Carmen Copper Corp. management, represented by Ret. Gen. Roy Deveraturda, vice president for administration and support (right), and William Ligutan, labor union president, sign the new collective bargaining agreement of the firm and its employees.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO
EMPLOYEES of Carmen Copper Corporation (CCC) based in Toledo City will be getting a pay raise ranging from P91 to P105 per day starting in October 2018 with the signing of their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on Wednesday.
They are also scheduled to receive another P12,500 on February 6 (Tuesday) as CBA signing bonus.
William Ligutan, president of the Carmen Copper Workers Labor Organization (CCWLO), said this is the first time that management agreed to give this much increase to their employees.
Ligutan said the pay adjustment is expected to make employees happy and productive in their work.
“Before, our workers hindi maganda ang pagpanarbaho nila because of the discontent on the wage. But now, ayaw na nilang mag-abroad especially now that the company has a program to give an increase of wage,” he said.
Getting a pay hike, he said, will also help employees caution the ill effects of the implementation of the Train Law.
“With the Train law karon, apektado gihapon ang workers. Tungod sa Train Law mo saka man ang pletehan. Useless ang (salary) increase. But mas maayo nalang ni ang increase kay maka-recover sila. Ang lisud kay katong mga walay union ug minimum wage workers,” Ligutan said in an interview with reporters.
Ligutan signed on Wednesday a five-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with CCC management represented by Roy Deveraturda, CCC Officer In-Charge Interim; Mia Carmella Cuenco, CCC assistant vice president for Human Resource Administration; Antonio Tubella, Atty. Maria Eleonor Santiago, and Jeoffrey Oyao who are members of the management panel.
Union officials present were William Ligutan; Teofilo Baritogo, Vice President; Valeriano Abella Sr., treasurer; and Rey Ligutan, Secretary.
The newly signed CBA is valid from January 30, 2015 until January 30, 2020.
Ligutan said the first three years of the CBA’s implementation was spent on the negotiating tables while the outcome of their collective bargaining which is the wage increase of at least P90 will be implement from 2018 to 2020.
Under the terms of the CBA, the CCWLO is not allowed to engage in any labor dispute with management while the agreement remains valid in 2020.
Deveraturda said CCWLO is a management partner that shares in their goal of further growing their mining business.
“The company is attempting to modernize the compensation package. We will now start looking, possibly giving production incentives to workers who consistently attain their production targets. We will reward the performers and hasten their rewards for helping the company attain its production and financial incentives,” Deveraturda said in an opening speech which he delivered ahead of the CBA signing.
CCC, which is based in Barangay Das in Toledo City, now has a total of 2,444 employees of which around 59 percent or a total of 1,453 are CCWLO members.
Most of these are miners and machine operators who are currently getting a daily pay ranging from P457 to P671.