A notice of strike was filed yesterday by the Bacolod Doctor's Hospital Inc. Workers Union-National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board in Bacolod City.

The labor group cited unfair labor practice and union busting, its president, Arnel de Pedro, said at a press conference yesterday at the Negros Press Club building. De Pedro said they were surprised when the management issued a memorandum for a meeting with the workers of the dietary department on Aug. 30 without informing them of the agenda.

On Nov. 6, the 13 department workers received a letter from the hospital board chairman Leroy Tad-y informing them that their “employment is deemed ended on December 8, 2012,” de Pedro said.

The letter stated that “with the new guidelines and directives from government agencies, the hospital felt the difficulty of maintaining its dietary operations, adding that they have decided to have the operation handled by a contractor with the capability to provide equipment, manpower and financial capital to perform and provide services separate and distinct from the hospital.

The letter also provided options to the workers, to be transferred to other departments without losing their benefits as workers, or to retire from their work in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement.

BDHIWU spokesperson Rowil Longno said the reason of their termination, was unclear to them, but they informed the management that they are not availing of the optional retirement being offered.

In response, the management, through hospital administrator George Abueg, reiterated the offer of retirement to the workers on Dec. 8.

In his letter, Abueg said the hospital did not violate any workers' rights and that retiring employees who have rendered service of 15 years or more is defined in their CBA that took effect March 18, 2011 to March 17, 2017.

Longno called the act of the agency union-busting that puts their security of tenure and the welfare of the patients at risk.

May Gay, a dietitian, who has worked for the hospital for 19 years, said she refused the offer of the hospital to be transferred to another department because the job does not match her skills and expertise.

Gay said dieticians are core employees of the hospital because the food that they give to their patient corresponds to the diet needs of the patient. Outsourcing the service will lead to deterioration of services, Longno said.

The DAILY STAR tried to contact the management but an employee said over the telephone that their officials were not available as they had an ongoing meeting as of press time yesterday.

Ian Evidente of KMU-Negros and Erlima Villarama of NLFU-Negros expressed their support to the workers. *LTG

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