Strike looms at PSBA

MANILA, Philippines - Faculty members of the Philippine School of Business Administration (PSBA) in Quezon City are threatening to go on strike next week to protest the management’s alleged refusal to raise their salaries.

School officials warned that faculty members would face sanctions if they push through with their planned work stoppage. PSBA-QC president Benjamin Paulino said faculty union members should consider the overall welfare of the students before mounting an action that could be considered illegal.

“The PSBA-QC school administration has bent over backwards in continuing to listen to the faculty members’ demands for an increase in their salaries. However, such demands cannot be granted at this time,” he said.

Paulino said the faculty union’s notice of strike is invalid and the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) already suggested that the proceedings be converted into a preventive mediation but the union also refused.

Faculty union members are reportedly set to go on strike on Sept. 23 after negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement with the management ended in a deadlock.

According to Paulino, the management already allowed the faculty union to audit PSBA-QC’s financial records to validate the school’s claim that an increase in salaries is not feasible at this time. The faculty union officers and members refused and instead declared a bargaining deadlock and a notice of strike.