Byline: Dean JORGE V. SIBAL, UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations

SOCIAL partnership in industrial relations (IR) is practiced through various mechanisms and approaches designed for workplace productivity and decent work. In unionized workplaces in the Philippines, the most widely

State-initiated joint labormanagement initiatives were introduced during the early years of Martial Law under Policy Instruction No. 17 of May 31, 1976, LOI No. 688 of May 1, 1978, and the Batas Pambansa Blg. 130 (Labor Code of the Philippines) of August 21, 1981. Only 28 companies were able to operate LMCs as of 1988 due to a lackluster response from IR actors and lack of state support and initiative. However, as industrial strife became widespread due to the restoration of the workers' right to strike by President Corazon C. Aquino, LMCs were incorporated in the Labor Code "to operationalize the new concept of collective negotiations introduced in the 1987 Constitution."

LMCs have contributed to industrial peace in the country. The National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) of DOLE reported a consistent decline of strikes from 1986 to 2003. Labor strikes went below a hundred for the first time in 1994. In 2003, the number was down to 38. The Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) and NCMB of DOLE facilitated the organization of 260 LMCs which covered 9,451 workers; 50 LMCs covering 11,507 workers were reactivated in 2005. Because of the non-adversarial character of LMCs and considering that a majority of the labor force is still unorganized, LMCs are being promoted as an addition and/or enhancement to the collective bargaining and the paternalistic unilateral decision-making IR processes in the country.

Nevertheless, for a time, the LMCs in the country were still in the primitive state being more focused on the three S's - sports, socials, and safety. Former UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations (SOLAIR) Dean Jose Gatchalian advocated for more meaningful workers' participation in managerial decision-making on the more substantial issues and concerns. LMCs should contribute to productivity through employee participation in management decisionmaking and workers should share in the resulting gains. LMCs should be transformed into employee participation committees (EPCs). The mechanisms of EPCs range from joint consultation as practiced in Japan, and employee stock option programs (ESOPs) and self-directed work teams (SDWTs) in the USA, to the work councils and co-determination in the European Union and Germany.

Good LMC Practices in Unionized Workplaces

The top three LMC corporate practitioners in the country in 2007 are featured in this paper, namely: Energizer Philippines, Inc. (EPI or "Energizer") of Mandaue, Cebu; Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation (MVC or "Mabuhay") of Iligan City; and Del Monte Philippines, Inc. (DMPI or "Del Monte") of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. These corporations were awarded by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) and the Philippine League of Labor Management Cooperation Practitioners, Inc. (PHILAMCOP) as the "2007 Outstanding LMCs for Industrial Peace" during the 6th National Convention on Labor-Management Cooperation at Punta Villa Resort in Iloilo City on November 28-29, 2007.

The concept of labor-management cooperation in Energizer started in 2000 when management shifted to a proactive leadership style. Energizer adopted a new philosophy in employment relations which featured the following: Team-based culture for the entire organization, open and transparent communications to foster trust and harmony, harmonious labor-management relations, and commitment of union leadership in supporting company programs. It revitalized the Employee Relations Committee (ERC) in order to reverse the continuing adversarial labormanagement relationship from the 1980s to 1999: a strike in 1988, bargaining deadlocks in 1994 and 1997, and a string of grievance cases from 1995 to 2000. Plant productivity of the company was on the downtrend during those periods.

The LMC at Mabuhay was established in 1987 after a series of seminar workshops conducted by DTI-CLARA (Center for Labor Relations Assistance) and the U.P. Institute of Industrial Relations (now School of Labor and Industrial Relations). These workshops were attended by 393 employees. After a decade of LMC practice in Mabuhay, the LMC is now called Industrial Peace Council (IPC) after it became part of the company's strategic plans. The Mabuhay IPC adopted a three-pronged basic mission: Promote industrial peace, provide a venue for people empowerment and continuous improvement, and address environment and community issues and concerns.

The Del Monte LMC was started under the CBA provisions of May 1983 but did not become active then. After a reorientation from the NCMB in 2001, the LMC was relaunched with the opening of the plantation-wide sportsfest. It should be noted that all LMCs of the three corporations started performing the traditional roles as communication mechanisms and activities revolving around sports, socials, safety, and grievance handling.

The governing bodies of the LMCs of the three corporations are composed of top local and middle managers and elected union officials and members. All of the LMCs hold monthly meetings. The traditional concerns of the LMCs include sports, socials, safety, and grievance handling. These have now been expanded to the following: Productivity (called lean support at Energizer), family welfare and responsible parenthood, canteen service, and values enhancement (faith enrichment in Energizer). At Del Monte, livelihood and incomegenerating projects are concerns of the LMC while at Mabuhay, team building and collective bargaining negotiations and implementation are part of the IPC's agenda. At Energizer, programs on social compliance like a drug-free workplace and anti-sexual harassment in the workplace are planned and implemented by the ERC.

