BIZ BUZZ: Undelivered pay hikes
After a bruising first quarter financially, one of the Philippines’ biggest courier firms now finds itself battling unrest on another front: workers pushing back against what they call “paltry” wage hike offers.
We’re talking about Araneta-led LBC Express, which bills itself as the country’s largest courier, cargo and remittance service provider, with more than 6,400 locations and a footprint spanning over 30 countries.
At the heart of the dispute is the demand of around 440 LBC workers in Metro Manila for a P72 daily wage increase over three years under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
That amount, the union said, was already a scaled-down proposal from its original ask of a P100 increase over three years. That was later trimmed to P90 before workers eventually floated a compromise offer of P40 increases for the first two years of the CBA and P50 for the final year.
Management, however, allegedly came back with far smaller offers: P10 increases for the first two years and P12 for the third year.
Why the huge gap? According to the union, LBC management argued that the company’s financial position had left little room for higher wage adjustments, claiming the firm was already bleeding losses.
But the company’s latest disclosures paint a more nuanced picture.
While LBC Express Holdings Inc. remained profitable in the first quarter, its net income had plunged sharply to P53.12 million from P144.82 million a year ago. Interestingly, the listed firm partly pinned the weaker earnings on “mandatory wage increases,” on top of higher overhead costs and forex losses.
For the union, though, management’s counteroffer was simply “unacceptable.” The impasse prompted workers to file a notice of strike before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment.
And five months into deadlocked negotiations, tensions appear to be escalating.
At least 40 union members are expected to troop today to the NCMB office in Quezon City to stage a protest while union officers continue negotiations with LBC management inside.
Will the “Hari ng Padala” finally deliver the wage hikes its workers have long been asking for? Abangan!
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