NO TO INTERVENTION! ASSERT OUR RIGHT TO SELF-ORGANIZATION! A critique on the “National Workers’ Congress” sponsored by the PSLMC

Submitted by courage_phil on Fri, 03/20/2009 - 12:29.

We,
the public sector workers have the inherent right to self-organization. The
right to form and join associations, engage in collective negotiations and
concerted action including the right to strike is enshrined in the Philippine
Constitution. The new found vigor and the democratic changes brought about by
the ouster of the dictatorship by the collective power of the people pave the
way for the government employees to wield this right to fight for their job and
job security amidst the threat of then bureaucracy-wide reorganization program.
Since then, the government employees collectively through their unions have
made advances in the pursuit of their just demands for better pay, improved
working conditions and the exercise of their union rights.  Government employees made history with their
militant public sector unionism.

 

But
the history of public sector unionism is also replete with concrete and
conscious efforts of the government through its instrumentalities such as the
Civil Service Commission, Department of Budget and Management, Department of
Labor and Employment through the BLR, to intervene, suppress and violate this employees’
right.  In 1986, at the height of the
employees’ vigorous campaigns for salary increase and against lay-off which was
manifested in the thousands that took the streets, the government issued
Executive Order 180. While said EO recognized the public sector workers’ right
to organize, it nonetheless impinged on this right by stipulating what and what
cannot be done. This was preceded by the CSC Memorandum Circular No. 6 which
clearly stated that employees cannot engage in concerted action, more so, to
strike. The CSC also issued Resolution No. 021316 or the Omnibus Rules on Prohibited
Concerted Mass Actions in 2002 in response to the growing militance of the
sector in asserting their rights.

 

In the midst of the
many unions that triumphantly concluded their respective CNAs including the
signing bonus, the DBM issued a moratorium on CNA. DBM retracted due to the
employees’ protests and said the moratorium was only on the signing bonus. And
again, because of our militant opposition, the PSLMC allowed the granting of
the CNA incentives.

Lately,
the required number of members for union registration was increased by the BLR
from 10% to 30% of the total rank and file employees, in addition to the many
others that made it more difficult for the employees to register their union.
The CSC has also interfered not only with the accreditation of unions but also
with the registration of the unions’ CNA. The CSC has required unions to submit
their concluded CNA only to be told of what is negotiable and what is not
according to their interpretation despite the fact that said CNAs went through
the whole gamut of the negotiation process and therefore has become mutually
acceptable to both union and their respective management who signed the CNAs. The
CSC has also been consistently coddling and supporting the yellow leaders and
formations such as PGEA, CIU, and PSLINK who have acted as spokespersons and
agent of the government.

 

But
what could be a more glaring manifestation of state intervention on the
employees right to self-organization is the creation of the Public Sector Labor
Management Council. The PSLMC is composed of the Secretaries of the DOLE, DBM,
DOJ, and the chairperson of CSC, with the CSC acting as its secretariat. It has
been instrumental in making decisions that adversely affects public sector
unionism. It has taken interference to a higher level by initiating and
sponsoring the holding of a supposed “National Workers’ Congress” where
employees are being coerced and obligated by their management to participate
and attend to represent their unions. The said Congress has become a veritable
venue to push for legislations, programs and others which are essentially
biased against the employees. Their attendance was a presage to their witting
or unwitting concurrence.  And in order
to legitimize and sanitize PSLMC, they staged another zarzuela, of electing
supposed employee-representatives to act as observer in the PSLMC
deliberations.

 

The PSLMC in reality is the Public Sector MANAGEMENT and MANAGEMENT
Council. There can never be genuine employee representation in a body that was
created in the first place by the state to directly intervene in the employees’
right to self-organization. The Commission on Human Rights validated our
earlier position that since the “National Workers Congress” was initiated and
led by the PSLMC or the management, there is clear violation of the workers’
right organize and manage the affairs of their unions independently.

 

And
we will not let this come to pass. We say enough is enough!

 

We
shall not allow them to use the employees to pass anti-employee legislations
such as the proposed Salary Standardization Law III which clearly favors only
those officials receiving astounding salaries and perks. The proposed SSL III would
freeze our salaries to deeper starvation levels. The CSC has been exposed
earlier in 2007 in manoeuvring to make employees sign petitions for the passage
of the Government Compensation Classification Act or GCA without the benefit of
discussion. We shall not allow another scheme to hoodwink us. Our position
remains P3,000 increase for the minimum pay, yearly adjustments and respect for
what we are currently enjoying like our additional benefits, CNAs, Magna Carta
and others borne out of our life and death struggles.

 

No
to the proposed Civil Service Code or “amendments” to EO 180 which gives too
much power on the CSC and PSLMC to decide on public sector unionism related
issues and lay down measures to further stifle the employees full exercise of
their union rights including the right to strike.  We shall instead ask Congress to legislate
the enabling law which will grant us the exercise of our right to strike, to
create an independent/third party and NOT THE PSLMC to decide on labor disputes
and other legislations based on our government employees’ agenda.

 

This
parody that is the PSLMC is condemnable, because while it is consistent in
denying the looming lay-off of government employees and parroting the
government’s line that EO 366 is voluntary retirement, it is suspiciously
silent on the appointments of officials with questionable integrity and
eligibility - CSC’s very own Ricardo Saludo was bypassed by the CA, Romulo Neri
of the notorious NBN-ZTE scam is at the SSS, Manny Gaite who gave Lozada money
is now a commissioner at SEC and the countless retired military and police
officials, in clear violation of the supposed merit, fitness and promotion
system in the civil service and a creeping militarization of the bureaucracy. And
it’s acquiescence to a corrupt and illegitimate administration is an insult and
bane to employees and public service.