Labor strikes up in H1

Workers nationwide seem to be getting jittery. For the first six months of the year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recorded a sharp increase in the number of work stoppages arising from labor disputes.

In a report to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello, National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) executive director Shirley Pascual said they have recorded a total of 11 strikes from January to June.

Pascual said the number of strikes recorded from January to June was way higher compared to the three work stoppages posted during the same period last year.

At the start of the year, Pascual said there were six pending strikes while five more work stoppages were declared since January. “Nine work stoppages were disposed

From B1 since January while two cases are still subject of on-going conciliation negotiations,” she said.

She noted that there were 37 pending notices of strikes while 67 new cases were filed for the last six months.

“Of the 104 cases we handled, 70 cases were disposed while four cases materialized into actual strike,” Pascual said while noting that there are still 34 cases pending before the NCMB.

She further reported that some P1.02 billion monetary benefits were awarded to a total of 6,452 workers during the six month period.

The NCMB official assured that the agency is exerting all efforts and implementing various programs to immediately resolve labor disputes and prevent more work stoppages.