Group hits DOLE'S intervention to stop strike vs power plant

The Partido Manggagawa, a militant group, slammed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for reportedly imposing an assumption of jurisdiction (AJ) order that stopped the union at the KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation) Cebu coal power plant from staging a work stoppage.

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The union has been deadlocked in its collective bargaining (CB) negotiations with the company.

"The DOLE's AJ is favorable to the company as it prevents workers from exercising leverage to achieve its reasonable demands. Moreso, DOLE violated its own DO 40-H-13 in imposing an AJ without following the required procedure. Both KEPCO and DOLE are pasaway (misbehaving) labor relations actors!," said Dennis Derige, union organizer of SENTRO and spokesperson for the PM chapter in Cebu.

The KEPCO union is an affiliate of SENTRO and its members voted overwhelmingly for a strike, as required by law.

The DOLE's order was handed down on the eve of the planned strike.