TUBA, Benguet – The Philex Mining Corporation and the Philex Mines Labor Union (PMILU) recently forged an amended Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) specifically dwelling on the economic package that will grant the more than 1,200 workers with a reasonable increase in their daily wages for 2023 and 2024.
 
The amended CBA was signed by Philex president and chief executive officer Engr. Eulalio B. Austin, Jr. and PMILU President Herman Pingot covering a 5-year lifespan and achieve another CBA cycle.
 
Under the amended CBA that focuses on the economic package, the PMILU members will be receiving a P30 per day increase in their daily minimum wage starting January 2, 2023 and another P30 per day starting January 2, 2024 to complete the 5-year CBA cycle that started in 2020.
 
Further, all the Philex workers will also be receiving P2,000 as signing bonus for the successful amendment to the CBA.
 
The CBA signing was witnessed by regional director Atty. Ronda Doktor-Malimban of the Cordillera office of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB-CAR), other Philex officials led by its resident manager Engr. Rick Dulipas and PMILU officers.
 
Malimban commended both labor and management for their continuous cooperation and harmonious working relationship that paved the way for achieving an agreement after 4 meetings leading to the CBA signing.
 
For his part, Dulipas called on the workers to strengthen their dedication to their work in the company and for the older ones to inform and educate their younger ones on the importance of hard work and love of the job that they have applied for to achieve better performance in the future.
 
On the other hand, Austin rallied the union members to be reasonable in their future demands to ensure the sustainability of the company’s operation because he also knows and understands how to be a union officer being one of the founders of the Philex Mines Supervisory Union.
 
“We have to strike a balance in everything that we do so that the company will be able to further extend its mine life. We projected that Philex will be able to survive until 2027 depending on the factors such as the prevailing world metal prices, reduction of operating cost, among others,” Austin stressed.
 
Pingot expressed his gratitude to the company for approving the increase in their daily wages as per the amended CBA amidst the challenges it is encountering from internal and external factors, citing the sustained cooperation of the workers in the continuous company operations.
 
He appreciated the understanding of company officials on their plight for increase in wages as may be contained in the amended CBA and challenged his fellow workers to do their part in the improvement of the company’s performance.
 
It is the first time that Philex will be entering into a CBA with an independent labor union that is not affiliated with any federation of labor unions in the country. – Dexter A. See