informing workers that the negotiations are over and convincing them to return to work.

In a press conference earlier, LEU officials vowed to go on with the strike until their demands are met. Officers told the media that they have enough bases for the strike. They also condemned the dispersals of three barricades by elements of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Dispersals at dawn

The labor dispute has heightened in Lepanto with the brutal dispersal carried out by the Philippine National Police (PNP) under Col. Ernesto Gaab and company security or the Reaction Force under Col. Wilhelm Doromal in the Tubo and Nayak picket lines. Most of the dispersals, which took place on June 18, 20, and 21, were carried out in the dark hours of dawn.

Fact sheets prepared by the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)-Cordillera report that on June 18 at 3 P.M. two miners, Mauricio Cadangen and Lolito Onio, were injured when workers barricaded a portion of the Tubo gate which was forced open by company security to unload supplies atop a 6-wheeler truck. The miners blocked the said opening when Doromal struck Cadangen in the wrist with a rattan stick. Onio was hit in the right knee by Doromal’s men.

On June 20, at 2:30A.M., workers blocked the PNP, which was escorting a company truck towards the Nayak picket line. KMU reports that the police started pushing the picketers, and attempted to handcuff miner Artemio Tictic. He was hit in the hand with the handcuffs and kicked. After the scuffle, another miner, Denver Tictic, reported that his cellphone was stolen. Luvina Tictic, who tried to pacify the policemen, was hit with a rattan stick in the right arm.

The following day at 4 p.m., some 200 PNP elements, armed with M-16s and M-14s, gathered around the picketers at the Tubo gate and started dismantling the picket area. Makeshift tents, banners, and kitchen utensils were confiscated. Prescilla Dilem of Timpuyog dagiti Babbai iti Minasan ti Lepanto (TBML) said that one of the policemen attempted to empty one sack of rice into the ground. Other food supplies were scattered, she added. The miners’ wives have been helping man the shift since the strike took off on June 2.

The victims filed complaints at the municipal hall. Union officers condemned the manner by which the dispersal was done.

“They were fully armed when they overtook the picketlines, and they dispersed the workers at dawn. That was simply violence,” said Maslian. He added that by doing such, the PNP made it clear that it is siding with the company.

Solid union, frantic management

In a radio interview this week, Mankayan-based police said that they have been maintaining peace and order in the picket lines. Lang-agan countered this, stressing that the PNP can afford to fabricate the truth.

“They have guns, that is why they can afford to lie about the situation. The workers, on the other hand, are not at all armed. And we only tell the truth”, he explained. Lang-agan further stated that ongoing strike is has nothing to do with the other organizations or individuals but the LEU. He added that the union sought the assistance of the KMU, contrary to company claims that KMU has influenced the union.

“Tumultulong laeng ti KMU kadakami. Nasayaat pay ketdi ta adda da a tumulong. Isuda metlaeng ti timmulong kadakami idi 2003,” (It is even a good thing to have KMU assist us with these circumstances. They also helped us in the 2003 strike) he said.

The union leader said that the workers are determined to stay on strike and paralyze mining operations until their demands are heeded.

“No amount of intimidation by the management will make us budge,” he said.

Management has filed criminal charges against the union, Maslian said, and has been claiming that some 80% of the workforce has reported back to work.

“That is only a threat. And if it were true that they intend to close the mines if we don’t return to work, that is also impossible since they have already applied for expansion operations. Investors are already on the way,” he said.

On June 23, while union officers dialogued with Melchor, the NCMB, DoLE, and company representatives, Doromal and his men went to the picket lines announcing that the negotiation was over and that union officers had already given in to management. The workers did not believe this, NORDIS sources in Lepanto claim.

Management distributed an open letter to the four picket lines on June 23, accusing union officers of misinforming the members, even questioning their leadership.

Lang-agan explained that the company is keen on breaking up the union so that negotiations will not have to take place.

A KMU press release also on June 23 reports that management continues to hold meetings at the Carlos Palanca Jr. hall, persuading miners’ wives to convince their husbands to return to work.

Junita Farrong of TBML however stressed that the miners’ families will continue to support the workers until all demands are addressed. “Sisasagana kami nga ituloy daytoy strike,” (We are determined to continue with the strike) she said. # Lyn V. Ramo and AT Bengwayan for NORDIS, with reports from Aldwin Quitasol

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