Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz reported that the Department of Labor and Employment conducted an average of more than five (5) job fairs per

day, or about 150 nationwide per month. “These job fairs from 01 January to 30 November 2012

resulted to more than 71 jobseekers hired-on-the-spot (HOTS) per job fair, or 111,100 HOTS for the eleven-month period,” she said.

In reporting the DOLE’s job fair results for the year, Baldoz thanked the social partners representing labor, employers, local government units, other agencies, schools, and civil society for their active support that made possible the 111,100 HOTS from the 1,553 job fairs during the reporting period.

Baldoz especially cited the 19,575 employers who participated in these job fairs.

“By making available decent and productive job vacancies to applicants, including fresh graduates and new entrants to the labor force, these employers have contributed to the national goal of addressing job-skills mismatch. Their convergence with the DOLE brightened the employment picture, leading to a more dynamic labor market, and contributing to the Philippines’s economic competitiveness and growth,” said Baldoz.

DOLE 2012: Banner Year for Job Fairs

111,100 hired-on-the-spot in DOLE’s 1,553 job fairs in 2012 – Baldoz

She emphasized that based on the DOLE’s Statistical Performance Reporting System covering the first eleven months of 2012, the 111,100 HOTS constituted 10 percent of the total 1,062,602 job applicants placed in all types of jobs by the DOLE through the network of DOLE-supervised Public Employment Service Offices.

“The banner achievements demonstrate the effective role of the PESOs, as the country’s National Employment Facilitation Network, in giving life to the Constitutional policy to provide full employment and expand the existing facilitation service machinery of the government, particularly at the local levels,” Baldoz said.

The DOLE’s job fairs are designed to bring together employers and jobseekers in convenient venues. In these job fairs, it brings along pre-employment documentation services from partner agencies, such as the DFA, NSO, BIR, SSS, and Phil Health,

Happy Holidays!

The President, assisted by DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz and Undersecretary Danilo P. Cruz, observes an applicant using the DOLE’s internet-based Employment Kiosk during the 2012 Labor Day Job and Livelihood Fair held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Turn to page 7

DOLE Good News

Readers’ queries, comments, and suggestions are welcome. Mail or fax them in, or call us at telephone numbers 527-3000 loc. 621. Our fax number is 527-3446. You may also visit our website: www.dole.gov.ph; or e-mail us at dole_lco@yahoo.com or laborcommunications@gmail.com.

The DOLE Good News is published by the Department of Labor and Employment, with editorial office at the Labor Communications Office, 6th Floor, DOLE Building, Intramuros, Manila. The views expressed herein are those of the writers and/or their sources and do not necessarily reflect those of the DOLE’s or the Philippine Government’s.

EditorNICON F. FAMERONAG

Director, LCO

Associate EditorKAREN R. SERRANO

Staff WritersJOSE C. DE LEON

MARK JAIME L. CERDENIAMA. VERONICA R. ALMAZORA

CELESTE T. MARINGHAZEL JOY T. GALAMAY

REVELITA F. LAXINA

Editorial AssistantsGIRLIE MARLYN E. ARCEMADELYN D. DOMETITA

Graphic ArtistGREGORIO I. GALMAN

PhotographerJOMAR S. LAGMAY

Circulation ManagerGIRLIE MARLYN E. ARCE

Contributing Regional Writers

GENEVIEVE S. TATAD - NCRGEORGE LUBIN, JR. - CAR

ARLY S. VALDEZ - Region 1REGINALD B. ESTIOCO - Region 2JEREMIAH M. BORJA - Region 3

FRANZ RAYMOND AQUINO - Region 4A ANDREA JOY AGUTAYA - Region 4BRAYMOND P. ESCALANTE - Region 5

AMALIA N. JUDICPA - Region 6EMMANUEL Y. FERRER - Region 7

VIRGILIO A. DOROJA, JR. - Region 8GAY IRIS TANGCALAGAN - Region 9

MILDRED E. DABLIO - Region 10JOCELYN C. FLORDELIS - Region 11

CHARMAINE DAWN L. SONSONA - Region 12FRANCIS Y. NAZARIO - Caraga

� November 2012

“Ang Pasko ay simbolo ng kapayapaan at pag-asa. Ito ay panahon ng pagsasaya at pagbibigayan; panahon ng pasasalamat sa Panginoong Diyos sa mga biyayang kanyang ipinagkaloob.

