Counter-productive strike

For several years already, Cebu has managed to avoid the pitfalls of industrialization, including one of the most tricky of them all, which is labor relations. Since the turn of the new millennium, Cebu has had industrial peace, and this has worked for everybody.

One of the reasons for this is the growing moderation among labor organizations, which have shed a militant bent sprung from an ideological base to a more stable orientation rooted in dialogue and recognition of equal rights for the good of all.

We should all strive to keep it this way. Industrial peace and harmony is one of the greatest magnets for investments, whether foreign or local. And with investments being one of the lynchpins of progress, that should be the direction of all our efforts.

Recently, however, we are going through a big scare, coming by way of a threatened strike by workers at Salcon Power in Naga City, which supplies 45 kilowatts of badly-needed power to the province.

This is the reason why Governor Gwen Garcia is taking a direct hand in talking with the management of Salcon Power, as well as Naga City Mayor Val Chiong who, while obviously open to the sentiments of workers, also needs to protect the investment climate in his fledgling city.

Garcia has seen the potential for harm to industrial peace that the threatened strike by Salcon Power workers poses, as well as to the risk of destabilization in the power situation should the strike materialize.

We cannot afford a strike at this time, especially since the country is being buffeted by a host of other crises. In face of the rice crisis and escalating fuel and food prices, we need a strike like a hole in the head.

It is hoped that whatever materializes from the talks Garcia had with Salcon Power and Mayor Chiong will lead to a positive and peaceful resolution of the situation. More importantly it is hoped that the restive workers will put off their planned strike for the sake of all.

After all, the restive workers of Salcon Power, as borne out by company documents, are not exactly in dire straits as people were initially made to believe. They are enjoying salaries that are the envy of many in these difficult times.

Maybe the restive Salcon Power workers have some valid claims. But then, all things being equal, I am sure the company also has an answer to everyone of them. So, since a stalemate is likely to ensue, the best thing under the circumstances is a status quo.

By setting aside their differences, or maybe even just by putting off the threats, some good will come out of not having had to rush things in the heat of passion, not the least of which is maintaining the peace which we all seek and benefit from.

Perhaps, one lesson the workers really need to learn from is the fate that befell Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation in Toldeo City not very long ago. From being the third biggest copper mines in the world, the striking union forced its collapse.

At the time, the workers refused to see beyond their own demands, valid though they may have been. Seeing only their own plight, they refused to see the plight of the company, then being squeezed by plummeting world copper prices.

Nobody is trying to belittle the rights of workers. But rights are never the exclusive domain of any one sector, and the broader perspectives become, taking in factors that obtain even outside the sphere of immediate concern, the better for sense and reason to sink in.

A strike in this difficult times is counter-productive and not good for everyone. It is not good for the workers and it is not good for Salcon. It is not good for Mayor Chiong and it is not good for every Cebuano. Let this be food for thought for everyone.