After receiving no new counteroffer from UA&P Management during the conference last October 24, UA&PUFM and UA&PUAE transmitted the strike vote report to NCMB. This act triggers the seven-day period before both unions can legally strike. The Office of the DOLE Secretary and the NCMB Executive Director presided over this latest mediation session.
UA&PUAE and UA&PUFM have extended much forbearance to UA&P Management as they negotiated for employees’ collective and much-needed improvements in salaries and benefits during CBA negotiations. After the deadlock was declared on June 25, both unions resorted to preventive mediation in July in order to exhaust all peaceful channels of resolving this deadlock before they filed a Notice to Strike on August 7 and 8. Even as the 30-day cooling-off period for the Notice to Strike expired last month, they continued to rely on conciliation mediation meetings in order to wait for management to submit substantive counteroffers.
Given this lack of substantial movement in management’s position within preventive mediation and conciliation mediation meetings, both unions have decided to file their respective Strike Vote Reports today. Both unions conducted their respective strike votes on September 24 for UA&PUAE and September 25 for UA&PUFM at UA&P. An NCMB representative observed the whole voting canvassing process to ensure compliance with the procedural requirements under the Labor Code. In both elections, almost 90% of union members voted to proceed with the strike.
From the firm-level negotiations up to the mediation proceedings, UA&P Management has consistently
insisted that the salary and benefits package of UA&P employees are “above industry standards.” UA&P Management has likewise argued that the current financial standing of the university precludes it from granting increases in benefits. Both UA&P unions have repeatedly addressed these claims on various platforms using verifiable facts and evidence. The reality is that UA&P employees continue to struggle amidst rising standards of living and persistent threats of health emergencies, which further put a strain on their families’ already meager resources. The provision of free lunch and 1-2% salary increase [in a span
of three years] will not solve these problems.
Both UA&P unions maintain that improvements in human capital are long-term investments in the competitiveness of their beloved institution. UA&P cannot aim to be a prestigious and premium university if it does not invest in the people who make it happen. This strike is both unions’ final attempt to fight for the people who embody the educational principles that make the university great.
“Management should see by now that employees would not have formed the unions had we not had real
needs and work-related concerns that needed addressing, affecting not only ourselves but also our families that depends on us. As teachers and employees, we’ve taught and learned of the social teachings of the Church, which our institution holds true and dear. We enjoin management to act on the spirit contained in those social teachings, giving priority to people, to persons and their welfare,” UA&PUFM President Ferdinand delos Reyes said in relation to the decision to file the Strike VoteReport.
“Our movement did not arise from hate and hostility but from years of quiet endurance—of dedicated
service, delayed fairness, and hope for shared progress. UA&PUAE’s aim has never been to disrupt or
divide, but to restore balance, justice, and respect to every worker who makes UA&P great,” UA&PUAE President Keith Panganiban said in relation to this development.
Both unions reiterate their deep gratitude to their supporters and will continue to update their stakeholders in the coming days.
UA&PUFM is an independent union composed of rank-and-file faculty members of UA&P. UA&PUAE is an independent union composed of rank-and-file administrative and academic non-teaching staff of UA&P. For comments or reactions, please contact UA&PUFM through its President Ferdinand Delos Reyes (email: uapunionfm@gmail.com) or UA&PUAE through its President Keith Panganiban (email: uap.unionofalliedemployees@gmail.com).
