When the University Hotel (UH) ceased operations during the pandemic, the beleaguered hotel had to reduce employees’ working days to one to two days a week, receiving salaries as low as around P280 per day, narrated UH worker Jerry Podol. During these dire times, workers relied on the UH Workers Union (UHWU), which spearheaded initiatives to fight for their rights and secure aid such as rice subsidies.

But this union now confronts the challenge of non-recognition from the management. On June 2, the UHWU hung a banner near the UH, calling the management to respect and acknowledge union committees and the provisions stipulated in their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). 

The University Hotel Workers Union (UHWU) hung a banner on June 2 near the UH, following the management’s non-recognition of various committees set by the collective bargaining agreement. (University Hotel Workers Union)

Such incident provides a glimpse into the conditions of workers’ unions within UP struggling for proper recognition, exposing the gaps in the university administration’s commitment to its employees’ labor rights.

With Reservations

UHWU Vice President Podol has worked as a waiter at UH since 2001. He is also the union chair of the grievance committee, which is the formal channel composed of union and management representatives that resolves grievances between the employer and employees. This committee is a product of the renewed CBA that the union negotiated with the management in November 2022, shortly after hotel operations resumed.

A CBA is a contract between an employer and a union that represents the employees, which contains the terms and conditions of employment, such as those related to wages, job security, and work hours.

But issues with the management still arose. The management’s non-recognition of various committees set by the CBA, such as those responsible for training, uniform acquisition, and grievances, is the primary source of the workers’ problems, Podol said. Without these committees, workers are unable to communicate their concerns with the management and forward their demands through official channels.

For one, the UH management began to talk to each worker individually about possible concerns instead of approaching the union through the grievance committee, said Podol. 

This precipitated the union’s decision to hang a banner near the hotel. Being the sole bargaining agent, the union is supposedly designated as the workers’ representative in dialogues. Bypassing it erodes the legitimacy of the commitments made in their negotiations.

“Kung may problema man sa workers, dapat kumausap ang management sa grievance committee para ma-address ang problema ng mga manggagawa,” Podol added.

 University Hotel (UH) Workers Union Vice President Jerry Podol has worked as a waiter at UH since 2001. He talks about the importance of union organizing and collective bargaining in securing labor rights and benefits, June 14. (Justin Delas Armas/Philippine Collegian)

Without recognition of union representation, workers become more vulnerable to abuse and severed from decision-making as a collective body. A worker was once demoted and transferred to another department without consultation despite their good performance and evaluation, Podol said. Then in February, in a move that the union called a “diminution of benefits,” the maximum number of allowable lates per month was reduced from six to three.

The plight of the UH workers concerning union rights and consultation, however, is not an isolated case.

Not At Their Service

Even though UP President Angelo Jimenez prides himself as a labor lawyer, the administration’s numerous instances of disregard toward workers and unions persist. Contractuals were recently threatened with tax deductions without prior engagement with the Alliance of Contractual Employees-UP. Meanwhile, the establishment of DiliMall lacked ample consultation with the UP Shopping Center Stallholders Association Inc.

And on June 6, the All UP Workers Union (AUPWU) released a statement calling on the administration to respect their Collective Negotiation Agreement, which stipulates that AUPWU must be consulted should there be a reorganization of staff. This was in response to an order the administration released on May 28 to replace the University Information System (UIS) without consulting AUPWU. Personnel hired to maintain the UIS faced the threat of their contracts’ non-renewal.

AUPWU eventually managed to secure a meeting on June 11, said Jossel Ebesate, national president of AUPWU. Though they were reassured that no jobs would be lost during the meeting, Ebesate said they would not have reached a point where workers feared for their jobs if only they had been consulted from the start.

The dire situation of labor rights and unionization in UP forms part of a bigger issue on a national scale. For the eighth straight year, the Philippines continues to be one of the 10 worst countries for workers, according to the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) Global Rights Index 2024. 

Among the reasons for this is the defective measures to facilitate collective bargaining. ITUC criticized the authorities’ power to interfere during the preparation process of CBA. Government employees also have more limitations, such as imposed “undue restrictions” on their right to strike. In many circumstances, parties are required to reconcile by a “neutral” third party regardless of unmet demands.

Wake-Up Call

Curtailment of union activities highlights the growing need to uphold labor rights, such as union recognition, timely dialogues between employees and employers, and transparency in implemented decisions. 

For UH workers, Podol said that union recognition is a key issue. He added that the employees, who are involved in the company’s day-to-day operations, must be given a say in decision-making processes. The UHWU is determined to push for dialogues and keep pressing the management to heed their demands.

As the representative of workers, unions are capable of advancing their demands for more equitable terms in negotiations and pressuring the government for more favorable regulations. To give workers more safeguards in forming unions and powers to negotiate with employers, the Makabayan bloc authored the Anti-Union Interference Bill. It was passed in the House of Representatives last year and now awaits action in the Senate.

In the face of challenges to the right to unionize, the UP administration is in a position to set an example by respecting and regularly engaging with its employees’ unions. Such actions by the national university may serve as a model for positive labor relations that can also strengthen the nationwide workers’ struggle. ●

First published in the June 19, 2024 print edition of the Collegian