LABOR WATCH

Thanksgiving, Tributes Exude Hope for Miners’ Union
CBA negotiation on-going

Mineworkers of the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (Lepanto) and their families staged a cañao at the Union Hall on Sept. 10 and 11 as a thanksgiving ritual for the gains of the three-month strike. Union members gave their dismissed officers the highest tributes for sacrificing their jobs for the good of the workers and their families.

BY Kim Quitasol
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat

MANKAYAN, Benguet — Mineworkers of the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (Lepanto) and  their families staged a cañao at the Union Hall here, on Sept. 10 and 11 as a thanksgiving ritual for the gains of the three-month strike. Union members gave their dismissed officers the highest tributes for sacrificing their jobs for the good of the majority. (Cañao, part of indigenous culture, involves the slaughtering of a pig and dance and is officiated by the mumbaki or native spiritualist.)  On Sept. 11, thanksgiving rituals were performed simultaneously in four picket lines where the workers officially dismantled the barricades. At around 4 p.m. the workers opened the mill site gate, signifying the workers’ sincerity to end the strike.

Lepanto mineworkers at the picket Nordis Photo

The mill site picket line suffered the most violent dispersals from the hands of the Philippine National Police (PNP) which however failed to break the picket. The police were unable to escort the supply delivery vehicles into the mill site during the strike.

A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the union and management was signed on Sept. 10 at the LEU hall, resolving the three-month strike. The agreement, however, terminated 19 LEU officers.

The picket lines lifted, the 1,600 striking workers went back to work Sept. 12. But the Lepanto Employees Union (LEU) in a statement said they remain united in the fight for better wages and benefits, says.

LEU president Ninian Lang-agan said the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) has yet to be inked and negotiations would still push through.

Unity

“Our unity will be like a woven buri hat that will protect us in our pursuit for our rights and welfare,” he said in Ilokano. Lang-agan added that as long as the union exists, the workers have a venue to fight for their rights and welfare.

He explained that the laid-off officers will still represent the workers in the CBA negotiations and will assume the same positions until new officers are elected as recognized in the MoA between the LEU and Lepanto representatives.

Lang-agan explained that the officers considered the hundreds of families who would be affected should Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (Lepanto) continue to terminate workers because of the strike.

On the other hand, the MoA compelled Lepanto to reinstate all other dismissed workers and not to take any retaliatory actions against those who joined the strike. The agreement also instructed both parties to “take steps to promote industrial harmony” and for the company to drop all pending complaints and cases related to the strike filed against the workers.

Lawyers Ronald Recidero and Teddy Rigoroso signed the MoA in behalf of Lepanto.

Signing for the LEU were Lang-agan, and 18 other union officers, namely Julio Cawilan, secretary; Ronald Maslian, auditor; William Apos, treasurer; Dante Balwog, assistant treasurer; Haig Mangaoang, business manager and union board of directors Julio Papat, Vicente Dilem, Raymund Papat, Richard Gacula, Jerry Macuroy, Eden Laolawi, Rodrigo Ngeteg, Laurence Farrong, Francisco Dida, Domingo Olaget, Pedro Kiray, Henry Foy-os and Cornelio Toacan.

Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)-Cordillera Coordinator Lorico Espejo Jr. signed as a witness, assisted by lawyer Thomas Bayugan. Northern Dispatch/Posted by Bulatlat 

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