Some retrenched employees of the Bacolod Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital are mulling charges before the National Labor Relations Commissions against the hospital for what they call anti-labor practice, Roberto Villaram, president of hospital’s employees union, said yesterday.

Villaram said they consider their retrenchment as “union busting” as they were served notices of termination several days after they formed a union and filed a petition for certification for election before the Department of Labor.

He said BOLMSH was registered on December 7, before the Department of Labor and Employment Office and that while their termination is supposed to take effect February 5 they were given P7,000 for their two-month salary and were asked not to report anymore on December 31.

He claimed that the management told them their services are being terminated because of “redundancy,” or excessive work force but they actually have inadequate personnel, and continues to employ contractual employees from the Integrated Management and General Services as replacements.

He also said they are complaining about the alleged non-payment of their Social Security Services premiums and contributions for two years now despite the continued deduction from their salaries.

A dialog to settle the issue was held on October 23 and in December 27, where the employees were told that the hospital management will pay the SSS premiums within five days.

Roger Reyes, legal counsel of the hospital, said the SSS premiums of the retrenched employees are now updated although the 2009 premiums were settled through a compromise settlement.

Reyes also rebutted the former employees’ claims that they were terminated due to “union busting” and stressed that their termination was because of cost cutting measures and “redundancy”.

He said that before the retrenchment of the janitors and the medical orderly staff, they had also terminated the services of employees from the cafeteria and the linen department for the same reasons.

As to the hiring of employees from IMAGS, Reyes said they did so because they can save more through it.

IMAGS general manager Patrick Amaguin said their personnel are fit for the jobs and that some of them are nursing graduates, with caregivers’ certificates and are well-trained in toxic waste disposal.

Amaguin made the clarification because of the claims of the retrenched hospital employees that the personnel from IMAGS is not suitable for the jobs as they lack proper trainings.*APN

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