Digicast Negros

Ceneco union set to hold strike vote

The Central Negros Electric Cooperative employee’s union is set to hold a strike vote on Saturday, January 29, following management’s failure to implement their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

The CENECO Union of Rational Employees (CURE) filed a notice to strike and the voting on Saturday will determine if its members will go ahead with it, its president Stephanie Montaner said, Monday, January 24.

The CBA was approved at the CENECO general assembly on Sept. 26, 2021, she said.

The CBA includes the 5 percent increase in employees’ salaries every two years and their signing bonus, among others, she said.

CENECO officer-in-charge Jose Taniongon said the
2021 operating budget of the cooperative did not include the CBA funds but a supplemental budget was sent this January to the National Electrification Administration (NEA).

NEA adjusted the wages and benefits with the condition that before the implementation the cooperative’s board, management and labor union members first attain a 95 percent collection efficiency, he added.

Ceneco had a 90 to 92 collection efficiency in November last year but it drastically dropped in December, he said.

If CENECO hits the NEA requirement it can pay its CBA commitment because it will have the money for it, Taniongon said.

Rey Gorgonio, lawyer of the union, said CURE filed a notice to strike before the National Conciliation and Medication Board on Dec. 27, 2021, but negotiations have failed to get management to implement the CBA.
They have reached a deadlock, management is trying to delay its implementation, he said.

“Why did they sign the CBA if they have no money to pay?” Gorgonio asked, pointing out that it was even approved by the cooperative’s board.*

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