VECO assures no disruption in services as labor union threatens to go on strike
CENTRAL VISAYAS: METRO CEBU
MEMBERS OF the Visayan Electric Company, Inc. (VECO) Employees Union have threatened to go on strike if no compromise is reached on salary increase. Meanwhile, VECO, in a statement, assured customers and stakeholders that the ongoing labor issue between the management and its employees’ union will not affect operations and services. Rolando Jimenez, union president, told The Freeman on Tuesday, Nov. 28, that negotiations on their collective bargaining agreement started in March this year and it was initially agreed that economic provisions like free hospitalization, one sack of rice monthly, and insurance coverage, among others, be given to the union members. However, negotiations on the salary increase are still ongoing. Mr. Jimenez said VECO declined their request for a 9% increase, or P9,100 staggered for five years. A 4% increase is now on offer, he added, but the union is haggling for 5.5%. He warned that if the deadlock is extended, the union, which has 157 members composed mainly of linemen and other rank-and- file employees, has no other recourse but to go on a strike. VECO Chief Operating Officer Anton Mari G. Perdices, on the other hand, said the management offered a reasonable salary and benefit package that is above what other companies normally give employees. Mr. Perdices said no matter the outcome of the mediation, the company’s services would be unaffected. VECO, owned by Aboitiz Power Corp. and Vivant Corp., is the secondlargest utility in the country covering major cities and four towns in Cebu. —