THE CENTRAL Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) has recently incurred a labor dispute in which strike action has been threatened.
The background is, reportedly, that Ceneco’s management and union members represented by the Ceneco Union of Rational Employees (CURE) reached agreement in September 2021. The agreement, again reportedly, failed to push through due to the intervention of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) which stated that Ceneco’s collection efficiency should be 95 percent.
Is my understanding correct? If so, it would seem that NEA’s intervention was not helpful.
Any negotiation should be between principals, or their representatives, who have the authority to negotiate in good faith.
It seems that NEA’s intervention has sabotaged Ceneco’s management/union agreement of last September.
This has meant that CURE members, almost unanimously, on Jan. 29, voted to go on strike with effect from Feb 7.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has stepped in so that the strike has been postponed.
I hope DOLE can facilitate an agreement in which implements the September 2021 agreement between Ceneco’s management and CURE.
On this occasion, I believe NEA should step aside.
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Nevertheless, this is an opportunity for the relevant government entity, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), to examine whether the situation is fair to Ceneco’s member consumers. This requires ERC to re-examine whether the agreements that Ceneco has made with its suppliers are equitable. In particular, Ceneco has been heavily dependent on its bilateral agreements with suppliers and has largely avoided buying electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). This is ostensibly due to the fact that the WESM price can fluctuate due to the supply/demand situation at the time of purchase. In contrast, Ceneco’s bilateral contracts have less possibility for price fluctuations (although the previous Kepco contracts provided for price increases when coal prices increased).
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In summary therefore, Ceneco consumers are entitled to expect similar prices compared with adjacent electric cooperatives. This has not always been the case. Ceneco’s prices have been higher than those charged by Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) – sometimes by as much as P2.50 per kilowatt hour.
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It is good that DOLE has assumed jurisdiction over Ceneco’s labor dispute.
I believe that, in parallel with the DOLE exercise, ERC should evaluate price differentials between electric co-operatives in Negros Island with a view to confirming whether or not action needs to be taken to ensure that all consumers are being treated fairly./PN
