COALITIONS of labor unions and student groups have expressed solidarity with employees of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), as faculty and staff prepare for a strike over stalled wage talks and onsite work requirements.
The UA&P Union of Faculty Members (UA&PUFM) and the UA&P Union of Allied Employees (UA&PUAE) filed a notice of strike in early August, citing what they described as a bargaining deadlock with university management.
The dispute centers on demands for salary increases and resistance to a return-to-office policy, which the unions say disregards the economic difficulties faced by teachers and staff.
Since the strike notice was filed, the unions have received public backing from groups such as the Solidarity of Workers in Private Education (SWIPE), Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)-Private Schools and Council of Teachers & Staff of Colleges and Universities in the Philippines, the unions said in a joint statement on Thursday.
Also supporting their case are the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights in the Philippines and Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan, it added.
These organizations echoed calls for wage adjustments and criticized policies that they say worsen the financial and professional burdens of private school employees.
“This shows the reasonableness and justness of our demands, especially given that we benchmarked our collective bargaining agreement to industry standards,” UA&PUAE President Keith Panganiban said in a statement.
The UA&P management did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment. BusinessWorld also reached out via the university’s official Facebook page but did not get a response.
Under the Labor Code, a strike grounded on a collective bargaining deadlock may be carried out 30 days after a notice is filed, provided that it is approved by a majority of union members.
It may push through seven days after the Department of Labor and Employment’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) is notified.
The UA&P unions are scheduled to meet management in an NCMB conciliation session on Friday, the UA&PUAE said.
“We are undergoing conciliation mediation in NCMB,” UA&PUFM President Ferdinand D. Delos Reyes said in a Viber message, adding that the university management “did not reach out” to the unions for talks.
The unions have “exhausted all possible legal means,” in pressing for their demands, according to the joint statement, citing a SWIPE statement from Aug. 11.
ACT–Private Schools had also called on UA&P to recognize the economic realities facing teachers, the unions said, citing an Aug. 10 statement from ACT.
“We believe that our fellow private school educators’ call for just economic benefits and wages are all the more essential, especially under current circumstances where economic crises, soaring prices, and rising costs of living persistently burden our teachers,” according to the ACT statement cited by the UA&P unions. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
