DAVAO CITY -- A bleak Christmas awaits 575 workers of telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Company after they were served termination papers.
Benjamin Gaite, head of the PLDT Ponciano business office here, confirmed the termination of the workers.
"I really don't have the office documents but I know they were given notice," Gaite told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net, by phone on Friday.
The PLDT workers' union said the retrenched workers, 29 of them from Mindanao, will cease working for the phone company by Sept. 16.
This is the second time that PLDT has laid off workers in recent years. In 2002, it also terminated the services of 500 employees.
Iron Ramirez, Mindanao sector head of the 3,750-strong Manggawa ng Komunikasyon sa Pilipinas (MKP), said the fresh retrenchment was illegal as it allegedly violated the provisions of their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
"The retrenchment of 575 workers is the second wave. It must be noted that the layoff in 2002 of more than 500 workers was illegal according to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has ordered the return to work of the retrenched workers but the PLDT management, with its clear maneuver of weakening the union, has not accepted the workers, who they claimed were redundant," Ramirez said.
He said the union will stage protests.
"The management is not keen on doing, not honest on what is stipulated in the CBA. The irony of this is PLDT is highly praised as the best managed company in Asia for three consecutive years now," Ramirez said.
John Beato, national officer of the PLDT Union, said PLDT earned more than P17 billion in the first half of 2007 but instead of giving bonuses to employees, it served termination papers.
"Last year, P26 million was given as bonus to managers and other officers but nothing for the rank-and-file instead they will be retrenched starting September 16," Beato said.
Escobar Pinzon, a radio technician who worked for about 14 years with PLDT, is one of those affected by the retrenchment.
"This is their advance Christmas gift to the employees sa napakalaki nilang kita (they're getting a lot)," Pinzon said.
But Gaite said it will not really be a bleak Christmas for those affected by the order.
He said those who will be terminated will receive a "300-percent retirement package."
"It is 100 percent more than the usual 200 percent offered by the PLDT. I think they (union members) only want a higher offer," he said.
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I'm glad I'm not with them...
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