Cebu med reps join nationwide protest over CBA deadlock

CEBU, Philippines - On the second day of the protest over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations, medical representatives of French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi-Aventis held a prayer-vigil rally nationwide, including in Cebu.

Dennis Derige, spokesperson of the Partido ng Manggagawa-Cebu that assisted the affected employees here, said they held a vigil and lighted a candle at the regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment.

Derige said this is part of the protest to pressure the management after talks for the Collective Bargaining Agreement reached a deadlock over ten items from salary hike to hospitalization plan since October of last year.

A protest was held nationwide last Wednesday with some 100 med reps launching a rally at the Sanofi corporate headquarters in Makati while scores of other union members picketed the DOLE regional offices in the cities of Cebu, Angeles in Pampanga, Bacolod and Davao.

Sanofi-Aventis Employees Union, in a statement, said it can organize a work stoppage as its notice of strike has already matured since Friday.

SAEU vowed to sustain daily actions to push for the resolution of the CBA deadlock.

Lei Lucido, president of the union, in the same statement calls on the management to meet halfway the demands of its loyal, hardworking employees.

“Sanofi med reps are just asking for a salary we deserve. We are appealing for a fair share of the fruits of our labor,” she said.

Lucido added that for two straight years, med reps have met their tough sales quotas and revenues are increasing while the number of employees is decreasing.

“A good collective bargaining agreement that provides for a living wage and decent benefits is the Rx for the productive and demanding work that med reps deliver. Sanofi-Aventis is a very profitable company that can afford to be generous to its employees. We remind management that happy workers are productive workers,” said Joseph Corpuz, a SAEU officer in the same statement.

SAEU represents some 200 med reps working for the company all over the country.

It said that Sanofi-Aventis is among the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the Philippines and is fourth largest in the world in terms of sales.

Sanofi-Aventis (Philippines) Inc. is the subsidiary of the multinational firm Sanofi based in France.  (FREEMAN)