Workers’ strike will scare away investors — Makati Med exec

Threats, news or even mere rumors of a workers’ strike will scare away investors and will spell doom for the financially troubled Makati Medical Center (MMC), MMC president Gavino Mendoza said yesterday.

The hospital management is thus asking its employees to refrain from placing the medical institution in a bad light.

Mendoza issued the call yesterday in reaction to a workers’ strike which the hospital’s rank and file employees are planning to stage next month.

"The MMC is going through difficult times financially and employees should make necessary sacrifices at least for the next two years," he said.

"Given two years, we will be able to stand again. We are trying to preserve their jobs. Give us time," he stressed in a message to the members of Makati Medical Center Employees Association (Mamacea).

"There are investors willing to invest on the MMC. The most difficult money is investors’ money. The threat of a strike might already be frightening them away," he stressed.

Mendoza said the hospital management will hold more meetings and dialogues with Mamacea within the next 30 days in the hope of averting a disaster.

According to him, employees should understand that the management is trying to find ways to bring the MMC back on its feet again, financially.

Union members led by Mamacea president Willy Pulia filed a notice of strike before the Department of Labor and Employment-National Conciliation and Mediation Board (DOLE-NCMB) last week. They accuse the MMC management of trying to strip them of salary increases and hospitalization benefits granted under a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Hoping to enlighten and make Pulia and his members understand the situation, Mendoza answered the workers’ most concerns one by one in an interview with The STAR.

"The truth is the CBA extends up to 2004," he said, explaining that there is no existing CBA at this time and therefore no CBA is being violated.

"Second, we are not planning to cut their benefits. We cut the hospitalization benefits of the board of directors, not the employees," he added.

Mendoza said Pulia and his members might have assumed that cutting the hospitalization benefits of the board members also means cutting those of the employees.

He called on Mamacea officials and members to help the management put the hospital back to its feet in the next two years by doing their part in making sacrifices.

"When you’ve lost money, when you have debts that are up to your ears, you try to stop the outflow of unnecessary expenses," he added.

"We have explained to them the (hospital’s) losses, debts and expenses. They are trying to squeeze water from stone. There is no water," he stressed. — Michael Punongbayan