CDC employees buck new CPCS pay scheme
By The Voice Newsweekly Team
CLARK FREEPORT — More than 600 employees of the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) staged a protest march on June 24 to oppose the implementation of the Compensation and Position Classification System (CPCS) which they said will affect their salaries and benefits and demoralize employees, especially those who have been with the agency for almost 30 years.
At the same time, the CDC management assured the employees that they exert all efforts to help the employees in their plight.
The employees, members of the agency’s labor union Association of Concerned CDC Employees (ACCES), expressed grave concern over the CPCS following the issuance of the Authority to Implement (ATI) by the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GCG) to CDC on June 22, 2022.
Under the CPCS table issued to CDC, only 35 members of the top management, from managers to the president, would be given wage increases while more than 635 rank-and-file workers saw diminutions in their salaries.
Aside from the looming reduction in the salaries, allowances, benefits and incentives (ABIs) due the employees will be discontinued under the CPCS, including the health coverage, the retirement plan, the cost-of-living allowance (COLA), housing, utilities and transportation allowances, the Meritorious Service Pay (MSP) based on an employees’ length of service, and the retirement package or separation pay that is also based on the length of service.
Employees stand to lose about Php4,000 to Php8,000 a month in ABIs that they earned through their CBAs since the inception of the union in 1997 as these would no longer be honored in the CPCS.
ACCES President Edsel Manalili said the monthly ABIs the employees would lose include the hazard pay (Php500), housing (Php750), utilities (Php750), transportation (Php500), the cost of living allowance (Php1,000), and the rice subsidy (Php1,500).
The employees would also stop receiving their Meritorious Service Pay of Php1,500 for those who have served five years of work, Php1,500 for 10 years, Php2,000 for 15 years and up, and their annual uniform allowance of Php10,000.
The CDC employees said the suspension of benefits will have a strong impact on their families, given the current inflation on basic commodities and the continuous oil price hikes.
The workers’ predicament was further aggravated by CDC’s looming shift in insurance coverage from the Social Security System (SSS) to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). Prospective membership will supposedly take effect on July 1, 2022, as imposed during a “dialogue” spearheaded by the management.
Employees who choose to activate their membership retroactively would have to pay arrears in contributions to GSIS covering their years of service in CDC.
The employees wore black clothing and marched around the CDC corporate offices during their free time on June 24 to express their opposition to the implementation of the new pay-scale system.
In a letter on June 20, 2022 to CDC President and CEO Manuel R. Gaerlan, ACCES officials said the migration to GSIS is “a direct violation of their existing Collective Bargaining Agreement”, making this “tantamount to unfair labor practice”.
“Our CBA partakes the nature not simply of a contract between us, but the very law that binds us. Any contrary opinion will not matter. More importantly, our right to CBA is protected by the Labor Code and guaranteed by our Constitution. This is what binds us and NOT any one’s opinion,” the union officials stated in the letter.
The union members appealed to Gaerlan and the CDC Board to exhaust all efforts to appeal, postpone and halt the CPCS implementation as this will gravely affect the financial status of the CDC workforce, especially rank-and-file employees.
They also urged Gaerlan to impose a status quo on the current compensation system and the benefits, including the shift to GSIS that requires higher premiums resulting in lesser take home pays.
Manalili is hoping for a peaceful and equitable resolution of the issues at hand, saying: “ACCES is the bridge between employees and management. Let us cross that bridge together for the sake of CDC employees who are on their way to serving 30 years in the corporation. But if you build a wall, we will tear it down.”
CDC has over 440 rank-and-file workers belonging ACCES and around 100 supervisors, excluding managers and assistant managers, organized as the Association of CDC Supervisory Personnel (ACSP). Overall, from 655 to 688 direct employees including managers, will be affected by the CPCS.
Meanwhile, the CDC management and Board of Directors said they will exhaust all efforts and legal means to help CDC employees in their plight over the “unjust” implementation of the CPCS which has affected the financial status of rank-and-file employees and stripped them of their allowances.
During a press conference held over the weekend, Gaerlan said the CDC management and CDC Board will request for the suspension of the CPCS implementation and appeal to the GCG to give the CDC rank-and-file higher Job Grade equivalents.
“We will fight for your welfare. We will appeal sa GCG at kung kinakailangan ay sa Office of the President dahil yung naging basehan ay isang executive order,” Gaerlan said. He said the management will also consider filing a motion for reconsideration for the job position classification in view of the loss of some of their workers’ allowances and incentives due to the implementation of the CPCS. “I enjoin the members of ACCES na pagtulung-tulungan natin ito. We support you fully. We are one with you in convincing, hopefully, the GCG, so they will reconsider,” Gaerlan said. The CDC president said the CDC management is aware of the employees’ concerns and completely support them in voicing out their grievances in the hopes of convincing authorities, notably the GCG, to reconsider their decision on the CPCS. “Sana naman ay mas maging paborable sa ating mga manggagawa,” Gaerlan said, mentioning the management and the Board have spoken with the chairman, vice-chairman, and other members of the CDC Board of Directors on the matter.
