Oreta bill to allow government workers to negotiate for better benefits

Government employees can go on strike to negotiate for better working conditions and more benefits once the proposed Civil Service Code of the Philippines is passed into law.

Sen. Teresa Aquino Oreta, the bill’s author, said the grounds for the 1.45 million public servants to go on strike are: unfair public sector labor and management practices, mismanagement or abuse by the supervising agency, and graft and corruption.

However, Oreta said government workers in the following services will not be allowed to join strikes:

• Defense and security services.

• Medical and allied services.

• Public utilities like power and water supply.

• Transportation, air traffic, radar and radio control.

• Lighthouse keeping.

• Other analogous services to be determined by the Civil Service Commission.

Oreta, chairwoman of the Senate committee on civil service and government reorganization, said any work stoppage in government offices should not lead to the total disruption of public service, as distinguished from strikes in the private sector.

"The prerequisites of a strike in the public sector are more stringent than that in the private sector because the proposed code seeks to ensure that no disruption in the delivery of public service will occur when government workers strike," she said.

Oreta said the development of an empowered bureaucracy cannot be realized if government employees are not given a chance to express their dissent through mass actions.

"Such a move allowing government workers to strike is consistent with democratic ideals and will empower government employee organizations in the performance of their roles as watchdogs and fiscalizers," she said.

"At the same time, we will also be ensuring that under no circumstances is public service delivery prejudiced."

Oreta said striking organizations will be required to put in place an effective skeletal force so as not to cripple the services of the concerned agencies.

"The right of government employees will be allowed only as a last resort and with the provision that participants will not be entitled to salary payments for the period they are on strike," she said.

Oreta said the bill also seeks to grant leave benefits to nationally elected officials and allow adoptive parents, single mothers, and single fathers to go on leave with pay to attend to parental obligations.

"Teachers will also be allowed to avail themselves of sick leave benefits to correct a lapse in the Magna Carta for Teachers," she said. "Under the proposed law, retirement benefits should also be released immediately or otherwise be paid with interest in cases of delay, including for those exonerated from administrative cases."