Kaya naman, kasama ang mga opisyal at kawani ng Kagawaran ng Paggawa at Panghanapbuhay, ako ay bumabati sa lahat ng manggagawang Pilipino ng isang Maligaya, Mapayapa, at Masaganang Pasko.

Nagpapasalamat din ako sa inyo dahil kayo ang inspirasyon ng aming patuloy na pagsusumikap na makapaglingkod ng buong tapat upang makamit ang pambansang mithiin ng ating Pangulong Benigno S. Aquino III na sama-samang pag-unlad ng sambayanang Pilipinas.

Kalakip ng aking pagbati at pasasalamat ang pagdarasal na kayo, sampu ng inyong mga mahal sa buhay, ay maging masaya at malusog hindi lamang sa Araw ng Pasko, kundi maging sa susunod na mga araw.

Umasa kayo na kaisa ninyo ang Kagawaran sa pagtataguyod ng inyong mga pangarap.

Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon.”

Pamaskong Mensahe ng Kalihim

DOLE Good News

�November 2012

For 19-year old Edwin Lee Non, the Department of Labor and Employment’s Special Program for

the Employment of Students (SPES) was not just a mere short-term employment program. It also brought him closer to his dream of continuing his education while providing for his family.

Belonging to a migrant family of eight from Basilan, the inevitable reality of dropping out from college and taking chances on any job had stared Edwin in the face. In Metro Manila, the young lad tried his luck by working as a service crew in various food chains along the bustling streets of Boni Avenue in Mandaluyong City.

Then one fateful day, he chanced upon a posting of McDonald’s for the hiring of out-of-school youth. Edwin immediately went to the Madaluyong Public Employment Service Office (PESO) for the screening. The following day, he got his lucky strike.

“I went to the Boni Branch of McDonald’s in Mandaluyong for the interview, and on the same day I was hired. It was fast. It must have been really for me,” he shared.

Edwin became one of the beneficiaries of the SPES partnership between the DOLE and McDonald’s Philippines, under which the fast food giant hires SPES ‘babies’ for its restaurants all over the country.

As of October 2012, the nationwide implementation of the SPES has benefitted 135,529 student-workers and out-of-school youth, 13.8 percent higher than the 119.045 SPES beneficiaries in 2011. The number of ‘SPES babies’ is already 97 percent of the targeted 140,000 beneficiaries for the year.

“With the reinforced implementation and strengthened partnership with the pri-vate sector this year, the DOLE has again made an impact in the lives of thousands of Filipino youth who have no means but have the ability to pursue college educa-tion,” Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said.

The performance of the 16 regional offices in SPES implementation reflected increased number of beneficiaries from January to October 2012 vis-a-vis their allotted budget. The National Capital Region has allocated P63 million for 15,041 students; CAR, P9.2 million for 4,060 students; Region 1, P16.3 million for 4,869 students; Region 2, P16.9 million for 9,508 students; Region 3, P28.4 million for 9,249 students;

DOLE’s SPES ‘exposed’ 136,259 youth to world of work, 13.8 percent higher than in 2012

Region 4A, P28.7 million for 8,189 students; Region 4B, P13.6 million for 6,689 students; Region 5, P12.6 million for 4,804 students; Region 6, P17.6 million for 8,550 students; Region 7, P23.4 million for 15,661 students; Region 8, P12.1 million for 8,021 students;

Region 9, P19.7 million for 8,155 students; Region 10, P20.5 million for 14,432 students, Region 11, P20.9 million for 5,884 students; Region 12, P22.6 million for 6,335 students; and CARAGA, P14.7 million for 7,082 students.

“The program implementation this year effectively served national efforts towards poverty reduction and the preparation of

the country’s underprivileged youth for productive employment,” Baldoz said, confidently adding that the 2012 SPES budget of P340,282,000 to target 140,000 poor, but deserving, students all over the country can be realized by the end of the year.

True to his promise during the Labor Day 2011 celebration, President Benigno S. Aquino III released an additional P168.1 million budget for the SPES in 2012, saying underprivileged, but industrious, students who face the prospect of not being unable to enroll in college due to lack of funds deserve government assistance.

