Quezon City – After seven (7) months of discussion and conferences between the management of a memorial park in Region XI and its union, the longest active notice of strike, filed in November 2023, was finally resolved in the current quarter through the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism. This is just one particular case that highlights the Board’s dedication in delivering results to the satisfaction of the parties involved.

According to the ADR Updates released by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) as of September 2024, the Board has already disposed of 77% of its active Notices of Strike handled since the beginning of the year. With the largest number of notices of strike recorded in July, the Board was able to facilitate the award of monetary benefits totaling P229.8 million to 190 workers related to a single notice of strike on July 11 2024.

As of the end of the third quarter, the Board has successfully settled 78% of its cases handled through Preventive Mediation (PM). While there are still forty-one (41) pending PM cases by the end of the year’s third quarter, the Board was able to facilitate a total of P330.7 million in monetary benefits to 3,653 workers involved in these cases.

In the current year, the Board handled three (3) work stoppages related to wage increases, union busting, and violation/non-implementation of Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). All of these issues were resolved amicably, resulting in no pending active strike during this period. As a result of the peaceful settlement of disputes between workers and employers, 758 workers received half a million worth of monetary benefits.

Majority of the cases filed with the Board were from the Manufacturing industries. This was followed by companies under Transportation and Storage (2nd), the Electricity, Gas, Steam, and Air Conditioning Supply (3rd), and Agriculture, Forestry And Fishing (4th). These industries, grouped based on the Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC), have the most number of conciliation-mediation cases filed. The PSIC is a detailed classification system established by the Philippine Statistics Authority to categorize industries based on the types of productive activities undertaken by establishments.

Additionally, the Board successfully resolved over 2,500 requests for assistance filed through the Single Entry Approach (SEnA) program. As a result, the Board facilitated P300.3 million worth of monetary benefits to 3,041 workers. This year has recorded the highest number of RFA settlements totalling 2,601 RFAs settled since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. SENA’s primary goal is to provide a speedy, impartial, inexpensive and accessible settlement of labor disputes.

Meanwhile, over 70% of the total monetary benefits were awarded to workers who utilized the Voluntary Arbitration (VA) services of the Board. This equates to a total of P4.6 billion monetary award given to more than 1,500 workers. The VA program is one of the Board’s flagship programs allowing parties to select a competent, trained and impartial person who shall decide on the merits of the case and whose decision is final, executory and binding. For 2024, with the assistance and support of the Accredited Voluntary Arbitrators, the Board was able to dispose of 75% of its VA cases, majority of which originated from the maritime industry.

The NCMB is an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment serving as its conciliation and mediation arm. It promotes the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms as an alternative means of resolving conflicts between workers and employers in the private sector. In addition to dispute resolution, the Board also conducts seminars and orientation to private companies to foster shared responsibility between workers and employers. This is achieved through the facilitation of the establishment of labor-management councils/committees, as well as the institutionalization or operationalization of grievance machineries.

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