RMN Davao Employees’ Union wins a landslide victory in today’s Certification Election

May 17, 2011
NEWS RELEASE


The Radio Mindanao Network Davao Employees’ Union (RDEU) won a landslide victory today as the bargaining representative of media workers of RMN-DXDC Davao in a Certification Election (CE) conducted by authorities of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today at the RMN Davao station premises.

The CE is a process by which rank-and-file employees affirms the union of their choice as their sole exclusive bargaining agent.

Eighteen (18) rank-and file workers voted for RDEU while two voted for the management-favored union, Radio Mindanao Network Employees Union-Mindanao Congress of Labor-Trade Union of the Philippines and Allied Services (RMNEU-MCL-TUPAS). Only one voted for a no-union stance. There are currently 24 rank-and-file workers of RMN Davao. Three were considered challenged votes and were not counted.

“This is a hard-won victory. After eight months of struggle, our colleagues at RMN Davao can now finally have a union that can collectively bargain for their rights with network employers. This is crucial given the low wages media workers receive amid fast rising prices of commodities, and in the light of recent spate of illegal dismissals experienced by fellows at RMN Davao,” Jessie Casalda, Chair of NUJP-Davao said.

The workers of RMN Davao have formed themselves into a union in August last year after the station manager, Mario Maximo “Dodong” Solis was sacked, and three others in the top supervisory positions were forced to resign - an action by the RMN management recently proven by a decision from the National Labor Relations Commission XI (NLRC XI) as a clear case of “illegal dismissal.”

The RDEU was able to secure a registration with the DOLE XI in the same month, but a petition for a CE as early as September last year was snagged several times due to attempts by the management to assail the petition, as well delays that RMN Davao workers blamed on inadvertence on the part of the government labor agency itself.

The RMN Davao workers through their sole bargaining union, the RDEU is bent on passing a collective bargaining agreement proposal to the network management anytime soon, which covers demands for increased wages, due benefits, and protection of tenure, among others.

NUJP Davao commends RMN workers for this action. “The right to association is a constitutionally-guaranteed right. Our fellows at RMN Davao have showed the way. Their struggle is a message that through our unity we can fight for a humane working condition sorely absent among media workers in the country today,” Casalda.

“We hope we can sustain further the unity that was shown. The fight for better working conditions for media workers has just begun. This is a victory not just for the RDEU but for all our colleagues in Davao who helped keep watch until we were finally able to prove that in fearlessly taking a stand against such violations, there is a chance that we can reclaim the rights denied of us by our employers,” Casalda said.

Once again, we say, that the fight of media workers of RMN Davao is the fight of all media workers. In the end, it is the people who will benefit from a press whose rights are amply protected.

For NUJP-Davao,
JESSIE CASALDA
Chairperson

Davao Broadcaster Dodong Solis won illegal dismissal case vs RMN

DAVAO CITY ---The National Labor Relations Commission Regional Arbitration Branch XI (NLRC XI) has decided in favor of dismissed Radio Mindanao Network DXDC-Davao (RMN-DXDC Davao) station manager Mario Maximo “Dodong” Solis.

The NLRC order signed by Labor Arbiter Elmer Ben Pasion ruled that the dismissal of Solis by his employer RMN, Inc., on September 6, 2010 was “unreasonable and unwarranted and thus illegal.”

The NLRC decision dated April 18 but was received by Solis’ lawyer just today , also ordered RMN, Inc. to “immediately reinstate” Solis to his former position “without loss of seniority rights and be paid back wages” computed from the time he was illegally dismissed.

Solis was represented by lawyer Carlos Isagani Zarate of the Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM).

“Nalipay ko. Sobra sobra ang akong kalipay tungod kay dili lang kwarta ang giistoryahan diri kung dili apil ang dignidad, ang pagpaabot sa klaro nga mensahe nga kung magpadaug ta, pwede ra gyud ta daugdaugon sa kapitalista. Nanghinaut ko mahimong inspirasyon pud unta ni sa ubang kaubanan sa media nga nabiktima nga mobarug pud sila, (I am happy, exceedingly happy about the decision. This is not just about money but our dignity as media workeres, our way of sending a message that if we do not fight back, these capitalists can just trample on our rights. I hope that this will motivate media fellows who have also been made victims to stand up to such abuses.)” Dodong Solis said.

It will be recalled that Solis was fired by RMN without pay after 12 years of service as RMN Davao station manager during which time the station had consistently topped ratings surveys in Davao City.

The memorandum of termination Solis received from RMN dated September 6,2010 cited “loss of
trust and confidence and willful disobedience."

But the NLRC ruling proved that RMN failed to substantiate such claims for terminating Solis, citing instead, that these allegations were "premeditated, trumped-up, concocted and were just subterfuge used to hide vengeful designs.”

Solis lodged an illegal dismissal complaint with money claims against RMN Inc., at the NLRC XI on September 23, 2010.

Named respondents of the complaint were RMN Vice President for Operations Carlos “Charlie” Canoy, Assistant Vice-President for Operations Rey Bayoging, Vice-President for Finance Ruben De Gracia and President and CEO of the company Eric Canoy.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) Davao Chapter is jubilant over this victory. “Our hard struggle for political and economic rights that have been deprived of us paid off. This victory of our colleague have shown that through vigilance, our militant united action and a confluence of efforts from various support groups, we can defeat abusive media network employers,” said Jessie Casalda, chairperson of NUJP Davao. (#)


For Reference:

Jessie Casalda

Chairperson, NUJP Davao