NLRC orders school to reinstate dismissed English instructor

The National Labor Relations Commission has ordered a Korean school to reinstate a teacher that it dismissed for distributing Philippine flags to his co-teachers and for organizing them to form a club.

The labor arbiter also ordered the Cebu Pacific International Language Services to pay Alvin Truya the amount of P100,000 in back wages.

Labor arbiter Jermelina Pasignajen Ay-ad found Truya’s dismissal from service on February 27, 2006 illegal. Ay-ad, however, dismissed Truya’s claimed of unfair labor practice on the ground that their group is not a union and does not have a collective bargaining agreement with the school management.

Nevertheless, Ay-ad ordered CPILS general manager Sang Moon Nam and personnel officer Glenn Vidaurrazaga to reinstate Truya to his job without losing his seniority status.

According to the arbiter, if reinstatement is no longer possible, Truya should be given his separation pay computed as one month salary for every year of service.

Truya claimed that he was a regular English instructor of CPILS. He was reportedly hired on December 21, 2004 and became regular employee nine months after.

However, he was allegedly dismissed in February 2006 after he spearheaded a signature campaign with his co-teachers to protest the school’s memorandum requiring them to work on All Saint’s Day.

The school administration also got irked when he tried to form the faculty club and eventually dismissed him from service when he distributed Philippine flags to some of his co-teachers.

The arbiter resolved the case based on the evidence submitted by Truya because the respondent failed to submit its position paper. — Fred P. Languido/LPM