ELECTED negotiators of the UST Faculty Union (USTFU) for the 2016 to 2021 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the University administration have taken to the labor department their complaint questioning the inclusion of union president Dr. George Lim as chairman of the negotiating panel.
In a Single Entry Approach (SENA) filed before the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) on Tuesday, lawyer Jose Ngo Jr., who got the highest votes in the recent election for CBA negotiators, said Lim did not go through the process of election as required by the union’s constitution and by-laws.
“We are questioning your qualification as member of the panel because you are not elected as such. The will of the USTFU members was clearly shown in the result of the elections for USTFU panel of negotiators. Your continuing disregard and disrespect of the will of the general members, we are afraid, is the very reason that will delay the CBA negotiation,” the letter read.
A SENA filed with the DoLE seeks to provide a “speedy, impartial, inexpensive and accessible” settlement procedure on issues concerning labor relations, to prevent full-blown disputes.
In a letter dated June 21, Lim threatened to sack the elected negotiators for causing “unnecessary delay” after they did not honor his call for a CBA panel meeting.
READ: Union chief wants CBA negotiators removed for causing ‘unnecessary delay’
The five negotiators staged a walkout after USTFU Treasurer Joyce Tan moved for the approval of the resolution naming Lim as head of the negotiating panel in a meeting last May 31.
Article 13, Section 1 of the faculty union’s charter states that “Collective bargaining for and in behalf of the general membership shall be undertaken by the Board of Officers through a negotiating panel the members of which shall be duly elected by the general membership.”
