Mirant employees want US parent to pay their severance package

The Filipino employees of Mirant Philippines Corp. are now asking their US-based parent company to pay their severance package to provide the new management taking over the local unit an option to terminate or rehire employees.

The employees made this move after Mirant management argued that some of their workers have asked the Labor Department to compel the company to pay them their separation pay and still keep them employed.

But the employees said management’s claim that they want to be paid separation packages and still keep their jobs is a clear misrepresentation of the facts.

"What employees want, as expressed to the DOLE, is for their years of service to be protected by being paid severance packages in accordance with company policy," the Mirant employees said.

During the recent hearing at the Labor Department, the employees allegedly said there should be no diminution of their present benefits during their continued employment.

"Whether we will be fired or rehired will then be the new management’s prerogative which we will respect," the employees said.

"It is not our position to be given severance pay and insist on keeping our jobs. This severance pay will only secure our years of service and give the new owners the latitude to exercise their management prerogative over the company," the employees added.

"The separation package of Mirant Philippines, while substantial, is by no means head and shoulders above industry standards as management would like to claim. At best, it is standard industry practice," the employees said.

"What we are asking for pales in comparison to the $34 million bonus that 125 employees of the Mirant Corp. in Atlanta will be getting as a result of the sale of the Philippine assets. These US employees will not even be separated yet they will be receiving a hefty bonus from the sale of a company which we have made profitable throughout the years," the employees pointed out.