A possible strike was averted when the labor and management of Golden Gate Batangas Hospital Inc. settled their labor dispute on January 22, 2024.  RCMB IV-A. Director Edgar Aquino and Conciliator-Mediator Corazon Fegi collaboratively exerted efforts to settle the Notice of Strike concerning deadlock in CBA negotiations.  

The parties conducted plant level negotiations but failed to reach an agreement. The management’s manifestation that they cannot provide the union’s demand on some of the economic provisions of the CBA pushed the Union to file the notice of strike on November 17, 2023.

Initially, the Union raised 17 CBA deadlock items on both economic and non-economic provisions. 

From the 17 deadlock items identified by the union, Con-Med Fegi was able to trim down the issues to eight items namely salary adjustment, hazard pay, hospitalization, out-patient benefits, vacation leave, sick leave, signing bonus, and Christmas gift.

Through the continued communications of both parties and with the intervention of Con-Med Fegi, union and management agreed not to have a wage increase in the 4th year of the CBA due to the impact of the issuance of Wage Order No. IV-A – 20 issued by the RTWPB on September 24, 2023.

This helped the parties to narrow down the field of disagreement and focused on the 5th year wage increase with union asking a Php60.00 increase to settle the dispute. However, management requested to maintain the existing economic provisions since the hospital is still recovering from financial difficulties.  

With the feedback and counter offer of management, the union became dissatisfied and requested for the conduct of a strike balloting on January 8, 2024. The union conducted the strike voting on January 17, 2024 and immediately submitted the results on January 18, 2024.

In the conference held on January 22, 2024, the parties reached an agreement of P100/month for the 5th year of the CBA that resulted in the signing of the settlement agreement. The estimated monetary package of the CBA stands at Four Million Pesos benefitting more than 170 covered employees.

End/R. Aguilar2024/edited by D. Aguirre