APRIL 30, 2013

NR # 3089

Protection of workers during business overhauls pushed

The countrys largest organization of labor federations and unions will continue to fight for the protection of workers and the preservation of their jobs during mergers, consolidations or transfer of businesses. Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza of the Trade Union Congress Party (TUCP) Party-List said, any merger, consolidation or transfer of business should not diminish the wages, benefits and other employment terms and conditions of the affected employees. Mendoza filed House Bill 1557, which seeks to oblige the acquiring or transferee employers to continue the employment of the transferor employers employees. An employment that has been zealously earned, industriously worked for, valued and treasured should be secured. Protection should extend to remunerations and benefits, with all the enhancements merited due to years of arduous service, Mendoza said. Mendoza said the TUCP has consistently advocated, not only for job generation, but more importantly, for job protection and preservation. Competition among businesses has become tremendously intense that the dictum bigger is better has obtained zealous advocates the world over, including our countrys multinational companies, Mendoza said. This is most especially true in this interesting time and age of globalization. Because of the need to become bigger and more competitive, the incidence of mergers, consolidations and acquisitions, including the sale or transfer of all or substantial assets, business enterprise has become very rampant, Mendoza said. The problem is, Mendoza lamented, some employers device these schemes a corporate mechanism, not really for the purpose of obtaining competitiveness but with the end in view of violating workers security of tenure, among other rights of employees. This plethora of previously unfamiliar corporate occurrences creates a trail of novel issues, such as the rights of employees and liabilities of the employers. This is when the issues of the security of tenure, diminution of wages and benefits and other employment terms and conditions come to fore, Mendoza said. Mendoza has been strongly batting for his proposed measure saying it is the States policy to extend utmost protection to the security of tenure, wages, benefits and other employment terms and conditions of employees in cases of merger or consolidation of the business of their employer with other entities.

The protection shall extend in case an employer acquires, transfers, sells, assign,s conveys or leases all, or substantially all assets, business enterprise or going concern to another employer or business entity. Under the measure, the transferee employer shall have the obligation to continue the employment of the transferor employers employees, without loss of seniority rights and other privileges. In case of differences in the employment levels, wage and benefit scales, and other employment terms or conditions, the superior or most favorable to the employees shall prevail. The transferor employer shall be liable to money claims pertaining to the period when the transferee employer was still the employer. The measure also aims to limit the ground for termination of employment to redundancy and shall be liable for separation pay or other benefits as prescribed under the Labor Code. Plus it sets a presumption that if the transferee employer or new company becomes a bigger entity than the prior one, there can be no declaration of redundancy as the business can absorb the employee, Mendoza added. The measure also requires the new company to give an employee declared to be redundant in a certain position first priority for employment in the newly created position, if qualified. Finally, the measure sets out rules on recognition of existing bargaining agents and agreements, protecting not only the unions, but also the benefits worked hard for by them as embodied in the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA). (30) jsc