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By William B. Depasupil, Reporter
LESS than a week before the year ends, the
country’s industrial front remained relatively peaceful with only
six recorded strikes, the most peaceful ever in the country’s
labor history.
Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo D. Brion
said on Thursday that there were only six recorded strikes from
January 1 to December 15 of this year, representing a 50-percent
decline from the 12 strikes declared during the same period in 2006.
“Remarkably, the number of workers affected
by strikes decreased to less than a thousand workers, translating
into 35-percent decline from the already low 1,415 workers affected
by strikes in the same period last year, to only 915 from January 1
to December 15 this year,” Brion said.
He added that as a result of the lesser number
of strikes, an over two-thirds or 72-percent decline occurred from
the 43,434 man days lost from January 1 to December 15, 2006, to
only 12,112 during the same period in 2007.
The labor chief also noted that 12 of the
country’s 16 regions remained strike-free throughout most of the
current year.
Brion added that to continue translating the
country’s unprecedented industrial peace into economic gain, the
Labor department will continue to bolster social partnership
programs with labor, management, government agencies, local
government units, nongovernment organizations, academe, churches,
civil society and other sectors.
Continuing education for labor
Brion also bared in his the Labor department’s
year-end report presentation that the department, in cooperation
with the social partners, will introduce a continuing labor and employment
education program through its regional offices.
The program shall include a human relations
module that shall be completed by a career guidance module for
secondary-level students, fresh graduates, and new entrants to the
country’s labor force.
“Human relations is the crucial element that
had proven so effective in improving productivity, and in reducing
the number of debilitating disputes mutually affecting workers and
management,” he said.
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