The Philex Mining Corporation (PMC) and the Philex Mines Supervisory Employees Union (PMSEU) recently signed the additional economic package for the last two years of its five-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that was signed by the parties in 2021.
In the updated CBA, the 460-strong PMSU will be receiving additional compensation of P1,100 each as increase in their monthly salaries for 2023 and another P1,200 each as another wave of increase in their monthly salaries for 2024 up to April 2025. Further, the company’s supervisors will be receiving a one-time signing bonus of P2,500.
Philex was represented by President and Chief Executive Officer Engr. Eulalio B. Austin, Jr. and Vice President for Operations and Resident Manager Engr. Ricardo Dolipas II, while the PMSEU was represented by its president Dominador C. Sotelo and vice president Alex P. Cardinez.
In his message, Austin rallied the company’s middle managers to inculcate into the minds of the millennial workers the work attitude of Philex that allowed it to thrive for over six decades and become one of the country’s largest producers of gold and copper.
He said the company must strive to improve its production to be able to sustain ongoing efforts of extending its mine life beyond 2027.
He also expressed his gratitude to the negotiating teams from both parties for being able to strike a balance between the need to increase the salaries of middle managers and the company’s current status.
Sotelo, on the other hand, agreed the updated CBA will allow the sustained working relationship between the company and the work force. PMSEU officers remain optimistic about the potentials of extending the company’s mine life so that there will be no displacements that will transpire once the company will reach the end of mine life as earlier projected.
PMC and PMSEU took some seven sessions before reaching an agreement. – Press release
