SMB management, workers renew CBA

The management of San Miguel Brewery, Inc. Mandaue Supply Center and its workers’ union, Kahugpongan sa Ligdong nga mga Mamumuo, recently signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The signing of the CBA was considered as another milestone towards industrial peace.

Dubbed as the fastest and most speedy negotiation, the agreements between both parties were reached and made final within two hours and 45 minutes.

Exequiel Sarcauga, director of the Department of Labor and Employment-7, said that for a relationship to work there must be trust, confidence, and transparency.

He said these are important tenets necessary to promote industrial peace in the workplace.

Sarcauga lauded SMB management under the leadership of its president, Roberto N. Huang, who flew in from Manila just to witness the CBA signing.

“I would like to congratulate SMB for a job well done. I wish that the kind of relationship you’ve established among your workers will continue to thrive and will eventually be emulated for in all of Region 7,” Sarcauga said.

Edmundo Mirasol, regional director of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board-7, also said the KLM has proven itself to be a true partner of SMB management.

Mirasol said that both parties have embraced a non-adversarial way of sorting out issues and concerns.

Mirasol added that with the kind of healthy and peaceful working relationship among its management staff and those in the rank-and-file, SMB has become instrumental in the exemplary performance of the Mandaue City Tripartite Industrial Peace Council.

Joel Gonzales, DOLE-7 assistant regional director, commended the way SMB management fosters, supports, and upholds industrial peace.

“It is evident that social dialogue is manifested in the workplace. The issues and concerns if not fixed and negotiated at the plant level could have elevated and grown into something very challenging to deal with. But with the way they handled these concerns, SMB management and KLM are able to prove that labor and management should be partners sharing a common interest in the success and growth of their company,” Gonzales said.

KLM is composed of 13 daily paid workers in the manufacturing department with Mariano T. Gacrana as its president.