Edwin was one of those deserving students who got the opportunity to experience gainful employment from the government’s employment bridging program. His hard work and perseverance paid off when he was chosen as one of the 44 SPES hires of McDonald’s Philippines absorbed on probationary status in preparation for regularization.

“I will be earning a minimum wage for the first time, and that alone gave me enough zest to report for work every single day. Such drive exudes in my performance giving me the extra boost of energy. I’m thankful for the SPES,” Edwin said.

SPES, an employment bridging mechanism that enables student-beneficiaries to gain skills and workplace experience, was established in 1992 under Republic Act No. 7323, later amended by RA 9547. The program encourages the employment of poor, but deserving, students during the summer and/or Christmas vacations, through incentives granted to employers, allowing them to pay 60 per cent of their salaries or wages. The other 40 per cent is paid through education vouchers issued by the DOLE.

Under SPES, private sectors employed poor students and out-of-school youth who deserve to go to school under SPES. They hired food service crews, customer touch points, office clerks, gasoline attendants, cashiers, sales ladies, ‘promodizers’, and many other positions. LGUs participating in the SPES assign the students to clerical, encoding, messengerial, and other computing jobs.

“The DOLE highly considers the private sector and our LGUs as partners to reinforce the long-term impact of the program to our student-beneficiaries. Such partnership is borne out of their corporate social responsibility as they take part in helping more students,” Baldoz said.

“I will be earning a minimum wage for

the first time, and that alone gave me enough zest to report for work every single day. Such

drive exudes in my performance giving me

the extra boost of energy. I’m thankful for the SPES.”

— Edwin Lee Non, former SPES beneficiary turned McDonalds crew

DOLE Good News

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said the government is ready

to roll out its convergence program on child labor, “H.E.L.P. M.E.”, which will provide focused , converged, and therefore, synchronized strategies to effectively address the problem of child labor in the country.

Baldoz bared that the convergence program, H.E.L.P. M.E. is a community-based approach against child labor and has a proposed budget of P9 billion to be implemented in four years, or from 2013 to 2016.

The convergence strategy calls for bringing down the government’s child labor programs and services in the barangay level, the lowest echelon of governance.

H.E.L.P. stands for health, education, livelihood, and prevention, protection, and prosecution, while M.E. stands for monitoring and evaluation.

“H.E.L.P. M.E. will contribute to the realization of the country’s ultimate Millennium Development Goal of eradicating poverty through decent work,” said Baldoz.

“By 2016 we aim to have freed at least 75 percent of the 2.9 million child laborers in the country. We intend to

DOLE 2012: Breakthrough in fight against child labor

Four-year P9-B convergence program on child labor ready for roll out — Baldoz

vigorously implement H.E.L.P. M.E. through stronger cooperation among partners to ensure that this target is achieved,” added Baldoz.

H.E.L.P. M.E was conceived by the Cabinet’s Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC), with the DOLE and the Department of Social Welfare and Development as lead agencies, upon the instruction of President Benigno S. Aquino III for a deliberate, harmonized, and convergent approach in addressing the problem of child labor in the country.

The goal of the convergence program is to move out at least 893,000 children from hazardous work.

Baldoz explained that the proposed budget for the convergence program will augment existing programs and services in health support for children’s growth, education support, such as transport to and from school, school uniforms and supplies, and meal allowance, livelihood for parents of child laborers, and child labor prevention and protection, as well as the prosecution of child labor offenders.

The DOLE, leading other government agencies and private sector partners in nationwide consultative workshops this year, has identified a total of

15,568 barangays as targets for the implementation of the convergence program. The 15,568 barangays are classified into three levels.

Under the barangay-based, or community-based, child labor convergence program, the DOLE is working with partners, such as the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Health, Interior and Local Government and its local government units, Trade and Industry, Education, Justice, Environment and Natural Resources, Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, National Economic Development Authority, Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Philippine Information Agency, labor unions and workers’ organizations, employers’ groups, ILO and other international organizations, non-government organizations, professional medical and dental associations, faith-based organizations, and other partners.

“We will continuously exert efforts in providing various programs anchored on the National Child Labor Program. Through the convergence program, the DOLE, its partners, and other stakeholders, especially the people in the community, would be able to curb child labor in the country,” Baldoz said, adding that that President Benigno S. Aquino III’s administration is very determined to curb child labor using this barangay-based approach convergence program.

