Bank employees seek forum

MANILA, Philippines - The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) is calling for an industry-wide forum under the auspices of the Banking Industry Tripartite Council (BITC) in the light of the Asean integration. NUBE will push for discussion and evaluation of recommendations of the BITC Labor Group, including: involvement of workers in design and implementation of industrial adjustments; cooperation between company and educational/tech-voc institutions in upgrading and re-skilling programs; making retrenchment the last, not the first, option; wider use of labor-management councils; put in place a program to ease pains of displaced workers and facilitating transfer to new jobs; collective bargaining based on mutual gains; and respect for labor rights in seeking business flexibility under globalization.