PLDT management and its unionized employees, the Manggagawa sa Komunikasyon ng Pilipinas (MKP), on Monday argue back and forth over how soon the start of contract negotiations begin.
The MKP wants the talks to begin Monday but PLDT maintains this should commence only in September this year as mandated by the Labor Code’s “freedom period” which starts 60 days before the current contract expires. According to PLDT, that contract expires 8 November 2024.
“The time to sit down and start collective bargaining with MKP is on September 2024, not today,” PLDT said.
The MKP, the exclusive bargaining representative of rank-and-file employees at the telco and with which PLDT has an existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA), on Monday insisted the talks were to begin today.
MKP said it sent PLDT management on 20 February 2024 their “Notice to Negotiate and Submission of Statement of Proposals.”
This was followed by MKP filing a notice of strike on 5 April 2024 on the ground of alleged PLDT refusal to start the negotiation process.
The members of MKP reportedly conducted a strike vote on May 14 and 15, 2024, with a majority voting in favor of the strike.
Under the Labor Code, the parties are to meet and negotiate the renewal or modification of the terms of the CBA at least 60 days prior to its expiry – the so-called freedom period – which, in this case, will begin on the first week of September, or more than three months from now and almost seven months from the time the employees first sent the notice to negotiate. Until then, the Labor Code obligates both PLDT and MKP to respect the current CBA to preserve industrial peace.
PLDT management, through People Group first vice president JM Co, clarified the refusal to bargain as an unfair labor practice refers to an arbitrary refusal to negotiate he claims is not the case here because PLDT remains “willing and able to negotiate with MKP at the right time” which is during the freedom period.
“It is PLDT’s position that a strike conducted on this ground has no valid basis. This is supported by law and the parties’ rich bargaining history over the past 30 years,” Co said.
PLDT, he reiterated, respects its workers’ rights to self-organization within the bounds of law.
“Management urges all concerned to work together to achieve PLDT’s business targets and ensure that the basic right of its subscribers to connectivity are provided and remain paramount during this time,” PLDT said.
