Kepco strike to greet APEC

CEBU, Philippines - The planned strike of the supervisors and rank and file unions of Kepco-Salcon Power Corporation in Naga City will push through on August 22, the day the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings will start here.

“We have decided to hold the strike on August 22. Go na na,” confirmed Dennis Derige, spokesperson of Partido ng Mangagawa-Cebu, who has been assisting the two unions.

Derige said considering majority of the union members belong to the operations department, power interruption or rotational brownouts may be expected like the time KSPC shut down for four days when its crusher building caught fire last May.

“Mao gyud na ang mahitabo inug strike namo. Naa gyud rotational brownouts and we are seeing this scenario one to two days after the start of our strike,” Derige said.

Engr. Rey Maleza, supervisor of the Energy Industry Management Division of the Department of Energy – 7 said the contingency plans submitted by the power plant management assured this will not happen.

“If ever modayon gyud ang strike, dili ma-interrupted ang ilang supply of power provided nga libre ra mogawas og mosulod ang ilang mga tawo nga dili kuyog sa strike og ang ilang mga equipment ug vehicles needed in the operation,” Maleza said.

Maleza said the KSPC power plant is fully automated and if it needs additional manpower, the company will deploy men from its Luzon operation. 

Maleza said KSPC does not supply power directly within the franchise area of the Visayan Electric Company, which supplies power to Cebu City, but it still put contingency measures in place.

The Mactan Electric Company also did the same in case there will be power supply trouble in the Visayas grid.

He said MECO, VECO, and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines have their individual contingency measures in place.

“Kepco is not directly supplying power to VECO. Kepco mostly supplies its power to electric cooperatives in Negros, but naay chance nga in case abrupt ang power outage, it will affect Cebu  so naay contingency measures ang NGCP, VECO and MECO to address kung mao ni ang mahitabo,” Maleza said.

Maleza said they are preparing for the worst case scenario.

“We are preparing the worst case scenario. Ang pinaka extreme scenario nga mawagtang gyud ang  external power, All of these hotels, where the APEC  meetigs will be held have their own internal power or generators,” he said.

The APEC meetings are slated to be held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Marco Polo Hotel and Marriott Hotel in Cebu and at the Shangri-La Hotel in Lapu-Lapu City.

Naga situation

Naga Mayor Valdemar Chiong said he has instructed his chief of police to continue monitoring the power plant.

“I already instructed my chief of police just to continue monitoring nga dili ma-hamper ang in and out sa planta,” he said.

Chiong asked for the unions to change their minds.

“Akong hangyo nila nga especially duna tay bisita nga unta i-langan langan lang sa nila. Di nila e-atol sa APEC because this will be bad for Cebu,” the mayor added.

Derige assured the strike will be peaceful.

 The Kepco Cebu Supervisors Union and the Kepco Cebu Employees Association have filed a notice of strike but KSPC legal counsel Alan Fontanosa earlier warned the same would be illegal.

Fontanosa explained that they do not consider KCEA as the sole bargaining agent of the company for lack of certificate of recognition from the Department of Labor and Employment. The company also does not recognize KCSA after its failure to get majority of the supervisors.

KSPC owns and operates a 200-megawatt modern coal-fired power plant and supplies power to the Visayas grid, mainly to the electric cooperatives of Cebu, Negros and Bohol.

Derige said they rejected the offer of the management to reinstate Lowell Sanchez as KCEA president.

“Ang mga kapitalista di kasabot ana kay para nila it all boils down to Lowell Sanchez. Kaya nga kami nag-union dahil ang laban ng isa ay laban ng lahat,” Derige said.

Sanchez was terminated by the management last March on the ground of organizing and assisting the formation of the rank and file union.

Last May 1, the union was ready to stage a strike but the same was averted when President Benigno Aquino III intervened through DOLE secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

A 15-hour negotiation ensued between Baldoz, the union and the management and compromised agreement was reached, among which is Sanchez’s payroll reinstatement pending re-investigation of the case.

However, the management, after re-investigation, found Lowell guilty of the charges, thus, KSCA filed a second notice of strike before the National Conciliation Board-7 last July 4, a few days after KCEA filed its own document. —/JMO (FREEMAN)