Illegally fired cabbies reinstated to work

CEBU, Philippines - Officers and members of the Airport Taxi Workers Union illegally dismissed two years ago by the management of Cebu City Airport Taxi Operators Inc. has won their hard-fought legal battle after the National Labor Relations Commission issued and served the writ of execution for the immediate reinstatement of 15 former taxi driver-employees.

NLRC-Regional Arbitration Branch 7 sheriff Eddie Mondano led the serving of Writ of Execution yesterday morning at the head office of CCATOI in UN Avenue, Mandaue City. He was accompanied by the taxi drivers to be reinstated together with support groups from Partido ng Manggagawa, Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and Labor coalition NAGKAISA.

Partido ng Manggagawa Coalition spokesman Dennis Derige said Mondano also talked over the phone to CCATOI general manager Mayo Perez and legal counsel Felix Chan and asked if they would honor the court’s order.

Derige said both had no categorical answer to the question prompting the sheriff to file a report of non-compliance by the respondent to the court’s order.

The said case was penned by Labor Arbiter Jovito Kintanar of NLRC-RAB 7 last April.

Derige said that since then, there was neither appeal nor motion for reconsideration filed by the management of CCATOI which prompted the NLRC to issue a writ for the execution of the said decision to reinstate its former drivers.

CCATOI President Richard Cabucos said in a separate interview that they will be filing a motion for reconsideration on this issue.

The union, on the other hand, is planning to press more charges and bigger protests in the coming days.

ATWU secretary Leo Bucado said their case is a big test for our labor justice system.  Bucado said that they will press charges of contempt, of cases criminal in nature, of payment for backwages and payroll reinstatement, without losing our immediate goal of getting back our work.

Meanwhile, Labor Coalition NAGKAISA expresses its support for the drivers.

Ferdinand “Cocoy” Jumapao of ALU-TUCP said that they will call for a meeting of NAGKAISA to plan for a bigger mass action against CCATOI and teach the company a lesson.  –(FREEMAN)