BACOLOD City – The city council is requesting the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) and Prime Water Infrastructure Corp. (Prime Water) to immediately reinstate 59 retrenched employees, citing the decision of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in Region 6.
CSC-6 recently ordered such reinstatement “without loss of seniority” and the employees must be “entitled to full pay from the time of their separation until actual reinstatement.”
The city council agreed that the workers were terminated as a consequence of a joint venture agreement (JVA) entered by and between Baciwa and Prime Water which later resulted to a case filed before the CSC by the employees against the management.
The employees complained of illegal termination.
“It is in the best interest of the city that industrial peace prevails in the water district as a prolonged litigation will not only place the city in a bad light but will expend valuable energies and resources to concerns other that providing safe, potable and affordable water supply to the consuming public,” the Sangguniang Panlungsod stated.
Last Dec. 23, 2020 Baciwa’s board of directors declared the 59 employees and their respective posts “redundant” following a reorganization that stemmed from Baciwa’s joint venture with Prime Water.
But according to the CSC, Baciwa “failed to show adequate and convincing proof” that the reduction of its workforce and the termination of its employees’ employment were necessary./PN
