Improving the workers’ situation should be at the center of CBA negotiations, especially amid rising cost of basic goods and services.
CAGAYAN DE ORO — Workers of the country’s biggest abaca pulp mill in Balo-i, Lanao del Norte, are now in their third week of their work stoppage as they fight for a fair wage hike.
Junard Ramos, president of Newtech Pulp Workers Union-Federation of Democratic Labor Organization (NPWU-FDLO), criticized the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment tasked with settling labor disputes, for allegedly lacking urgency to resolve their negotiations with the management of Newtech Pulp Incorporated (NPI).
Ramos said that having no salary for several days affects the workers. “The NCMB has no care for us because they only conduct their hearing once in a week.”
In the past labor disputes, Ramos recalled that the NCMB conducted hearings daily.
On March 6, NPWU’s 66 rank-and-file workers, together with 29 members of Newtech Pulp Supervisory and Staff Union (NPSSU-FDLO), launched a strike after a deadlock in their separate negotiations under their collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
They opposed the company’s offer of a P1,350 (US$22.46) monthly increase for NPSSU and P1,150 (US$19.14) for NPWU because these are lower compared to NPSSU’s P2,550 (US$42.43) monthly increase from 2023 to 2024 and NPWU’s P2,355 (US$39.19) monthly increase from 2022 to 2024.
The NPWU president claimed that NPI, a subsidiary of US-based multinational corporation Magnera, allegedly could not comply with their demand due to the change in production target.
Prior to 2025, their monthly target of abaca pulp products reportedly stood at 1,100 metric tons (MT) but it was reduced to 650 MT when there was a change in the management.
Ramos said that the unions agreed to the new target so that the company could observe the market demand. But he said they did not expect that NPI would also use it as a basis for a proposed lower wage increase. “We were demoralized.”
The NPSSU and NPWU already reduced their demands to P2,000 (US$33.28) and P1,800 (US$29.95), respectively, if the monthly production target remains at 650 MT, with corresponding increases for every increase in the production target. However, they said the company maintained its offer.
Striking workers set up a large tent in front of the plant along the highway in Barangay Maria Cristina in Balo-i town which makes them visible to the motorists. They gather every day, displaying banners that highlight their calls for protection of their CBA benefits. There were concerned individuals and groups who gave food.
Ramos said that their rice and medicine benefits were allegedly cut even though their employment was not terminated.
The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) expressed its solidarity with NIP workers, stressing that improving the workers’ situation should be at the center of CBA negotiations, especially amid rising cost of basic goods and services.
The group also appealed to Magnera to intervene in the dispute at their facility in the country.
“We hope that the company offers a sympathetic ear to the workers’ plight amidst their wages’ decreasing purchasing power and that it approaches the situation from a perspective grounded in labor rights,” Kamz Deligente, CTUHR executive director, said in a statement.
The NPWU president said that prolonging this strike affects them financially because of the number of days of not getting paid. But they need to exercise this right to fight for a fair wage hike, urging NCMB to render a swift resolution. (DAA)
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