FOLLOWING MONTHS of negotiation, the Ateneo administration and the Ateneo Employees and Workers Union (AEWU) came to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on November 25, with the document officially signed on December 19.

The first discussion between both sides for the new CBA took place on April 28, after the previous CBA expired on March 31.

Prior to the release of a memorandum announcing the signing, University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ said that the document was only awaiting the ratification of the general assembly of the AEWU. The new CBA will last until 2019, with an option to renegotiate the agreement after three years, in 2017. Villarin declined to reveal specific details of the new CBA as it has yet to be signed. However, AEWU President Tobias Tano said that negotiations between the union and the administration lasted for months because both parties differed on the amount of wages and bonuses of the workers.

Tano disclosed that, under the agreed CBA, workers’ wages will have a general increase of 4% as well as a merit increase of 3%, or P50 per day, whichever is higher, to their base salaries during the first year.

In the second and third year after the CBA’s signing, workers’ wages will have a general increase of 3.5% as well as a merit increase of 3%, or P50 per day, whichever is higher, to their base salaries.

In addition to the general and merit increases on the base salaries, new workers are also guaranteed a signing bonus of P4,750.

A general increase refers to a pre-determined percentage increase on the salaries of workers, while a merit increase refers to performance-based incentives that workers receive should they meet a certain clause in their contract.

The negotiation was eventually settled with the help of the Department of Labor and Employment’s National Conciliator and Mediator Board (DOLE-NCMB).

According to their official website, the DOLE-NCMB is mandated by law to resolve labor disputes through preventive mediation, conciliation and voluntary arbitration.

Negotiating the CBA

Upon the expiration of the old CBA, a panel of 10 administration officers and 14 AEWU members met for initial negotiations.

Villarin noted that in past negotiations for the CBA, “more often than not, [both the Union and the administration reached] an​ agreement among [themselves] without the need for mediation by a third party.”

However, both the AEWU and the administration were unable to reach an agreement during the recent panel negotiations which led the parties to enlist DOLE-NCMB as a mediator.

The role of the mediator is to give recommendations of possible agreements between the two negotiating parties; both sides are then free to agree or disagree on the mediator’s recommendation, ensuring that a fair deal is reached.

Villarin noted that “there is always give-and-take” in any negotiation. “What adds to the complication is the permutation of components of these increases, such as the general, [or] across-the-board increase and the merit, or performance-based increase in salaries.”

According to Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (Crusada) Premier Abbo Hernandez, the student political party initially had plans to host an open forum with the AEWU and the administration to ensure that Ateneans were updated on the latest developments.

Hernandez, however, acknowledged the fact that negotiations between the two parties were at its height and that Crusada had to “tread very carefully,” thus postponing the forum.

“The party decided that we should hold the forum weeks after the negotiations in order to assure that we do not move hastily and create more problems in an already tense situation,” he further explained.

Crusada signed a memorandum of agreement with AEWU in 2013, which declared the two groups as affiliates; both Crusada and AEWU are obligated to offer help and support for each other’s initiatives upon request.

Notice of strike

While the progress of the negotiation was stagnant, Tano filed a notice of strike on November 5 in behalf of the AEWU.

“Puwede ka mag-file ng notice of strike once nag-deadlock kayo [sa negosasyon] (You may file a notice of strike once negotiations are at a deadlock),” Tano explained.

“Once na nag-deadlock kayo, dalawa ang puwede mong gawin: Preventive mediation, para patuloy sa pag-uusap, at kung [hindi maayos sa] preventive mediation, iko-convert mo siya sa notice of strike (Once there is a deadlock, you have two options: Preventive mediation, so that discussions may continue, and if preventive mediation does not fix it, you convert it into a notice of strike),” he added.

Tano further said that the AEWU was flexible with its demands in terms of wages and bonuses during the negotiation, but the administration was steadfast with their demands.

“Sabi [ko sa Unyon], wala kaming magagawa dito kundi mag-file ng notice of strike (I told the Union, there is nothing else I can do but to file a notice of strike),” he stated.

However, Villarin clarified that filing a notice of strike was “not an act against the Ateneo.”

“It is one of the various legally acceptable actions any union may undertake when there is deadlock in the CBA,” Villarin said.

He added that the notice of strike acted as a “cooling off period” for both parties, which allowed them to “sit back, reconsider the options that have already been placed on the table and make time to continue meeting each other in dialogue.”

In addition, Hernandez said that the student body should be taking matters like the negotiation of the CBA more seriously. “[A] strike is really not a joke,” he said.

“We need to recognize that, inasmuch as the administrators and the faculty are the most visceral manifestations of our formators, our maintenance workers and laborers have played just as much of a role in raising us in our second home,” he stated.

Hernandez added, “Our privilege does not afford us the right to forget the well-being of those who have sacrificed their lives for our safety and comfort.”

Reaching a resolution

Villarin is thankful that both the AEWU and the administration were finally able to reach an agreement on a new CBA.

“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the [Ateneo] community, especially the Union and the administration panels, for working very ​hard on this​ and finally reaching an agreement,” he said.

Villarin added, “I know people have been praying too and I thank them all for their prayers. In the end, I believe the graces we asked for, the twin graces of patience and wisdom, were granted.​”

Hernandez, on the other hand, had no doubt that a solution would be reached by both parties despite the prolonged negotiations.

“I feel that, given the situation, our administrators and union leaders who negotiated would have never stopped negotiating until they could come up with a figure that would is fair for both parties. We have faith in the individuals who are forming us both in higher office and in the grassroots,” Hernandez said.