Raymond Basilio, secretary general of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers Philippines says that with the historic signing of the collective negotiation agreement, the teachers must remain united and vigilant in the implementation of the said agreement. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY— More than 30,000 teachers in Davao region will be receiving additional benefits after the Department of Education and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT-Teachers) signed a Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) “for the democratic rights” of the teachers in the whole Region XI on Friday, August 5.
The signing last Friday morning at the the Emerald Hall, NEAP Building here capped five months of negotiations, said Act Davao Region Union President Elenito Escalante said.
Under the CNA, teachers will receive additional benefits including service credits for those who serve beyond six hours.
With the agreement signed, Escalante also said they would now push for the health card of the teachers.
Escobarte said the CNA would be submitted to the Civil Service Commission for “review and validation, then we will implement the provisions in the agreement.”
Escalante said they will also do a series of conference all over Davao Region to notify teachers of the agreement. He they hope that the benefits would be given before the year ends.
“For the teachers, the CNA is just a product of the concerted effort of everybody because the teachers gave time to suggest on what should be the content of the agreement,” he said.
DepEd Regional Director Atty. Alberto Escobarte congratulated the teachers and the DepEd Davao Region “for this historic milestone of having collective negotiation agreement on campaigning more rights to promote the interest and welfare of the teachers here.”
Meanwhile, Department of Labor and Employment Assistant Regional Director Jason P. Balais, who was also present in the signing, said the CNA is a “manifestation that the public sector union is working with the ACT-Teachers as the negotiation representative.” (davaotoday.com)
