Metro Manila – The National Conciliation and Mediation Board ends 2022 with no pending work stoppages with the disposition of all strike cases handled during the year. When the new administration assumed Office in July 2022, the Board had disposed of the actual strikes handled in the first semester and targeted to maintain a zero strike for the remaining months of 2022. However, it was cut short due to the two (2) strikes declared last November 2022 which were also eventually disposed of.

As mentioned in the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Updates report released by the Board as of 31 December 2022, the Board handled 390 preventive mediation cases in 2022. A decrease of 13% was observed from the 416 preventive mediation cases filed in 2021. Of the preventive mediation cases handled in 2022, 353 cases were settled or a settlement rate of 90.5%. In 2022, the highest number of preventive mediation cases filed with the Board was recorded in February. Across the country, the National Capital Region (NCR) received the highest number of preventive mediation cases representing 38.57% of the total preventive mediation cases filed nationwide.

In contrast to the preventive mediation cases, the Notice of Strike/Lockout cases handled by the Board is higher in CY 2022 with an observed increase of 2% from the 133 Notices of Strike/Lockout cases filed in 2021. A total of 136 new NSL cases were filed for the said period bringing the total NSL handled to 162 including the 26 pending NSL cases at the beginning of the year.

A total of 122 NSL cases or 75.3% were settled which strongly indicates that the Board succeeded in its mission of preventing work stoppage from occurring in the workplace. Despite the relatively high settlement rate, four (4) cases materialized into an actual strike/lockout.

Meanwhile, the Board was able to achieve a 100% disposition rate out of the eight (8) AS/L cases handled in 2022. The four (4) actual strikes which went through procedural process were disposed of, while three (3) ASL cases were settled amicably and one (1) was certified for compulsory arbitration. The (two) 2 actual strikes took place in the National Capital Region and were settled in less than 10 days.

Deputy Executive Director for Technical Services Teresita E. Audea noted that the factors which resulted in the speedy settlement and disposition of the cases were the result of team conciliation, marathon conciliation, and the continuous support and collaboration of various offices in the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Furthermore, the attainment of a zero strike at the end of 2022 would not be possible without the empowered commitment of the Board’s conciliator-mediators in maintaining industrial peace in the country.

END/ianne r. go