An Orientation regarding the Rights and Obligations of Registered Public Sector Employees’ Organizations (PSEO) was held on 21 July 2023 at the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) Training Center in Quezon City.
The event has been organized by the Union Registration and Workers’ Empowerment Division (URWED) of the DOLE-Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) and aims to increase the knowledge and awareness of the officers and members of registered public sector union with regard to the rights and obligations of a registered organization with DOLE and Civil Service Commission (CSC).
Atty. Ramon A. Saura III, Mediator-Arbiter from the DOLE-BLR delivered the opening remarks to formally start the orientation. He stressed that the success of ‘Public Sector Unionism’ is related to the progress of ‘Private Sector Unionism’, in terms of perspective. On the other hand, he encouraged individuals to take an active role in engaging in the discussions and seek clarification by asking questions.
Atty. Saura III formally started the discussion by shedding light on the rights of legitimate labor organizations as outlined in Executive Order No. 180 Amended Rules and Regulations Governing the Exercise of the Right of Government Employees to Organize and Article 251 of the Labor Code of the Philippines. He gave clarifications on the various aspects surrounding the cancellation or revocation of a Certificate of Registration. Emphasizing the importance of understanding the grounds, requirements, and procedures involved. In addition, he presented the framework for the conduct of the certification election.
To provide additional support and substantiate the discussions of Atty. Saura, Ms. Lilibeth C. Sanchez, LEO III from the DOLE-BLR, highlighted the obligations of the registered PSEO under DOLE and CSC and also underscored the potential repercussions if the PSEO fails to submit reports for a continuous period of five (5) years, which could result in the union’s administrative cancellation.
The Bureau invited Dr. Regin T. Argulla, Chief of Registration, Accreditation, and Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) Registration of Employees’ Organization Division from the CSC to discuss the Accreditation of Employees’ Organized and Registration of Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA).
He outlined the necessary conditions, documents, and procedures for the accreditation of employee organizations and reiterated the unions’ reporting obligations and ramifications for noncompliance. Dr. Argulla continued his presentation on the Registration of CNAs by providing a summary of its policies, issuances, and revisions to its guidelines. The discussion concluded with a suggestion to use an online remittance platform to pay the accreditation fee, to which Dr. Argulla replied that the suggestion has been noted and will be taken into consideration.
Lastly, DOLE-BLR Senior LEO, Mr. Roland C. Nobleza laid out the workarounds of the Workers’ Organization Development Program (WODP), which defines as a facilitating mechanism in strengthening trade unions and other workers’ organizations. The presentation covered WODP’s legal underpinning, goals, and pre-and post-conditions for scholarship and training grants.
The majority of participants expressed their interest in availing of the WODP and enthusiastically inquired about the organization’s equity and the types of expenses being shouldered by the Bureau.
In closing, Ms. Marivic T. Villa, Chief of BLR-URWED thanked the participants for attending the orientation and actively participating in all presentations. She also asked the participants if the program should be conducted again next year and received a resounding “yes” and “thumbs up” from them. Ms. Villa also requested that the participants share their learnings with other officers and members of their organization.
This orientation is the first batch out of the three (3) batches of orientations that the BLR-URWED will be conducting this year to capacitate all Officers and Members of Registered Workers’ Organizations (Public Sector Unions, Federation/ National Unions/ Trade Unions/ Labor Centers and Workers’ Association Operating in More than One Region) of their rights as a registered labor organization and obligations to fulfill with DOLE and CSC.
END/BLR
Feel free to visit the official BLR website: blr.dole.gov.ph to know more about our programs and services or visit the DOLE Online Learning Portal through this link https://lees.dole.gov.ph/moodle.