BACOLOD City – New Vallacar Transit Inc. president Roy Yanson urged labor union leaders to “sit down and discuss” matters with him instead of staging a strike.
According to Yanson, the planned strike has no legal basis and will only disrupt the lives of 18,000 workers of the bus firm.
He likewise reminded union leaders not to unduly place the future of Vallacar employees in jeopardy just to express support to the previous company management.
“Obviously, this strike call is more a political expression than a true strikable issue,” Yanson said on a statement.
His call followed the filing of an application for a notice of strike initiated by Hernani Braza, national president of the Philippine Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Workers’ Union (PACIWU) before the National Labor Mediation Board of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) citing alleged unfair labor practices by the bus company.
Braza announced the notice of strike a week after Yanson filed on July 18 a complaint before the National Labor Relations Commission against several labor leaders. He accused them of committing unfair labor practices during a fracas at the Ceres North bus terminal on July 14.
Several union leaders which included Rey dela Torre, the union’s vice president, two board members identified as Juvy Diama and Raymond Roldan and chapter president Franny Santarin were tagged by witnesses as the ones who reportedly tried but failed to initiate an alleged fake strike involving bus drivers and conductors.
The incident caused a temporary disruption of bus operations and near-scuffle between union leaders and several union members who defied orders by them to go on a fake strike against the management./PN
