THE UNIVERSITY has vowed to release the faculty’s P246-million share in tuition hike increases since 2020 once the deadlock in negotiations for a new salary and benefits deal is resolved.
In a list of “frequently asked questions” released on social media on March 25, UST said the amount, which comes from teachers’ legally mandated 70% share in tuition increases, will be disbursed in full, including interest.
UST also clarified that the money would neither be returned to students nor kept by management.
“UST is committed to completely distributing TFI shares, including accrued interests, compliant with regulatory policies. Beyond legal mandates, the University provides additional benefits tailored to prioritized needs, ensuring long-term stability for the institution while fostering the well-being and professional growth of its academic staff,” UST said in a separate statement posted to social media on March 25.
The FAQs and statement were issued after the UST Faculty Union (USTFU) filed a notice of strike before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board of the Department of Labor and Employment, triggering a process that could lead to a strike as early as May 2.
UST said it had allocated a total of P246 million for the teaching staff from the faculty’s mandatory 70% share in tuition collections from AY 2021-2022 to AY 2023-2024, along with remaining undistributed amounts from AY 2020-2021.
The P246 million includes the contested P26-million allocation for salary restructuring proposed by management.
EXPLAINER: Why UST faculty, admin are at odds over P26-million salary restructuring fund
USTFU, however, wants to keep the amount intact, calling on UST to shoulder the amount from its own revenue streams. It argued that the restructuring involves the promotions of specific faculty members, which is a management prerogative.
The union even claimed that UST management had issued a warning: the amount would be returned to students if USTFU did not want to take it from the faculty’s 70% share in tuition collections.
USTFU has stressed that it wants to negotiate benefits beyond the faculty’s 70% share of tuition increase mandated by law, Republic Act 6728 or the “Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education Act.”
‘Uninterrupted salaries during K to 12 transition, Covid-19’
Apart from clarifications on “frequently asked questions,” UST’s separate statement emphasized its support for faculty and staff, pointing to uninterrupted salaries and benefits during the K-to-12 transition and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The K to 12 transition is generally reckoned from 2016, while the pandemic broke out in early 2020.
In the three-page statement on March 25, UST reminded faculty that it did not resort to retrenchment even amid “significant transitions and disruptions,” highlighting its efforts to provide subsidies, grants, bonuses, and health benefits to its stakeholders.
“The University successfully navigated the K-to-12 transition without displacing a single tenured academic staff, offering Senior High School programs to retain tertiary faculty despite enrollment gaps in higher education,” UST said in the statement posted on social media.
UST also emphasized that during the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced schools to shut down in-person operations, it even gave bonuses and assistance to faculty.
“While other institutions resorted to reduced compensation or ‘no work, no pay’ schemes, UST maintained regular salaries and benefits, even conducting and completing CBA (collective bargaining agreement) negotiations for the 2016-2021 cycle online to secure better terms for staff,” it added.
UST also addressed USTFU President Emerito Gonzales’s statement to the Varsitarian, where he urged the UST administration to “truly invest in its people” to “boost morale,” “keep talented educators at UST,” and “help maintain UST’s academic excellence.”
UST countered that it “truly invests in its people,” citing tuition subsidies for academic staff at the UST Graduate School and training in other institutions.
Despite the deadlock, UST vowed to pursue “meaningful conversations” with the USTFU in the CBA negotiations to ensure fair allocation of faculty’s share in tuition hikes despite “finite resources” and policies and parameters in distribution.
“Despite the impasse, the University remains steadfast in its commitment to fairness, transparency, and full compliance with the law. The University will continue to engage in good-faith discussions with USTFU to finalize a just and sustainable CBA,” it said.
Before the deadlock, the USTFU had repeatedly asked the UST management to release teachers’ share in tuition hikes. However, the administration denied these requests, arguing that the distribution could only be done through a ratified CBA.
Union negotiators on March 14 demanded that the management stop holding “hostage in this labor dispute” the amount and fulfill its “moral and legal obligation” to release the share.
On March 7, CHEd issued a show-cause order directing Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. to explain within 15 days UST’s compliance with the distribution of the faculty’s share in tuition hike proceeds amid delays in CBA negotiations.
