Philex, labor union ink P385 million benefits agreement

>> Sunday, March 6, 2022

TUBA, Benguet -- Philex Mining Corp. and Philex Mines Independent Labor Union (PMILU) recently signed a P385.855 million 5-year collective bargaining agreement package that is retroactive to 2020.
    The CBA was signed by Philex president and chief executive officer Eulalio Austin Jr. and PMILU president Herman Pingot.
    With the pact, both parties renew their commitment to maintain industrial peace in the mine site after a strained relationship between members of negotiating teams during a prolonged dialogue.
    The CBA only covers the wage-related and cash benefits of the 1,287 daily and monthly paid rank-and-file workers of the country's largest producer of gold and copper.
    But the non-cash benefits granted by the company to workers such as free housing for their families, transportation, and free schooling for their dependents, among others, that account for an additional 75 percent of their wage-related and cash benefits, are not included in the coverage of the CBA.
    For the first the years of the life of the CBA, PMILU members will be receiving approximately P193.46 million in terms of accumulated benefits.
    Philex continued to operate during the Luzon-wide lockdown after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases classified mining as an export-oriented industry that must not be unduly interrupted.
    Austin cited the labor union for having understood the position of management in striking a balance of everything during the negotiation process.
    He thanked the national and regional officials of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board for their intervention that paved the way for both parties to agree on the conditions of the CBA and the economic package attached to it to sustain industrial peace in the mining company.
    The Philex official said lessons learned by both parties during the negotiation process should be used to enhance harmonious working relationship between labor and management for the benefit of the concerned stakeholders and the host and neighboring communities that depend on the company for their jobs and other related economic activities.
    Austin said Philex is the only company that is providing its workers with one of the highest compensations in the whole Cordillera, placing second to Texas Instruments in terms of economic package for its workers.
    At present, Philex provides its lowest rank employee with more or less P900 daily wage, which is way above the P350 prescribed daily minimum wage in the Cordillera, and the P535 mandated minimum daily wage in the National Capital Region or Metro Manila.
    Pingot said he was proud to be a part of the negotiation process that allowed the increase of benefits for the workers based on the agreed 5-year CBA.

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