The management of a giant bus company has denounced the strike staged by what it claims to be an “illegitimate union.”
In a press release sent to media outfits yesterday, lawyer Narciso O. Morales, chairman of the board and president of Del Monte Motorworks Inc., operator of the DLTB Bus Co., said the strike stopped 600 buses from plying their routes to the Bicol, Leyte, and Samar areas, affecting 10,000 passengers.
“It’s unacceptable that they (the strikers) who belong to an illegal union would declare a strike when people are aching to visit families hit by the recent typhoon or those wanting to spend the holidays in the provinces,” said Morales.
The DLTB management maintained that the strike is illegal since the protesting drivers are members of a union which is not even recognized by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).
Morales said the protesters are affiliated with the AGLO, a group which was soundly beaten by the Philippine Trade and General Workers Organization (PTGWO) during a certification election to determine who among the two warring parties has the right to handle the affairs and union dues of the company employees.
Morales denied the protesters’ allegations, adding that the real issue is rooted on who between the two warring groups has the right to collect union dues which reportedly amount to P300,000 a month.
Morales said both groups had agreed to raise the issue to the DoLE, which assumed jurisdiction with an order to AGLO not to resort to any strike or illegal assembly.
“They (AGLO members) refused to accept the order from the Labor department. They refused to recognize the authority of the secretary (of DOLE),” said Morales.
“Public service should be the paramount consideration,” he added.
In an interview with an online media the other night, the DLTB management said they have a ‘no lockout, no strike’ agreement as part of its CBA with the legitimate union in PTGWO.
DLTB passengers have taken the brunt of the strike, with most of them cancelling their trips to the provinces hit hard by Typhoon Nina and opting to spend the New Year in Manila instead.