Mirant workers complain over sale bonus

Employees of Mirant Philippines are crying discrimination on their compensation packages as they claim their US counterparts are getting $34-million in bonuses from the sale of the firm’s Philippine assets.

In a letter to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) dated Oct. 20, same 1,200 employees of Mirant Phils. sought the department’s intervention regarding the sale of the local Mirant unit, the largest private producer of electricity in the country.

Through three separate petitions, the employees warned of "a potential labor dispute which may result in massive labor unrest of employees, and eventually cause a disruption of the electricity supply in Luzon."

The Mirant employees, represented by Joyce Bellas, Maria Anna Delos Reyes and Andres Boron, said that the present management has failed to provide workers with a definite program to protect their interest after the company’s sale is consummated.

"The employees persistently demanded this protection from the management but management consistently ignored, despite oral and written demands to specifically and definitely address these concerns," the group said in the letter.

Last July, the Atlanta-based parent firm Mirant Corp., announced plans to sell its Philippine assets through an international auction. The sale is expected to fetch $3 billion for the parent company.

As this developed, Mirant Phils. employees asked for the formalization of a severance policy that will guarantee an employee, who will be affected or terminated as a result of the sale, 2.5 months severance pay for every year of service, as consistent with company practice.

"To date, management has failed to enact such a policy despite the fact that the sale date is set to be finalized in November," they said in the letter.

Mirant Phils. has, for the past five years, contributed a yearly net income of at least P11 billion to the US-based parent company.

In the letter, employees also slammed the racial discrimination against Filipino employees.

"It is very apparent that Filipino employees are being treated unfairly. In the US SEC filing on Oct. 5, Mirant Corp. in Atlanta announced the grant of $34 million to 125 US employees for the successful sale of the Philippine assets. Filipino employees who worked hard not only for the sale but also for making Mirant Philippines a very profitable company get nothing," they said.

The only Filipino employee included in the $34-million sale bonus is Mirant Phils. chairman and president Jose P. Leviste Jr. To separate all 1,200 employees of Mirant Phils. would cost around only $24 million.

Mirant owns and operates the 1,200- megawatt (MW) power generating plant in Sual, Pangasinan, and the 735-MW facility in Pagbilao, Quezon. Both plants account for around 25 percent of the power supply in Luzon.