Salcon workers set strike voting today

CEBU, Philippines - Salcon Power Corporation union whose company is supplying 208 megawatts to the National Power Grid Corporation will be holding a strike voting today at their plant in the town of Naga.

SPC union president Gaudioso Iso told The FREEMAN that the strike voting will start at 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the SPC chapel.

Iso said that they have 113 union members who are expected to vote “yes” which means a “yes to strike”. Majority of the members are from the maintenance and operations department.

On the part of the management, they are urging that it is “better to have a dialogue to come up with a win-win solution.”

Concerned employees likewise are worried about the planned strike, as they might lose their chances of getting additional monthly benefits.

Iso said that once they go on strike, power supply will be affecting the already tight supply especially in Cebu.

Iso however emphasized that this is not a blackmail considering that they have resorted to several negotiations and mediations with the management before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board but to no avail.

The union has filed a notice of strike early this year; in spite of the request made by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to lift the strike, the union maintained its stand that it will only do so if the management will heed its demands.

Among the demands of the union under their proposed Collective Bargaining Agreement is a salary increase of 20 percent for the first year, another 18 percent increase in the second year and another 16 percent increase in the third year. – Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/MEEV   (THE FREEMAN)