FOLLOWING THE Ateneo Employees and Workers Union’s (AEWU) decision to strike amid unsettled 2019–2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) terms, different students and organizations showed their support for the Union through a solidarity campaign and a call for donations.
This cascade of initiatives began with the Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK) – Katipunan and the Kabataan Para sa Manggagawa (KAPWA) launching the solidarity and signature campaign on March 5. As of March 13, 13 organizations and 203 members of the Ateneo community have co-signed the campaign.
Notably, Luke Espiritu (JD ‘02, AB COM ‘97) and Ka Leody De Guzman of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino also spoke in support of the Union and their strike.
Six months overdue
In their own statement, KAPWA and SPARK-Katipunan responded to the administration’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the ongoing CBA negotiations.
Among the issues that KAPWA and SPARK found was that in response to the Union’s demands, the University administration instead forwarded counterproposals not backed by sufficient data and computations. According to the student organizations, the administration “neglected” to mention this information during the negotiations with the Union on the grounds of “data privacy.”
Responding to this, the administration said, “The University gave the Union a copy of last fiscal year’s audited financial statement, as required by law. However, aside from this, the Union never requested any other document, as the official CBA meeting minutes would show.”
During the six-month renegotiation period of the CBA, AEWU posted its Notice of Strike (NOS) on February 16. The renegotiation period then ended last February 28, and both parties are now undergoing conciliation talks in line with the 30-day cooling off period mandated by the AEWU’s NOS.
To discuss their opinions on the administration’s side of the negotiations, AEWU also held a CBA briefing session for students on February 21.
During this, AEWU mentioned that they will go on strike if the administration does not meet their demand of a Php 2,000-wage increase across the board—in contrast to the admin’s proposal for a performance-based increase.
“Wala kaming intensyon mag-strike. […] Patatagalin niyo (admin) lang ‘yung usapan at wala kayong magandang i-ooffer. Tama nga, hindi kami nagkamali, hanggang sa matapos ‘yung six months,” AEWU President Raymond “Mondie” Tano said.
(We don’t intend to strike. […] (The administration) will just prolong the conversations and won’t offer [good proposals]. It was right, we had the right assumptions, until the six-month (renegotiation period) ended.)
Remaining prudent
Prior to AEWU’s voting session last March 10, when the Union decided whether to go on strike or not, the University administration released its fourth CBA bulletin stating that classes would shift online should the strike push through. Moreover, the administration advised the Ateneo community to remain “prudent” in case of such situation.
“The administration is taking steps to ensure that there will be minimal to no disruption in University operations in case the Union conducts a strike. Contingency plans are already in place so that school operations, and delivery of services to various stakeholders in case of staff shortage, will continue,” the administration assured in their post.
However, students took to social media and shared their opinions on the announcement, claiming that less people on campus would only result in the strike’s ineffectiveness.
According to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, a strike ban will be observed for seven days after the Union submits their strike vote results. This will take effect after the 30-day cooling off period from their NOS last February 16. Thus, the earliest that the Union can hold their strike is on March 26, Sunday.
With reports by Enzo Bello and Aren Teodoro.
