Labor department dismisses motion of Nestlé Cabuyao union

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has dismissed a motion for reconsideration filed by the union of Nestlé’s Cabuyao factory over the department’s recent ruling upholding the management’s position on a labor dispute.

The DOLE reaffirmed its ruling and dismissed the union’s motion for lack of merit.

In its April 2 order, the DOLE ruled that the company’s present retirement plan is a unilateral grant that the parties have expressly recognized and thus, is not a mandatory subject for bargaining.

The DOLE also cited the memorandum of agreement signed by Cabuyao union president Diosdado Fortuna and other union officers for the 1998 CBA (collective bargaining agreement).

In the MOA, the union leadership acknowledged that the company’s retirement plan is a unilateral grant "which shall not form part of the CBA."

In its ruling, the DOLE directed both parties to execute the CBA within 30 days from receipt of the order, and to adopt the best applicable terms and conditions of the CBAs between Nestlé Phils. Inc. and its eight other bargaining units.

The eight CBAs concluded by the company with its other unions include a one-time, non-recurring financial assistance of P75,000 for each employee for the first year, and an increase of P1,250 each month on the second and third years.

Based on the DOLE order, the new Cabuyao CBA’s effectivity will be from Dec. 5, 2001, six months after the expiration of the old CBA.

Earlier, the Cabuyao union questioned the validity of the DOLE’s April 2 order with the Court of Appeals which, in turn, subsequently dismissed the petition due to technical infirmities.

The labor secretary assumed jurisdiction of the labor dispute between the Nestlé management and the Cabuyao factory’s union on Nov. 29, 2001. Despite this, the union went on strike last Jan. 4, violating the secretary’s order.

On Jan. 16, the DOLE issued a return-to-work order but the union also defied it and refused to return to work, prompting the labor secretary to direct the police to remove the barricades illegally put up by the striking workers on Jan. 28.

Workers who had refused to return to work, despite various opportunities to do so, were terminated in accordance with the law.

The Nestlé Cabuyao factory is the company’s largest manufacturing facility in the country.

Aside from manufacturing a wide variety of products for the domestic market, the factory now also serves as the ASEAN supply center for infant nutrition, exporting products to Nestlé’s ASEAN markets.