TUBA, Benguet – The management of the Philex Mining Corporation here and the National Association of Mine Workers Union (NAMAWU) recently came to terms for a renegotiated Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on its last two years granting a substantial increase on the daily wages of rank and file workers of the company.

Under the renegotiated CBA, which passed through the referendum of the affected employees, the over 1,500 mine workers will receive P29 increase from their daily wage retroactive on Jan. 1, 2008 and another P30 increase on their daily wage starting Jan. 1, 2009.

Lawyer Eduardo Aratas, chief of Philex’s legal division, said the wage increase for the mine workers is the company’s assistance to help them cope with the rising prices of oil aggravated by the series of increases in the prices of basic commodities.

The five-year CBA of Philex and NAMAWU allows the conduct of renegotiations for the increase in the salaries of mine workers for the fourth and fifth year provided the company is capable to grant the supposed increase.

Aside from the increase in their daily wages, the mine workers will also receive P1,000 each as signing bonus and mid-year bonus which is equivalent to their one-month salary. One half of the mid-year bonus was already released to the workers last May 31, while the other half will be given to them at the end of this month.

Starting July 1 this year, the company will be negotiating with the supervisor’s union for an expected increase in their salaries and benefits since their own CBA is also on its last two years.

Philex has a total manpower of at least 2,500 workers with over half of them classified as rank and file while the rest are considered to be within the middle and high supervisory positions.

Also next year, Philex and NAMAWU will start negotiations for a new five-year CBA that would guarantee more benefits and privileges to the workers because of the bright prospects of the local mineral industry.

The increase for mine workers is much higher than the P15 daily wage increase approved by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board for workers in the private sector within the BLIST    areas and P10 for workers in the non-BLIST areas.