By ALDWIN QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — After staging a series of pickets to seek dialogue with the management of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMC) in Mankayan, Benguet, the mine workers were promised to be paid but then again partially.

Lepanto Employees Union-National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno (LEU-NAFLU-KMU) President Manuel Binhaon said that in a meeting between the union and the management, they were told that the company will first pay P4 million on Saturday, March 20 at 1 pm and another P10 million on Tuesday, March 23.

Binhaon said that around 1,400 rank-and-file employees of the LCMC Mine Department will receive around P2,000 to P2, 500 each. “Ti kinaagpayso na ket bassit a gatad adi manen daytoy kumpara kadagiti gagatangen ken gastusen da, pati pay dagiti inutang da idi (The amount is so small compared to the daily expenses and the workers’ previous debts),” said Binhaon.

Binhaon said they are hoping that the management will be fair and true to its promise to deliver the additional P10 million on Tuesday. He said many parents need it so much since some of their children will graduate from elementary and high school. Some of them, Binhaon said are in need of money as their children who are in college especially the graduating students are required to submit projects and other requirements to be able to pass the semester. He said that the management gave them many promises and Memorandum of Agreements already that they have yet to fulfill.

But Binhaon said they did not know the result of the dialogue between a representative of the Social Security System (SSS) and the management. He said they held a closed-door meeting and the union was not invited. “Kayat mi kuma nga ammuen nu kas-ano met diay SSS mi tani saan kami metten a maka-avail ti benepisyo gapu kadagiti saan a panakairemit dagiti kontribusyon mi (We would like to know if our contributions to SSS were remitted because we cannot avail of our benefits because of the non-remittance of our contributions)”, Binhaon said.

Last March 8, the mine workers headed by the LEU together with the members of the Tignayan dagiti Babbai iti Minasan a Lepanto (Women’s Movement in Lepanto Mines or TBML) and wives of the workers, the Anakbayan-Lepanto and the mineworkers’ children as well as their relatives and friends trooped to the General office to demand the management to pay its obligations to its employees. The picket lasted for four days as they were promised a meeting with the management.#nordis.net