� November 2012

BALDOZ AWARDS LIVELIHOOD STARTER KITS TO PARENTS OF CHILD LABORERS. Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz (5th from right), after awarding several livelihood starter kits to parents of child laborers in Brgy. Pulong-Buhangin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, pose with the parent-beneficiaries and their children, together with Mayor Bartolome “Omeng” Ramos, DOLE Undersecretary Lourdes Trasmonte, DOLE Region 3 Assistant Regional Director Geraldine Panlilio, PESO National President Elizabeth Alonzo, and Pulong-Buhangin Brgy. Chairman Ricky Buenaventura. The livelihood starter kits are part of the DOLE’s income augmentation for parents of former child laborers.

DOLE Good News

�November 2012

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said the Department of Labor

and Employment has made a great stride in the fight against child labor in 2012 with its community-based Child Labor-Free Barangay Campaign which underscores the government’s determination to minimize, if not end, child labor in the country.

The Child Labor-Free Barangay campaign, launched by the DOLE in July 2012, seeks to bring down to the community level--the barangay, the basic geo-political unit--the campaign against child labor, foster common understanding on, and gain public support for, the DOLE Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program.

“As a result, we reached out to free 89 barangays in 2012. I myself personally visited 30 of these barangays in 15 regions from July to November 2012. In these barangays, the DOLE, through its regional offices, benefited 4,863 child laborers and 1,849 parents with various converged programs and services,” said Baldoz in a year-end press conference at the DOLE in Intramuros, Manila.

The campaign, using con-vergence strategies, aims to free identified barangays from child labor, and also to influence change, identify allies, and solicit commitments of support of stake-holders, specifically government a g e n -c i e s , n o n - govern-ment and faith-based organizations, local chief executives, pri-vate sector estab-lishments, and the parents of child la-borers themselves.

“The DOLE’s child labor-free barangay campaign sets the tone for child laborers and their

DOLE’s novel child-labor free barangay campaign gets underway; 89 barangays, 4,863 child laborers, 1,849 parents reached in 2012

parents in the target barangays to take the first step towards self-transformation and empowerment through education or other interventions,” said Baldoz.

“At the barangay level, we are implementing measures to prevent and eliminate child labor with the full support of the community and its leaders,” Baldoz added.

During Baldoz’s barangay visits, which she started in July and ended in November, she enlisted the support of local government units, non-government organizations, and the parents of present and former child laborers to the DOLE campaign. All the barangays she had visited have firmed up their collaboration with their LGUs and other government offices through memorandum of agreements and barangay resolutions.

The barangays which Baldoz had visited during the year were Brgy. Pasong Putik, Quezon City and

Brgy. 194 Villamor Airbase in Pasay City in the National Capital Region; Brgy. Balenguian, Jabonga in Agusan del Norte ; Brgy Ipil-Ipil, Catarman in Northern Samar; Brgy. Azagra in Tanjay City in Negros Oriental; Brgy. Antipolo, Pontevedra in Negros Occidental; Brgys. Kibuaya, Hagonoy, and Pasig, Kiblawan in Davao Del Sur; Brgys. Butong, Quezon, San Jose, Mt. Nebo, and Valencia City in Bukidnon; Brgys. Bagumbayan, Nursery, Pating, and Tugbo in Masbate City; Brgy. Alcala in Pangasinan; Brgy. Baloan in La Union; Brgy. San Emilio, Ilocos Sur and Brgy. Pinili, Ilocos Norte; Brgys. Bulatok and Butong in Pagadian City; Brgy. Dalahican in Lucena City; Brgy, Bula in General Santos City, and Brgy. Libas in Buenavista, Marinduque.

Most of the children beneficiaries in these barangays were engaged in hazardous work, such as scavenging, deep-sea fishing, farming, mining, domestic work, hauling of logs, stevedoring, and production of

pyrotechnics . She explained that DOLE regional

offices nationwide are working with local government units in the formulation of local/barangay development plans, ordinances,

and resolutions essential in preventing and eliminating

child labor in their respective communities.

“In 2012, our campaign strategies focused on stricter enforcement of child labor laws, knowledge sharing

through the Child Labor Knowledge Sharing System, i n t e g r a t e d l i v e l i h o o d through the DILP-CED, emergency

employment through the CBEP, and alternative employment for child workers’ families,” said Baldoz.

A pair of child worker-beneficiaries beam as they receive their school supplies.

