Job security, health, work safety top non-monetary benefits in 2016 CBAs

MANILA, Philippines — Employee unions are now putting emphasis on job security for workers, as well as health and workplace security among non-monetary gains from their employers, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

In a recently-issued report on non-economic provisions of collective bargaining agreements (CBA) in 2016, PSA reported that among non-monetary benefits, employees were most concerned about are union security, job security, union privileges, health and safety programs, leave benefits, and productivity enhancement programs in their workplace.

The government closely monitors the registration of CBAs as it is an indicator of harmonious labor-management relations and industrial peace in the country.

Collective bargaining is a process wherein employee unions and their employers agree to employment conditions that are not below the minimum standards fixed by law, and sets a mechanism for resolving grievances.

The resulting CBA, in turn,  is a contract containing agreements on economic and non-economic provisions for employment between the two parties.

Economic provisions in CBAs cover wage increases, loan benefits, bonuses, allowances, retirement plan, and other fringe benefits. Non-economic provisions, on the other hand, include union security clauses, grievance procedures, labor- management cooperation schemes, and other provisions without monetary value.

There were 328 CBAs registered in 2016 and almost all of them contained these non-economic clauses, said the PSA.

Union security clauses, which were seen in more than 90 percent of the registered CBAs, preserves the right to self-organization of employees and stipulates their duties and responsibilities as union members.

Job security clauses in CBAs had provisions for assuring the continuity of gainful employment and provides for just dismissal of workers, if warranted. These also provided for non-discriminatory means of filling up of vacancies.

As part of the health and safety program clauses of registered CBAs in 2016, employee unions successfully negotiated the conduct of various health services, chief of which was family planning programs. In terms of prioritization, this was followed by the institutionalization of recreation activities and facilities, provision of safety equipment for workers, and promotion of a work environment that discourages the use of illegal drugs. 

Almost all of registered CBAs in 2016 had provisions pertaining to leave benefits for workers. Aside from the standard vacation and sick leaves, several employee unions also successfully negotiated the provision of other leave benefits such as emergency leaves, bereavement leave, birthday leave, study leave, calamity leave, time-off, service incentive leave, wedding leave, legal leave, and personal leave.

Among the various types of productivity enhancement programs stipulated in CBAs registered in 2016, most agreements contained provisions for improving labor management relations at the workplace, job enrichment, reduction of monotony at work and provision of merit increases.