Following this year’s midterm review of the collective negotiation agreements for the two major UP unions, the All UP Academic Employees Union and All UP Workers Union won increases to key economic benefits after the Board of Regents met Thursday.

University employees represented by the agreements are expected to receive a P25,000 one-time professional development grant, up from the P15,000 they received during the term of former UP President Danilo Concepcion. This is besides the cash incentive that is part of the collective negotiation agreement worth P30,000.

However, a P10,000 increase to fringe benefits—which include grocery and rice subsidies—is still yet to be approved. The academic union is not yet done with their renegotiation, but they are targeting to finalize the agreement they will reach with the university by January next year.

“So ihahabol natin na by 2025 may madagdag sa mga benepisyo na yan. Meron ding batayan yung P10,000 ng Academic Union, kasi matagal na panahon na hindi tayo binigyan ng increase,” said Perlita Raña, national president of the academic union, during a mobilization at Quezon Hall on Thursday.

The unions are maintaining their calls to hike fringe benefits, even as conversations cool down ahead of the holiday season. (John Gabriel Mercado/Philippine Collegian)

What was Won

The All UP Academic Employees Union, as the sole bargaining agent of all faculty and research, extension, and professional staff across the UP system, has been insistent on hiking current benefits to counteract inflation for some time. 

The union initially asked for P30,000 for the professional development grant, which they initially proposed as an inflation mitigation grant. The initial counteroffer from UP for the grant was P20,000, which Raña described as too low.

Both sides eventually arrived at P25,000, which would include the backlog of P4,500 worth of fringe benefits from 2021 to 2023, plus an additional P500.

“Mayroon namang paghahalawan ito, kasi may precedent na ito noong 2017,” Raña told the Collegian. “So tinitingnan natin na kung kaya nung panahon na yun, bakit hindi na kaya yun ibigay ngayong taon?”

A lack of transparency from the university regarding its financial state made it difficult to propose increases during negotiations. In an Oct. 31 meeting, the UP panel said that while funding for government-mandated benefits comes from the annual national budget, funding for fringe benefits comes from income-generating projects like DiliMall.

While the union has made efforts to seek out data regarding the annual income generated by said projects, the bureaucratic hoops they have to go through to gain access have made the process difficult.

“Minsan hindi talaga binibigay yung financial statements ng university. Continuous assertion yung ginagawa ng union na dapat makita namin. Kung sabi niyo walang pera, asan yung basis niyan?” Rommel Rodriguez, the academic union’s vice president for faculty, told the Collegian.

The two unions will receive the P30,000 agreement cash incentive they asked for, the maximum for fiscal year 2024. University employees will receive the amount, which is sourced from savings generated from the university, once their agreements have been ratified and registered with the Civil Service Commission.

UP President Angelo Jimenez will announce the disbursement of the benefits during the Lantern Parade on Dec. 18.

Meanwhile, the All UP Workers Union—the representatives of the administrative staff—moved to close their renegotiation with the administration as early as October except for discussions about specific economic benefits.

But because civil service rules require a new agreement with new signatures before the document could be registered with the commission, both sides had to quickly reink the agreement on Nov. 14 so the union could submit it on Nov. 27.

While the workers union initially settled for lower offers on certain benefits, existing equity rules entail that the gains of their sibling union will apply to all university employees.

Most provisions in the agreement remained untouched, but one of the more important additions is the recognition of affirmative activities on official time.

“Lahat ng kanilang pagliban sa pagpasok dahil nasa affirmative activities like makipamuhay sila doon sa mga pamayanan like mga magsasaka, o pag may picket line … lahat yon ay on official time,” Jossel Ebesate, national president of the workers union, told the Collegian.

Standard protocols to prevent sexual harassment will also be instituted under the workers’ new agreement, with the original provisions revised to include labor and women's activities under official time.

What’s Still on the Table

Despite the Board of Regents approving the increased amounts for the two bonuses, the administration and the two unions have yet to agree on hikes to fringe benefits—which, apart from the grocery and rice subsidies, also includes the annual incentive grant.

Prior to last year’s incremental increase of P1,500, the last time these benefits were raised was in 2019. The annual incentive grant is currently worth P14,000, while the grocery and rice subsidies are worth P9,000 and P10,000 respectively.

The university’s latest offer to the two unions seeks to enact a P10,000 increase in two tranches, with a P5,000 bump in 2025 then another P5,000 after three years—or alternatively, P6,000 plus P4,000.

In their respective dialogues, both unions responded with a P6,000 bump for next year, with another P6,000 over the next three years. This is to keep up with inflation, the unions argued.

“Tumataas naman ang kinikita ng unibersidad like, for example, nagbukas na yung Robinsons sa dating Shopping Center, and I’m sure magdadagdag ng income nyan sa unibersidad,” Ebesate said.

With more income coming into UP through different projects, workers have been calling on Quezon Hall to give them their fair share. (All UP Academic Employees Union - Diliman Chapter/Facebook)

And especially for UP workers among the lowest salary grades, the need for bonuses to offset the low pay dictated by the government has been dire. Public sector workers under Salary Grade 1 only bring home less than P15,000 a month—considerably less than the needed wage of P26,209 per month or P1,205 per day for a family of five living in Metro Manila.

Union leaders are also asking for a P15,000 performance incentive award for contractual workers under job orders or contracts of service, since they lack an employer-employee relationship with the university and cannot receive any of the mentioned benefits.

What’s Next

Due to contractualization, a sizable chunk of the UP workforce will continue to struggle with minimal compensation despite holding regular responsibilities. And as the university props up more projects and programs, more of the university’s labor will be under a contract due to a shortage of permanent positions.

With budget cuts and understaffing running rampant in places like libraries and the Philippine General Hospital, the unions are heeding calls to create more permanent positions which will support those institutions.

The workers union is advocating for a third batch of conversion of contract-of-service workers to UP contractuals so they can at least start receiving benefits on par with their regularized colleagues. Both the union and the university have agreed to look into it, with regularization as the end goal.

“Naggagampan sila ng regular na trabaho, dapat regular din ang kumpiyansa,” Ebesate said.

But the work of the unions is not just limited to economic benefits on the bargaining table. The unions are calling on the university to engage in consultations as they prioritize commercial infrastructure over colleges and implement policies such as the UP-AFP Declaration of Cooperation.

“Patuloy na magiging vigilant ang union with other sectors of the university sa pag-assert ng rights and welfare ng constituents ng universities,” Rodriguez said. ●