Garbage collectors go on strike

Some 600 garbage truck drivers and collectors went on strike yesterday, paralyzing 80 percent of hauling operations in Metro Manila and nearby Rizal province.

Romualdo Hernandez, spokesman of Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa REN Transport (SMART), said 80 of 100 trucks owned by REN Transport Corp. did not ply their routes yesterday.

Hernandez claimed all the 600 SMART union members refused to work, affecting garbage hauling operations in San Juan, Muntinlupa, Malabon and Montalban in Rizal.

According to Hernandez, the workers refused to work because their employer, Nilo Pascoguin has not been paying them their salaries and other mandated financial benefits.

National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) conciliator Leonida Romulo said the workers have filed a complaint of unfair labor practices and submitted a notice of strike last July 7.

"The workers were complaining of delayed payment of salaries, illegal deductions, alterations of employment records, cross violations of collective bargaining agreements, illegal dismissal of 49 union officers and other employees," Romulo said.

She added that the NCMB has conducted a series of conciliatory meetings in a bid to prevent the labor dispute from erupting into a strike, but during the last meeting, management of REN Transport maintained that they have no capacity to pay all the benefits of the workers.

Romulo noted that the case has been submitted before the National Labor Relations and Commission (NLRC) for compulsory arbitration and workers were enjoined not to take action that would exacerbate the situation.

But Hernandez said the workers would not return to work until the management would negotiate and heed their demand.

Meanwhile, Muntinlupa government said it dispatched all four of its trucks to temporarily collect garbage in the city after trucks staged a strike yesterday morning.

The material recovery facility and transfer station of the city were also utilized.

"Residents in the city were also advised to temporarily place their garbage in bags after segregating them," city public information chief Tess Valencia said.

An average of about 150 tons of garbage are collected all over the city daily.

Valencia said they did not have any problems in paying their dues to garbage collectors. "We have allocated P6 million every month for waste management," she said.

She noted that they were, in fact, in good terms with collectors since "we let them make money out of the garbage they collect from us."

"As far as we know, it is an internal problem," Valencia said. – With Edu Punay