DAVAO CITY – The Radio Mindanao Network Davao Employees Union (RDEU) welcomed on Monday the decision of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) to dismiss the illegal strike case filed by the RMN management last year.
On November 13 last year the union ended their 41-day strike after a settlement was reached and all employees were told to return to work pending an illegal strike case filed by the management.
In a decision penned by Labor Arbiter Miriam Libron-Barroso, the NLRC declared that the strike was legal and that “1) the mandatory procedural requisites of a legal strike pursuant to Article 263, Labor Code, were complied by the union/respondent; and 2) RMN’s assertion that there was no refusal to bargain on their part stands on hollow ground.”
The decision also affirmed the position of the union that RMN committed unfair labor practice by grossly violating the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) when it hired new talents to replace resigned employees instead of hiring regular employees or regularizing qualified employees.
Gina Hitgano, president of RDEU, said the decision was “a victory for all media workers for two reasons, first, it vindicates our exercise of the right to strike which RMN wanted to prevent.”
Hitgano said the NLRC decision strengthens their resolve to continue their actions against “the management’s anti-labor practices.”
Hitgano said the decision also “underscores the need for media workers to unionize.”
“We need to assert our right to job security and regular employment,” she said.(davaotoday.com)
