Workers ready for election

November 8, 2007 (BAGUIO CITY) - After partaking in the barangay elections in their respective hometowns, the workers of the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMCo) gear for another election. This time, they will choose their certified union to be their sole Collective Bargaining Unit (CBU) this month.

In a clarificatory hearing held at the Department of Labor and Employment-Cordillera Administrative Region (DOLE-CAR), the counsels and officers and representatives of the Lepanto Employees Union-National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno (LEU-NAFLU-KMU) and the Lepanto Rank-and-File Union-National Mine and Allied Workers Union-International Federation of Chemical, Energy, and Mines General Workers Union (LRFEU-NAMAWU-ICEM) that a Certification Election (CE) be held on November 17, 2007 at the Lepanto National High School from 7 am to 5 pm. Said hearing was called upon to determine whether the Petition for Certification Election (PCE) filed by LRFEU on October 3, 2007 should push through or not.

The hearing was attended by 19 LEU officers and 5 shop stewards led by their president Manuel Binhaon Jr with their legal counsel Federico Bunao and some representatives of the LRFEU led by Christopher Bautista accompanied by their legal counsel Faustino Olowan.

The winning union will represent the 1,600 strong mine workers of the LCMCo in the 24th Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the management of the said mining company. The LEU submitted their CBA proposals ratified by the majority of members of the LEU last November 6 at the general office of the local management of Lepanto and a copy was provided to the main office of the LCMCo in Makati City.

LEU president Binhaon hopes that the members of the present union should be wise enough to choose the rightfully union proven of its sincere servitude to its general membership. “We are looking forward to the members and workers of Lepanto not to forget their sacrifices in building the LEU into a genuine workers’ union and continue to embrace the LEU-NAFLU-KMU”.

The campaign period for the two unions officially starts on Nov.8 at 12 noon and will last until 12 midnight of Nov.16