LABOR WATCH
Lepanto Workers’ Woes Not Yet Over
The problems of the Lepanto Employees
Union (LEU) regarding their unpaid Social Security System (SSS) premiums,
PAG-IBIG contributions and salary loan payments are not yet over. The LEU,
which is affiliated with the National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU)
and the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May First Movement) found out that the
Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (Lepanto) did not remit the
contributions and payments of 1,683 workers despite regular deductions
from their monthly wages.
BY ALDWIN QUITASOL
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY – The
problems of Lepanto Employees Union (LEU) regarding their unpaid Social
Security System (SSS) premiums, PAG-IBIG contributions and salary loan
payments are not yet over. The LEU, which is affiliated with the National
Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU) and the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May
First Movement) found out that the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (Lepanto)
did not remit the contributions and payments of 1,683 workers despite
regular deductions from their monthly wages.
LEU president
Christopher Bautista, in a letter to the managers of SSS and PAG-IBIG
branches in Baguio
City, asked for an investigation on the
said matter. He said that the law provides that employers should submit
premiums deducted from their employees’ salaries, but his members complain
that Lepanto did not remit deducted payments.
The union requested
the two offices to provide certificates to verify the remittance or
non-remittances of premiums from Lepanto management.
Lepanto mineworkers
had gone on strike some six months ago due to a deadlock in their
collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Other issues raised by the union
include the non-remittance of SSS and PAG-IBIG contributions and loan
payments. The strike ended after more than three months with the signing
of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the union and the management,
in which the management agreed to resolve the issues regarding the
workers’ benefits.
On the other hand,
LEU officers expressed concerns that the company has not paid the
long-overdue P11 million-worth of back wages of workers who went on
strike, as agreed upon in the MOA. Bautista said that the response of
management is that they are still looking for funds to pay the workers.
LEU secretary
Alejandro Sulang added that management is not releasing the union dues
collected from their members.
“Ti kayat
mi koma a ket maiiggeman mi diay pondo mi a naggapu met lang iti
pinagrigatan mi tapno adda ti maaramid mi a proyekto para ti union mi”
(We want to hold our funds, funds that came from our hard labor, so we can
proceed with our union projects) said Sulang.
Bautista further said
that whenever they need finances, they have to write a letter of request
to the management and specify the amount and their purpose.
KMU-Cordillera
regional coordinator Lorico “Ka Jun” Espejo criticized the Lepanto
management for holding the funds of the union. He stressed that the
management has no right to control the workers’ funds. He added that it is
the management’s obligation to collect union dues and remit it to the
union, unless there is a court order preventing them from doing so.
Nordis/Posted by Bulatlat
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