Metro Manila – The National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) marks its 37th anniversary on January 4, 2025. For nearly four decades, NCMB has steadfastly served as the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) key instrument in promoting and maintaining industrial peace.
As part of its mission, NCMB actively champions programs aimed at achieving, sustaining, and enhancing industrial harmony. Despite the magnitude of this responsibility, the Board remains vigilant and proactive, ensuring that workplace concerns and labor disputes are promptly and effectively resolved.

Notwithstanding the constraints in manpower and resources, NCMB successfully met and exceeded its targets in three key program areas: Labor-Management Cooperation (LMC), Grievance Machinery (GM), and Voluntary Arbitration and Conciliation-Mediation (VA/CM). The year 2024 tested NCMB’s mettle as it dumped on it the weight of complex and critical cases with issues much like nuts hard to crack, requiring innovative approaches to score settlement.

The LMC and GM-VA programs of the Board share a common goal: improving labor-management relations. In 2024, only 148 out of 5,293 companies with Labor-Management Committees (LMCs) experienced cases, reflecting a low 2.8% case incidence rate. Similarly, among the 5,404 companies with functioning Grievance Mechanisms (GMs), only 157 disputes were filed with the Board, resulting in a 2.91% incidence rate.

In the same year, 77 LMCs were established in 75 organized companies, and 388 were facilitated in unorganized companies. Additionally, 81 GMs were operationalized in 67 organized companies, while 395 were institutionalized in unorganized companies.
To strengthen the effectiveness of these bipartite mechanisms, enhancement activities were conducted. In 2024 alone, 2,394 LMCs and 2,490 GMs underwent capacity-building initiatives to ensure their readiness to address workplace concerns and disputes.

The Board has also demonstrated its commitment in resolving labor disputes effectively. As the conciliation arm of DOLE, it has consistently maintained minimal strike incidences. Notably, the percentage of Notices of Strikes escalating to actual strikes remained below 6% in 2024, underscoring the Board’s steadfast dedication to fostering industrial peace.
In 2024, out of 163 Notices of Strikes handled, only four (4) progressed to actual strikes, resulting in an impressively low strike incidence rate of 2.45%. Remarkably, all four strikes were successfully resolved, achieving a 100% disposition rate. On the other hand, the settlement rate for Notices of Strike has been recorded at 80%, with 115 settled Notices.

Meanwhile, for the preventive mediation cases, out of the 383 handled, 339 were settled, with a settlement rate of 89%.

The Board’s efficiency in resolving disputes at the early stages was further demonstrated by its success in addressing Requests for Assistance. Of the 4,913 Requests for Assistance processed in 2024, 3,491 were amicably settled, reflecting a settlement rate of 71%.

NCMB’s Trailblazing Efforts and Prestigious Awards

The Board reached a significant milestone with the development of the e-SEnA system, which enhances the efficiency of the Request for Assistance Management System and contributes substantially to the Department’s Integrated Case Management System (ICMS).

Additionally, two (2) policies on the SEnA program were issued in CY2024, while the Revised Manual of Procedures for Conciliation and Preventive Mediation Cases was endorsed to the Office of Labor Relations Cluster Head.

The Board’s commitment to excellence was further demonstrated through its recent recognition as one of the Outstanding Accounting Offices for 2023 by the Association of Government Accountants in the Philippines. Adding to this distinction, the Commission on Audit (COA) awarded NCMB an Unmodified Opinion for the fifth consecutive year, underscoring the agency’s adherence to high standards of financial transparency and accountability.

Moreover, the Board maintained its recertification for the Quality Management System (QMS) for CY2024, reflecting its dedication to continuous improvement.
The NCMB also made a significant intellectual contribution by participating in DOLE’s 13th Research Conference, where it presented a study on the labor strike model. This research serves as a valuable addition to the Department’s knowledge base and underscores the Board’s proactive role in advancing labor relations.

The accomplishments of NCMB in 2024 stand as a testament to the unwavering determination, passion, and hard work of its officials and staff. Beyond the statistics, these achievements reflect lives uplifted, workplaces revitalized, and industries fortified. NCMB’s steadfast commitment has cultivated a culture of bipartism, trust, and collaboration—an enduring proof of the transformative power of conciliation and mediation.

Looking ahead, as an integral agency of DOLE, NCMB is poised to advance its mission with greater effectiveness, driving innovation and creating a lasting impact in the pursuit of industrial peace and harmony.

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