14,000 workers to go on strike

More than 14,000 workers nationwide are threatening to go on strike due to pending labor disputes, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

Labor Undersecretary for labor relations Romeo Lagman said a total of 14,054 workers from 33 firms in the country have filed notices of strike.

Based on the data from the DOLE’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), the number of workers involved in the notices of strike filed in the first month of the year was more than double last year’s figure.

In the first months of 2007, the NCMB recorded a total of 32 notices of strikes, involving 5,071 workers. Majority or 17 of the 33 companies that filed notices of strike in January are located in the National Capital Region.

Despite the big number of workers threatening to go on strike, Lagman said the industrial climate in the country remains peaceful.

“The number of workers involved in the notices of strikes is not indicative of restiveness, it’s the number of notices of strikes and the rate of disposition that should be considered,” Lagman explained.

He noted that of the total notices of strikes filed in January, only one resulted in an actual strike while nine of the labor disputes were settled amicably.

He added that NCMB recorded a higher number of workers involved in the notices of strikes probably because the companies involved in the disputes are big ones.

Unfair labor practices and deadlock in collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations remain as the major reasons for filing notices of strike, Lagman said.   – Mayen Jaymalin