DOLE ASKED TO STEP IN
Power plant workers in Naga may strike on Labor Day, May 1
Kepco-SPC asks Labor Secretary to intervene to avoid outages
Kepco SPC’s coal-fired power plant complex in Naga City, south Cebu accounts for one third of Cebu’s power generating capacity. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz was formally asked to intervene in the labor dispute in Naga City where workers of power plant operator Kepco-SPC have threatened to go on strike on May 1.
“Any strike threat in a ‘national interest’ industry, such as the power industry, should always be considered serious especially during these times when demand for power is high and reserves are not abundant,” the company said in a text message sent through its community relations office.
“KSPC hopes that the Secretary will realize the seriousness of the situation and timely assumes jurisdiction, as mandated by law,” it added.
The petition was sent on Monday to the Labor Secretary asking her to to assume jurisdiction over the dispute.
A conciliation meeting is set for Thursday, April 30, the last day of a 15-day period since a notice of strike was filed.
Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong said he was worried about possible power outages if a strike pushes through.
He appealed to both workers and management to meet halfway.
“This has to be resolved immediately,” he said.
Kepco’s 185-megawatt (MW) Naga power plant complex accounts for about one third of Cebu’s total power generating capacity.
Another 200-MW Cebu CFBC Power Plant in Naga supplies power to utilities and electric cooperatives across the Visayas.
Power supply is usually tight during summer, when demand surges as temperatures rise.
Energy officials have assured that as long as all generating plants are running, lights won’t go out in the Visayas.
The Kepco-SPC management said yesterday it “will do everything possible to ensure the continuous operation of the plant so as not to unduly prejudice the power supply in the Visayas.”
Cebu accounts for about half of the Visayas grid’s peak demand, reported by the National Grid Corp. at 1,558 MW yesterday. System capacity was 1,670 MW, leaving a reserve of 112 MW.
A group of protesting employee and supervisors seeking union recogntion by the Kepco-SPC management filed a notice of strike last month.
Dennis Derige, spokesman of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), said that if no agreement is reached during the April 30 conciliation meeting, some 50 rank-and-file and 13 supervisory workers may go on strike on May 1, Labor Day.
He said they account for 45 percent of the company’s local workforce of 140. Kepco-SPC also employs 12 expatriates.
The protesting workers belong to the Kepco Cebu Employees Association and Kepco Cebu Supervisors Association which is seeking recgonition as bargaining agent of the employees.
No collective bargaining agreement has been reached yet with the management.
Under the Labor Code, a legitimate labor group in an establishment may declare a strike on the ground of unfair labor practice in the absence of a duly recognized bargaining representative.
A notice must be filed at least 15 days before the intended date of strike.
Derige said the workers filed on April 8 a notice to strike with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB). The notice will “mature on April 30,” he said.
The protesting workers accused the Kepco-SPC management of unfair labor practice by not standardizing salaries, and union busting by terminating two of their leaders.
“The workers have been asking the management to adopt industry-standard salary packages in the past two years. But nothing is happening,” Derige said.
“Most of the workers are engineers. They don’t deserve that kind of pay,” he added.
Protesting workers also demand the reinstatement of Lowell Sanchez, president of the supervisors’ group, and Nelson Florita with back wages.
They are asking management to voluntarily recognize the supervisors’ group as the official bargaining agent of supervisory employees and for CBA negotiations to start immediately.
They asked management to stop all forms of harassment and to respect the workers’ right to freedom of association.
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