DOLE Good News

� November 2012

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis- Baldoz reported that the Department,

through its regional offices, has issued labor standards compliance certificates, or LSCCs, to 129 public bus companies with 4,934 bus units in nine regions as of November 2012.

The LSCCs are proof that these bus companies have conformed with the provisions of Department Order No. 118-12, or the Rules and Regulations Governing the Employment and Working Conditions of Drivers and Conductors in the Public Utility Bus Transport Industry.

“In 2012, we have not only effectively addressed the alarming number of road accidents and traffic violations in the country. Through D.O. 118-12, we have also mainstreamed bus drivers and conductors into the formal sector so they can receive better pay and enjoy better working conditions,” said Baldoz.

D.O. 118-12, a social protection reform measure, mandates a fixed- and performance-based compensation scheme. Under the fixed wage component, bus drivers and conductors should be paid salaries which “in no case should be lower than the applicable minimum wage or basic wage plus cost of living allowance for work performed during normal hours/days” and should include payment of 13th month, holiday pay, and other social benefits.

The performance-based component is based on business performance, safety performance, and other parameters.

Baldoz explained that the 129 labor standard compliance certificates issued to the PUB companies effectively cover 6,770 bus drivers and 6,438 bus conductors, or 13,208 workers who will receive fixed salaries not lower than minimum wage, and other mandatory

A first in the history of bus transportDOLE issues LSCCs to 129 bus companies with 4,934 bus units, 6,770 drivers and 6,438 conductors, assuring them of increased protection

economic benefits and incentives from their employers.

An LSCC attests to a bus company’s compliance with the provisions of D.O. 118-12, such as the payment of part-fixed and part-performance pay; provision of social benefits and better work conditions. It is also a part of the requirements in the renewal of franchise with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

The DOLE, together with its attached agency, the National Wages and Productivity Commission, has been at the forefront of improving the working conditions of workers in the transport industry.

It can be recalled that on November 2011, the DOLE, together with its tripartite partners signed a Joint Statement on Road Transport Safety. This was followed by the issuance of Department Order 118-12, which took effect on 1 February 2012.

To carry out the order’s provisions, the DOLE actively provides assistance through one-on-one and group learning sessions and orientations, guiding bus companies in the formulation of fixed and performance-based compensation scheme, and providing necessary training on driving skills and safety and health.

“We long for the time when being a bus driver or bus conductor is also being a decent and dignified worker because he or she is amply paid and protected, thus assuring public safety as his or her bus plies our streets,” Baldoz finally said.

DOLE, MMDA OFFICIALS COMMEND VICTORY LINER. DOLE Undersecretary Lourdes M. Trasmonte (4th from left) and DOLE National Capital Region Director Allan Macaraya (3rd, left), together with other DOLE and Metro Manila Development Authority officials, applaud after Usec. Trasmonte had awarded the Labor Standards Compliance Certificate of bus transport firm Victory Liner, Inc. through Ms. Monette Gantioqui (4th from right), Victory Liner marketing manager, for having successfully complied with Department Order No. 118-12 and with other labor laws, rules and regulations during a simple awarding ceremony at the Office of the Secretary in Intramuros, Manila.

“We long for the time when being a bus driver or bus conductor is also

being a decent and dignified worker because

he or she is amply paid and protected, thus

assuring public safety as his or her bus plies our

streets.” – Secretary Baldoz

DOLE Good News

�November 2012

Saying that the government’s reintegration programs have enriched local opportunities for

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz bared that the year 2012 has been a year where more OFWs ventured into entrepreneurship.

“We now reap the harvest of the government’s reintegration programs as we recognize and reach out to more returning OFWs who have sought for alternative sources of income and increased employability through sustainable livelihood undertakings in their own homeland,” Baldoz said.

Baldoz said the opportunities provided by the DOLE’s Balik Pinay! Balik-Hanapbuhay! Project made it easy for OFWs to decide to stay in the Philippines for good and to no longer seek jobs in foreign lands.

Citing the report of the National Reintegration Center for OFWs, Baldoz said that as of November 2012, the Balik-Pinay! Balik Hanapbuhay! Project has provided livelihood starter kits and financial assistance worth P38.9 million which benefitted 3,705 individual and group OFW-beneficiaries.

The number of women O F W- b e n e f i c i a r i e s doubled the 1,630 OFW returnees assisted by project in 2011.

