ORMOC CITY—Aiming to avoid labor disputes and keep this city’s construction industry trouble-free, this city’s chapter of the Philippine Contractors Association (PCA-OC) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) for the establishment of a labor-management cooperation (LMC) mechanism.

LMC promotes alternative dispute resolution being encouraged by the government to amicably settle labor disputes. Rene de los Reyes, national president of Philippine League of Labor-Management Cooperation Practitioners Inc. (Philamcop), credits LMC for the industrial peace enjoyed by Eastern Visayas (Region 8) for the past nine years.

But de los Reyes cautions LMC advocates from being complacent in times of peace. He draws inspiration from the sign at the 38th Parallel in Panmunjom, South Korea, which states, “We must be ready in times of peace so that we are all ready in times of war.”

LMC is a revolutionary way to settle disputes and conflicts and create an atmosphere of peace. Under this system, employers’ prerogatives and workers’ rights meet halfway to attain a win-win solution in labor disputes. De los Reyes said LMC would have made a big difference in settling the row at Philippine Airlines (PAL).

According to him, the Department of Labor and Employment summoned him to Manila twice to see if a dialogue can settle the PAL dispute but it was too late. PAL’s LMC council died in 1993 and has not been revived. Since then, labor-management disputes have been handled through legal processes and strikes.

Ironically, other companies of Lucio Tan who owns PAL have LMC systems in place like Asia Brewery Inc. and Century Park Hotel that are enjoying industrial peace. PAL’s biggest competitor, Cebu Pacific (CEB), also has an LMC council.

“In fact, our biggest member [in Philamcop] is JG Summit [CEB’s parent company] with 23,000 employees,” he said.

De los Reyes is currently concentrating on establishing LMC councils in non-unionized industries wherein workers are not protected. The Employers Confederation of the Philippines indicates that only 8 percent or 2 million of the country’s 36 million workers belong to a union.

De los Reyes congratulated PCA-OC for responding quickly to his invitation to establish an LMC. He recalled proposing the initiative to its president Joseph Frederick A. Pepito and Secretary Javier Arradaza on August 28. Two months and three days later, an MOA is signed.

In contrast, it took three years for the formation of the Isabel Contractual Agencies’ Association for Industrial Peace which covers 18 contract service providers to Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. and Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Co. Inc. It also took seven months for him to negotiate with Ormoc Hotel and Restaurants Association which will sign a MOA next month.