Keppel Cebu workers set to strike

Technorati Tags: Baltic Dry Index,Baltic Dry Indices,Ship Chartering,Shipchartering,Voyage Fixtures,Time Charter Fixtures,Panamax,Capesize,Handymax,Handysize,Supramax,Dry Cargo Fixtures,Bulk Cargo Fixtures,Baltic Exchange,Freight Review,Maritime Baltic Index,TNT Freight Review,Keppel Cebu workers strike,Shipyard strike,Shipyard slump,Shipping slump,Newbuilding down

Cebu: Union members of Keppel Shipyard Cebu haveyesterday filed their notice of strike at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), citing grounds of union busting attempts by management.
Dennis Faustino of Buklurang Manggagawang Pilipino, which supports Keppel’s union, claimed that the management violated the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) entered into by both management and the union last April 8.
In the MOA, the management agreed to stop the redundancy program while the union vowed to withdraw their first notice of strike, which was filed last March when the management offered early retirement to the workers engaged in ship building and ship repair who would be covered by the redundancy program.
The redundancy will mean the loss of 70 percent of 280 regular jobs.
But Faustino said the management did not keep its promise. Keppel management continued with the redundancy program and forced the workers to accept their offer, he added.
The management had been enforcing forced leave to workers since May 18, he added. So far, Faustino said more than 90 regular workers had left.
Faustino said that the management had scrapped the ship repair service to pursue plans of remove 70 percent of their workforce. He said that most workers were in ship repair. The rest were in ship building.
Keppel is rejigging its three Philippine yards with Cebu taking a hit manpower wise.  [27/05/09]