FACULTY union officials are up in arms over a new policy excluding summer teaching pay from the computation of the mandatory 13th-month salary.
Professors received a memorandum from the Office of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and Research (OVRAAR) that summer teaching compensation is not included in the 13th-month pay, said Reynaldo Reyes, UST Faculty Union (USTFU) vice president for grievance and complaints.
The 13th-month pay, which all employers must grant under the Labor Code, is equivalent to one-twelfth of the total salary for an academic year, according to the 2006-2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
“Most faculty members were unaware that they were waiving such by the mere fact that there was a waiver in that summer teaching load,” Reyes said.
In a previous interview with the Varsitarian, USTFU President George Lim said the union was unaware of the new policy, prompting officials to ask for clarifications on the computation of the 13th-month pay.
“We still have to figure out why,” Lim said.
Reyes said the union will clarify the matter in the next CBA negotiations.
The summer teaching pay is different from the summer vacation pay, which is included in the 13th-month salary.
Under the 2006-2011 faculty CBA, faculty members (excluding lecturers, special lecturers, associate lecturers, and professorial lecturers) who have taught in the University for at least five years or 10 semesters, with an average semestral teaching load of 12 units in the graduate level or their corresponding equivalent in teaching hours, will receive a two-month summer vacation pay equal to twice the average monthly compensation in the immediately preceding academic year.
“`Yung summer vacation pay, `yan ang sinali sa 13th month pay,” Lim said.
The Varsitarian sought comments from Vice Rector for Finance Manuel Roux, O.P., but he declined.
New officers
Meanwhile, new union officers took over last June to replace those who have resigned.
Former board director Gemma Aboy of the Institute of Religion is the new vice president for external affairs, replacing Rebecca Castro of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery who resigned last year.
Former USTFU Secretary General Evangeline Timbang resigned last month, and was replaced by former board member Dr. Recto Calingasan of the College of Science. Timbang is the new Hotel and Restaurant Management department chair.
Calingasan is in charge of the membership committee. “What we are fixing now is the definition of who really are the members [of the union],” she said.
Aurora Domingo, who has resigned as union treasurer, was replaced by Bing Garcia of the College of Nursing.
Science professor Edilberto Gonzaga, Pharmacy professor Pablito Marasigan, lawyer Jose Ngo, Jr. of Accountancy, and Jonas Sahagun of the Central Library were elected USTFU board directors last June 28. B. D. NICOLAS
