Mirant employees seek Napocor assistance on severance package

Some 1,200 employees of Mirant Philippines formally sought the assistance of the National Government, through the National Power Corp. (Napocor), to help them get a fair and just severance package before the Atlanta-based parent firm Mirant Corp. sells its Philippine assets.

In a letter addressed to Napocor president Cyril del Callar, the Mirant employees – from the rank-and-file to top management stationed in Sual in Pangasinan, Pagbilao in Quezon and Pasay City – asked the Napocor official to hear out their sentiment on the matter.

The employees noted that through the years, they have been part of the success of the operation of Mirant in the Philippines. "For the past years we have toiled to deliver over P10 billion in net income to our parent company in Atlanta and we have made Mirant one of the top net income earners in the Philippines. Some of us have been with the company for the last 17 years, building it from scratch transforming it into one of the country’s top profit makers," they said.

Despite assurance from management, the employees claimed their welfare is still under threat. "Our president Jose Leviste Jr. has made assurances in the media that the company has a "generous" severance policy that pays 2.5 months worth of pay for every year of service. He assured employees that we are "protected." Sadly, this holds no water should the new owners take over. Such a statement, is at best misleading and serves the purpose of sending the wrong impression, but leaves us holding an empty bag," they said.

The employees also argued that up to now, there is still no formal assurance that they would be given a just severance package. "There is no written company policy that guarantees such a severance plan. While it had been practiced in the past, these are non-binding on the new owners of the company. Once the new owners of Mirant take over, whoever they may be, it will be easy for them to severe employees and put in place new policies, including watered down severance pay packages. That, admittedly will be their prerogative as new owners," they noted.

According to the employees, the present management should not pass the burden to the new buyers. "There is no ample protection for our years of service to the company. It is our conviction that the present management must not pass the burden of separation to the new owners. It must own up to its responsibilities," they said.

"We have asked our parent company to pay each and every employee 2.5 months worth of pay for every year of service rendered once the sale is completed (consistent with present practice). As the company will change hands and be operated by new owners, our employment with Mirant ends. The sale will easily fetch a price of $2.5 to $3 billion – an amount that will be remitted to the United States, benefiting company shareholders. "Paying the separation of 1,200 workers will cost a little over $20 million. This is but a pittance to the $2.5 to $3 billion expected to be earned by Mirant from the sale and the billions of pesos more it has earned in the past. When it can easily pay its credit advisor, New York-based Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) the hefty sum of $22 million for handling the sale process and other foreign consultants millions of dollars more, it eludes us why it cannot give just payments to 1,200 Filipino workers who have worked hard to make the company a top profit-maker," the employees said.

The employees also said they would be willing to sign a transition contract to work for the new owners for at least three to six months or whatever period to be agreed upon for a smooth transition after the sale and payment of their separation to make sure that business operations will be unhampered.

"The new owners will then have the prerogative to re-organize the company, and hire whoever it wants and let go of those whose services may no longer be needed. Those to be re-hired will start from a clean slate and those who will be let go, will at least have their years of service protected with just separation payments," the employees said.