Bank management refutes union busting accusation

The management of the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) refuted the accusation of the BPI Cebu Independent Union that the termination of its union president from the company was an act of union busting, in violation of the labor laws.

BPI lawyer Jefferson Marquez told The Freeman that union president Milbert John Dacayana has been investigated for a serious cause before the union filed its first Notice of Strike on November 29, 2007.

The basis of the union’s notice was unfair labor practice (ULP) that the company allegedly committed when it extended banking hours without consulting first the employees.

Dacayana, a teller at Lahug branch, was terminated based on a violation against a fellow employee that he committed on October 31, 2007, or a month before the notice of strike, said Marquez.

On December 28, 2007, the company ordered Dacayana to present his side of the case but he failed to submit an explanation. On January 30, the company called him again to an administrative investigation but he failed to attend, said Marquez. This prompted the company to have him terminated on February 4, 2008.

“We gave him due process, we even gave him special treatment for not placing him under preventive suspension because of the fact that he is president of union,” Marquez said, as he clarified that Dacayana’s termination was not in any way connected to the dispute between the company and the union.

Last April 8, the union filed its second Notice of Strike, and this time it had two bases: ULP and union busting, citing the termination of Dacayana. In the resulting strike vote—needed when the allegation is union busting—78 out of 127 union members voted yes for the holding of a strike. This means that the union may conduct a strike this Friday, April 24.

Tomorrow, however, a conference between labor and management will be held at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board hoping to avert the strike. Marquez said that if nothing positive will come out of the meeting, the NCMB might ask the Department of Labor to issue an assumption order and stop the strike over a certain period. — Ferliza C. Contratista/RAE