18 February 2014, 7:55 p.m. – THE UNIVERSITY administration has finally broken its silence on the reasons for the deadlock in collective bargaining talks with the faculty, claiming union negotiators demanded a reduction in teaching units without cutting pay.
Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Clarita Carillo, in a letter to administrative and academic officials dated Feb. 17, said the University would pursue all legal remedies amid the impasse and assured Thomasians there would be no disruptions in classes and University activities.
The UST Faculty Union (USTFU) declared a deadlock in negotiations for a new five-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) providing for salary hikes and other terms of employment last Feb. 14, with some faculty members wearing black armbands in protest.
Carillo, head of the administration panel in the CBA talks, said the two parties had in fact agreed on 85 percent of the CBA provisions including additional benefits. By law, faculty members are entitled to 70 percent of tuition increases.
The administration, however, is “pained” by USTFU’s refusal to continue negotiations, she said. “Alas, it can only hope that teaching will again be valued for the pursuit of scholarship, for the nobility of that profession, for the practice of vocation whose inspiration is to participate in the mission started by the Greatest Teacher that ever lived,” Carillo said.
“Even as the University currently pursues all available legal remedies, it remains open to dialogue with USTFU in its constant commitment to uphold the interests of all its stakeholders, particularly the students,” she said.
USTFU President George Lim will issue his own statement, said Rene Luis Tadle, union internal vice president.
In her letter, Carillo said the faculty union had demanded a three-unit reduction in teaching load for the next academic year, and another three-unit reduction for three years thereafter, without decreasing salaries.
The administration proposed to prioritize qualified tenured faculty members in assigning teaching loads, but USTFU objected, she said. The administration, Carillo added, wanted to take into account academic preparation, competence evaluation, academic rank, and years of service, but USTFU insisted on retaining seniority as the primary basis for teaching assignments under the 2006-2011 CBA.
Management proposal to transfer promotions and reclassification to a separate faculty manual was also challenged by USTFU. USTFU, Carillo’s letter said, wanted to retain the 12.5-percent weight for research and creative works, instead of the 20 percent for promotion year 2016 and 25 percent in succeeding promotion years proposed by the University.
Moreover, USTFU wanted equal credits for published works by a single author and those of multiple authors, while the administration wanted credit points to be distributed when more than one author is involved.
The administration proposal to add levels per academic rank was also contested by the faculty union, Carillo said.
Under the Labor Code, a collective bargaining deadlock is a ground for a labor union to exercise the right to strike, and for management to declare a lockout. Both parties can still go through conciliation and mediation after the filing of a notice of strike by the union with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board or a notice of lockout by management with the Department of Labor and Employment.
The union can go on strike if the deadlock remains unresolved after a 30-day cooling off period. A seven-day strike ban must be observed after a mandatory strike vote in which majority of union members must approve. Gena Myrtle P. Terre
