Protest looms vs Visayan Electric

CEBU, Philippines —  Members of the Visayan Electric Company Employees Union (VECEU) are preparing for a widespread protest action against the management of Visayan Electric for alleged union busting, after 16 union officers and members were served their termination papers effective next month.

Roberto Pajena, VECEU treasurer and one of those who already received the termination notice, confirmed the union’s plan to stage a protest action despite the ongoing enhanced community quarantine.

 “Yes mao na among plano nga magprotest action gyud mi. Wa pa lang mi petsa kanus-a,” Pejana told The Freeman.

Other union officers whose employment with Visayan Electric will be terminated starting July 31 are Luigi Pusod, secretary; Glenn Amor, auditor; and directors Teofanio Nunez, Jr.; Edwin Borres; Alvin Pajo; and Kevin Enriquez.

Pejana said he received his notice of termination on June 22, 2020. The power utility company used the redundancy program as legal basis.

In a statement, VECEU, an affiliate of the National Federation of Labor Unions – Kilusang Mayo Uno (NAFLU-KMU), said that the redundancy program shocked them because the management allegedly did not give them advance notice.

In his online briefing to Visayan Electric personnel, the company president and chief operating officer Raul C. Lucero said that they are experiencing economic difficulties because of the COVID-19 pandemic and it needs to streamline business operations by reducing manpower through merging or consolidating of several departments.

As a result, several employees became redundant and were served notices of termination effective July 31, 2020.

Lito Ustarez of NAFLU-KMU said the company has taken advantage of the pandemic to “virtually bust the union.”

He added that the timing of the retrenchment program is highly suspicious as it was implemented at the time when the union could not physically protest the program because of the strict prohibition of mass gathering due to the ECQ status in Cebu City.

Pejana said the redundancy program is invalid because aside from being grossly arbitrary due to absence of proper consultation with the union, the company was also hiring the services of several hundreds of contractual workers from at least 20 labor-only contractors who are performing the same work and function with regular employees.

“The reasons advanced by Mr. Lucero in justifying the redundancy program were unacceptable because the company was far from being affected by the pandemic. In fact, the company still monopolized the distribution of electricity within its franchise area,” he added.

Pejana also debunked Lucero’s argument saying that while it was true that some customers may have failed to pay their electric bills during the pandemic, the same was only temporary and the company could surely collect them in the future when the situation gets better.

Jaime Paglinawan, chairman of Alyansa sa mga Mamumuo sa Sugbo-KMU (AMA Sugbo-KMU), a workers alliance in Cebu, said “the retrenchment program effected by Visayan Electric could never be justified because VECO remains highly profitable”.

Paglinawan said the Aboitiz Power, in which the Visayan Electric is a major power distribution company under it, had publicly announced that it earned at least P17 billion net income in 2019.

In the previous years, he said the utility firm also posted more than P1 billion net--part of it were revenues recovered from people who stole electricity charged to its customers as systems loss.

“VECO must account to the public how much it recovered and why the same was not refunded to its customers. It is clear, therefore, that VECO was riding on the current public health crisis to target the Union in the guise of implementing the redundancy program,” Paglinawan added.

VECEU, which has 120 members, is also planning to file another notice of strike against the Visayan Electric.

The management, in a separate statement, said that with COVID-19 impacting the economy on a global scale, it is crucial for organizations to be able to adapt to the constantly changing situation.

  It said it has created a new normal and has compelled them to rethink the way they work, to consider process re-engineering, retooling, and push further their program for digitalization.

 “As a result, Visayan Electric Company, Inc., together with its parent company AboitizPower, have assessed our current and future modes of operations and business conditions, which led to the necessity of doing an organizational restructuring. This will allow for resiliency and enable us to remain efficient, competitive, and sustainable as we move forward towards a post-pandemic economy,” the statement read.

 Lucero assured the affected workers that a substantial separation package and additional accommodations beyond what is legally required will be afforded to them by the company.

 “It is unfortunate that we had to implement an organization restructuring. We, however, assure the team members who will be affected that we will assist them throughout the transition,” he added.  FPL (FREEMAN)