Clark workers offered ‘just’ severance pay

CLARK FREEPORT — In a bid to stop a planned workers’ strike, management of the Clark International Airport Corp. (Ciac) on Sunday offered a “just, fair and lawful severance package” and the option to retire and be rehired by a consortium that would operate and maintain the airport here.

“We are all in this together, no one will be left behind,” Ciac said in statement issued on the heels of a strike referendum.

At least 158 of 245 members of the Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (SMD) voted to stop work over uncertainties about their employment after the airport’s operations and maintenance were privatized.

SMD accused the management of refusing to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, withholding health benefits and outsourcing job positions which it said were “evidence of union busting.”

SMD had agreed to meet with management on Monday in a conference facilitated by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.

Ciac had petitioned Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to assume jurisdiction over the case.

“No one will lose their jobs,” Ciac said.

Workers would be absorbed and “prioritized for hiring.”