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CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga: Officials of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC)
labor union clarified allegations that they were calling for the
ouster of Liberato P. Laus as CDC President during two mass actions
held on Wednesday here.
Association of Concerned CDC Employees (ACCES)
President Carlos Cabrera said that its members’ demonstrations
here was intended just to show disappointment for CDC management
after the review on the economic provisions of the Collective
Bargaining Agreement between the union and management was declared a
“deadlock.”
Cabrera said “no public statement was made
during the mass actions calling for the removal of Mr. Laus as CDC
President.”
He added that the rally was just to call the
attention of the management for salary adjustment of P4,000 and
salary increase of P3,000 per rank and file employee. All in all,
the union is asking for a P7,000 salary increase.
Ed Cabug, an ACCES member, also said during
their general assembly Thursday that no ouster call against Mr. Laus
was publicly announced during the two mass actions that were held.
“The rally was not to call for Mr. Laus’
removal, but just to inform the management of our disappointment on
the CBA deadlock,” Tabug said.
The protest actions was to air disappointments
over CDC’s expansion of its table of organization, hiring of
additional employees, procurement of additional vehicles, benefits
given to Job Level 10 and above and expansion of health care
benefits of the CDC Board of Directors, while the union’s request
was not given attention.
But the CDC vice-president for Operations and
Technical Services, Frank Madlangbayan, said that the state-owned
firm “may not be able to sustain its operations in the long run if
it takes into consideration the labor panel’s proposal considering
the potential loss of income from the Mimosa Leisure Estate
privatization, the separation of Clark International Airport Corp.
from CDC and capital expenditures requirement of Texas
Instruments.”
He said that the financial implication of the
management proposal is approximately P8.6 million per year while the
implication of the proposal to the workers’ union is P66.75
million annually.
Madlangbayan, who is the chairman of the CDC
Management Negotiating Panel, said that among the proposals of the
management is to give an additional cash gift of P5,000, increase of
the P310 on rice allowance and P1,000 salary increase effective
January 2008 subject to the approval of the CDC Board.
The CDC management also said that it has been
emphasizing their sensitivity to the needs of its employees that’s
why CDC has been considered as one of the high-paying state-owned
firms in Central Luzon.
Madlangbayan also said that other benefits given
every year to the employees are clothing allowance of P8,000 for
2008 with an increase amounting to P500 every year up to 2010;
P5,000 cash gift and other bonuses such as 13th and 14th month pay;
and hazard pay of P500 to P750 a month depending on the degree of
exposure to hazard.
The CDC vice-president added that other
privileges being given by CDC to their employees also include health
care program coverage for rank and file amounting to P80,000 to the
principal and their dependents and life insurance of P650,000 per
year on regular employees.
-- Mark Louie P. Roxas
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