The project’s livelihood assistance component, which includes the availment of P10,000 pesos and the provision of ready-to-rollout, self-

A record year for OFW reintegration3,705 OFWs opted to start small business with the DOLE’s Balik-Pinay! Balik-Hanapbuhay! Project; double the number in 2012

“More than capacitating our

OFWs financially, the project helped them move forward in life. It boost sustainable

employment creation and increased

productivity that will eventually provide

equal and viable opportunities to help,

if not, inspire more OFWs that there is, indeed, life after an

overseas adventure.” — Secretary Baldoz

employment package of services, has benefitted 3,001 OFW returnees and families.

Meanwhile, the year-round skills training component also provided skills training for 495 women OFWs on entrepreneurial ventures from training institutions, such as the TESDA, Department of Trade and Industry, Technology Resource Center, and the Agricultural Training Institute.

“The extensive implementation of the project not only provided means for displaced women OFWs to plan, set-up, start, and operate a livelihood undertaking, but also equipped our OFW-beneficiaries with

and Pag-Ibig in a one-top-shop service scheme to facilitate the search for jobs of new graduates and new entrants to the labor force.

Baldoz again encouraged jobseekers to try their luck in the DOLE’s many job fairs, and also urged them to build their skills to attract employers. She also said that just like in the early part of 2012, the DOLE will announce in advance the dates and venues of its job fairs to enable job seekers to plan their

skills that are highly in-demand in the local market which increased their chances of finding better job opportunities,” Baldoz explained.

“This project is a boost to local employability,” she added.

Health and wellness business undertakings, such as reflexology, massage, home spa, cosmetology and production of bath soap, scented oils, herbal medicine, skin/health care products; house repairs, such as plumbing, welding, electrical servicing, appliance repair; food processing, such as native snack preparation and other food and beverage preparation; personal accessories repairs and maintenance, such as cellular phone and bag repairs; and handicraft, such as souvenir items, fashion jewelry, native slippers, bags and accessories production, are the businesses availed by OFWs under the Balik Pinay! Balik Hanapbuhay! Project.

Aside from the reintegration programs, the NRCO has also provided re-employment facilitation to 763 displaced OFWs who sought for local and/or overseas employment; psycho-social and legal counseling to 5,109 OFWs; and capacity-building through the conduct of Entrepreneurial Development Training and Financial Literacy Orientation to 12,143 OFWs.

“More than capacitating our OFWs financially, the project helped them move forward in life. It boost sustainable employment creation and increased productivity that will eventually provide equal and viable opportunities to help, if not, inspire more OFWs that there is, indeed, life after an overseas adventure,” Baldoz ended.

job search. The schedule of these job fairs are also posted in the website of the Phil-Jobnet, the official on-line job search and job matching portal of the government, on the URL, http://phil-job.net.

“I encourage you to continue honing or upgrading your skills so you will qualify for job vacancies in the year-round job fairs that the DOLE conducts in cooperation with PESOs and the DOLE regional offices in accessible venues, such as city and municipal halls, PESO offices, schools, sports gyms, and malls across the 16 regions,” she said.

111,100 hired . . .(from page 1)

The country continues to enjoy a peaceful and stable labor relations situation as the number of work

stoppages remain at single digit levels.This was the report to Labor and

Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board’s Executive Director Reynaldo Ubaldo, who said only three strikes occurred during the year, marking the sixth year in a row that the DOLE and its attached agency, the NCMB, managed to maintain strike incidence in a single digit.

The three strikes are one more than the two cases declared in 2011 and comprise a meager 1.4 percent of the 207 notices of strike handled by the NCMB during the year, Ubaldo reported.

Ubaldo noted that none of the three strikes happened in the National Capital Region, or in the Southern Tagalog Region, or in Central Luzon, all of which have long been regarded as the traditional seat of assertive labor in the country.

All three strikes were declared during the second semester of 2012.

The first work stoppage occurred at Radio Mindanao Network in Region 11 in July, but it lasted for only eight days following successful efforts by the DOLE and the NCMB to settle the dispute which led the parties to an agreement for a three-year CBA package worth more than P36M.

“Although there were three work stoppages, productive mandays lost declined significantly as a result of fewer workers affected by strikes,” Ubaldo explained.

