Salcon union stages protest against mgt

CEBU - Members of Salcon Power Independent Union staged a protest at the Naga Power Complex yesterday in a bid for the management to recognize their union.

SPIU president Gaudioso Iso said they held the protest for only 15 minutes just to show their indignation against the management’s continued refusal to grant their demands.

The rank and file union is set to have a mediation meeting tomorrow at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.

“The management is in good faith in dealing with us. While we are having a mediation (meeting), they have filed a separate case against me questioning my membership in the union,” Iso told The FREEMAN yesterday.

The union members also went to Naga Mayor Vladimir Chiong to air their side. Iso said the mayor requested them to lift their notice of strike and go back to the negotiating table.

But Iso told the mayor that they would only lift their notice of strike as soon as they see some positive development in their demands during the mediation meeting before they will return to the negotiating table.

The union also reiterated its determination to go on strike should the management continue to insist by not granting its demands.

“We are ready to strike anytime,” Iso added.

On the other hand, the management lamented the decision of the union that threatens Cebu with brownouts despite the management’s openness to negotiate for a collective bargaining agreement.

The management said SPIU’s declaration that its CBA proposals are non-negotiable only shows stubbornness and unreasonableness, and undermines the true spirit of collective bargaining negotiations.

It, however, remains open to the possibility that SPIU will return to the negotiating table for the CBA. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/LPM (THE FREEMAN)