Airport employees ‘won’t lose jobs’ with terminal pact
“No employee will lose his job or be separated, unless it’s voluntary.”
Nigel Paul Villarete, general manager of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), gave this assurance to the airport’s 580 employees after the GMR-Megawide consortium, the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), and MCIAA signed the concession agreement last Tuesday.
The agreement states the obligations of the consortium in building the new terminal which includes managing and operating the terminals for 25 years.
Assignment
“The GMR-Megawide consortium will officially take over 180 days from now or approximately six months after the signing of the concession agreement,” said Villarete in a press conference.
He said they can hire the incumbent employees or source new staff from outside.
Villarete said employees who will be offered a job by GMR-Megawide, but decide to remain with MCIAA will be given another assignment.
Villarete said those involved in terminal operations, which involve less than 100 employees, will be most likely affected with the change in management of the terminal. These includes collectors and bridge operators.
“We will still be there to manage the airport. GMR-Megawide will only manage and operate the old and new terminals,” he said.
Of the 500-hectare airport facility, the terminal occupies about one percent or only 5.3 hectares of project land that was offered under the Public-Private Partnership of the Aquino administration.
Investment
Operations of cargo, taxiways, airways and other operations except in the terminal will be managed and operated by MCIAA.
In a statement, the MCIAA Board thanked everyone who took part in the bidding of the terminal project.
The project, valued at P36 billion, is the single biggest government investment in Cebu in decades, Villarete said.
The project brief for the terminal states that “the agreement involves the construction of a new world-class passenger terminal building in MCIA and the operation of the old and new facilities.”
It said construction of a terminal, including all related facilities, will “separately cater to domestic and international operations,” on a build-operate-transfer basis.
List
In yesterday’s news conference Glenn Napuli, MCIAA chairman of the special bids and awards committee, gave the same assurance to airport employees.
MCIAA public affairs head Mary Ann Dimabayao said that based on the concession agreement, MCIAA is expected to submit a list of existing airport employees GMR-Megawide Consortium 60 days after the signing of the document.
“From there, the consortium will define who among the 580 employees they will offer a job under them based on what they think they will need in effectively managing and operating the old and new terminals,” Dimabayao said.
She said employees can choose between transferring to GMR-Megawide or staying with MCIAA. Dimabayao said that for herself, “I will wait for the offer of GMR-Megawide.”
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