The vastly stable industrial relations climate is also reflected in the declining number of notices of strike/lockout and preventive mediation cases, according to the report.

The NCMB docketed 169 notices of strike/lockout during the year, 24 percent lower than the number of notices filed in 2011. It also received 387 new preventive

mediation cases, 24 percent fewer than those filed last year, the report added.

Efforts of the NCMB to resolve labor disputes resulted in the facilitation of P911 million in CBA packages and other monetary benefits for 11,231 workers. Estimated savings (or the amount of salaries and production costs not wasted) as a result of the successful resolution of NS/L and PM cases reached P1.27 billion.

Conciliator-mediators of the NCMB continue to exert efforts in exploring every possible means to effect amicable settlement in all the cases that they handle.

This they do by balancing the rights of workers to a just and equitable share in the fruits of production and the right of employers to a fair return on their investments.

Less government intervention

The report also pointed out that resort to the intervention by the Office of the DOLE Secretary to resolve labor disputes also followed a downward trend, as Secretary Baldoz invoked her lawful powers to assume jurisdiction, or certify cases to compulsory arbitration, in only 12 cases in 2012.

The 12 cases comprise a mere 1.9 percent of the 633 cases handled by the NCMB in 2012.

“As Secretary, I continue to exercise prudence in the use of the power to intervene in labor disputes. Very sparingly did I resort to the use of this power,” said Baldoz.

Baldoz said her instruction to the NCMB is to conduct marathon conciliation-mediation conferences to explore all possible options for settlement before deciding to assume jurisdiction over cases.

SEnA continues to gain ground

In 2012, the NCMB also processed a record number of SEnA cases, with new requests for assistance (RFA) rising to 3,563 new RFA, 137 percent higher than the year ago figure of 1,503.

The SEnA is a reform measure which Baldoz introduced when she assumed office in 2010. Under the SEnA, a 30-day window of opportunity is given to non-unionized workers to avail of the conciliation services of the different offices of the Department without filing a formal labor case.

“The SEnA is a fair, accessible, inexpensive, and non-litigious way to resolve labor issues,” Baldoz said of the SEnA.

Implemented in all DOLE regional offices, regional arbitration branches of the NLRC, regional conciliation-mediation branches of the NCMB, regional extension units of the POEA, and in the regional wage

boards of the NWPC, the SEnA, over the last two years, has proven to be an effective method to solve labor issues fast.

“The successful resolution of SEnA cases handled by the NCMB benefited some 3,409 workers with P186 million in monetary benefits,” Ubaldo reported.

Project SpeED 5

According to Ubaldo, the NCMB, likewise, scored high in its commitments in the Project SpeED, or the Speedy and Expeditious Delivery of Labor Cases Project, disposing 94 percent of its enrolled cases. The disposition of the cases under Project SpeED 5 benefited some 2,892 workers with P161 million in monetary awards and benefits.

Project SpeED involves other offices and agencies of the DOLE, namely, the NLRC, POEA, BLR, ECC, DOLE Legal Service, and BWC.

The project has a continuing objective of ensuring a speedy labor justice in pursuit of the policy reforms enunciated pursuant to President Benigno S. Aquino III’s 22-point labor and employment agenda. Project SpeED 5, the last in the series, targeting all pending cases as of 31 December 2011 to be disposed on or before 30 June 2012, with a 98 percent target disposition rate.

Voluntary Arbitration

Ubaldo also reported that the NCMB, received some 145 new voluntary arbitration cases in 2012 and disposed 64 percent of all voluntary arbitration cases handled, benefiting some 1,585 workers with P183 million in monetary awards.

Key to fewer workplace disputes

The intensified efforts of the NCMB’s regional branches in promoting the twin mechanisms on workplace cooperation and partnership (WCP) and workplace dispute resolution (GM) contributed big in sustaining stable relations between labor and management this year.

“WCPs/LMCs and GMs complement the NCMB’s conciliation-mediation services in maintaining a peaceful and stable climate in the industrial front. We have observed that the incidence of labor disputes declined as the number of LMCs and GMs increased,” said Ubaldo.

Some 2,092 WCPs and 2,284 GMs nationwide continue to benefit workers and employers in terms of best management practices, improved productivity, open communication lines, improved corporate social responsibility, and fewer incidences of labor disputes.

DOLE’s NCMB reports stable industrial relations climate in 2012