All the three corporations involve their LMCs in community relations and corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects. For Del Monte, the projects include tree planting, Pasko sa Baryo (Christmas in the Village), and Pineapple Pre-school Learning Center. At Energizer, the ERC volunteerism programs include tree planting, feeding, Christmas outreach, Gawad Kalinga Bayani Challenge, adopt a school, and mangrove planting. Mabuhay is engaged in classroom and school facilities donation, scholarship, summer workshops, Flores de Mayo (summer festivals), and Christmas sponsorship.

The LMCs in the three corporations are supported by secretariats that facilitate the work of the LMCs. At Mabuhay, the secretariat is composed of three staff members, one from management and one each from the two unions. At Energizer, the secretariat comes from management and the union. The community-based Del Monte secretariat is assisted by the following community organizations - civic associations, youth organizations, local barangay (village) council, and the camp administration.

The dissemination of the activities of the LMCs is facilitated by company communication facilities. At Energizer, discussions and decisions are subjected to various level meetings - special, sectional, tier, plant-wide, etc. The results are posted after routing. At Del Monte, the LMC activities are discussed through morning meetings of top management and later cascaded to middle managers, supervisors, and camp administrators for dissemination to the workforce. At Mabuhay, dissemination of IPC activities is coursed through the company newsletter (MVC Pipeline), IPC bulletin boards, and various company meetings - planning, regular, department/section, and magtanong sa pangulo (ask the president).

Benefits of LMCs

The attainment of industrial peace is the most observable benefit to both management and workers of the LMCs. All companies enjoyed no strikes and no lockouts. Both Energizer and Del Monte attained zero grievance records - Energizer since 2000 and Del Monte since 2004. At Mabuhay in 2006, the CBA-related and CPP-related grievances were limited to only one each. Speedy collective bargaining (CB) negotiations were achieved in all companies: Three days in Del Monte, five days in Energizer for the 2005-2008 CBA, and six official meetings at Mabuhay. Energizer and Del Monte have no cases in outside venues. Mabuhay had two voluntary arbitration cases and one NCMB case in 2006. Energizer, whose work processes are high value production, estimated the benefits of industrial peace based on savings on work hours as follows: R500,000 for speedy CB negotiations, R3 million for absence of labor disputes, and R5 to R6 million for zero strike.

The three companies claimed that they have been granting above-industry compensation and benefits packages. At Energizer, these benefits include the following: bonus incentives; 19 days school opening financial assistance; 34 days Christmas bonus, retirement plan, leaves (vacation, sick, emergency, paternity/maternity, bereavement and union), attendance incentive, and in-patient and out-patient benefits. At Del Monte, the company listed better employee services as the gains of the workers in the LMC. Among these benefits are: Prompt documentation processes for Social Security System (SSS) and PhilHealth, improved working conditions, low-cost employee housing, etc. Mabuhay cited CBA-related benefits as LMC-derived employee benefits like annual physical examinations, hospitalization, safety health and fitness programs, educational loans (maximum of R10,000), employees' stock option program, etc.

In terms of productivity improvement, Mabuhay's IPC achieved reduction of overtime and improved communications among workers, supervisors, and managers. In addition, the Mabuhay IPC was also a major factor in the attainment of the company's ISO 9001 certification from SGS Philippines in 2002. Among the three good practices cited by SGS were: 1) the conversion of sodium hypochlorite from waste to an income earning by-product as cleaning agent, 2) forming cooperatives to sell this cleaning agent as a community relations project, and 3) improving health and safety practices and environmental standards compliance.

Energizer listed the following productivity enhancement programs under the concept of people-engagement through lean manufacturing: Small kaizen (continuous improvement suggestion), total productive manufacturing-autonomous care (TPM-AC), Ampingan Ta (equipment care), 5S visual factory management, creation of value streams organizations, pull system for finished goods, one-piece flow inventory elimination, etc. For example, the small kaizen submissions in 2007 resulted in 3,866 suggestions in all areas of the plant. The TPM-AC project makes the workers operate the machines and equipment assigned to them as if they owned them. This is supplemented by the Ampingan Ta program. Equipment and machine condition at Energizer is restored to their original condition.

Del Monte is engaged in community-based pineapple plantation operating in seven camps, and each camp has its own camp LMC which is coordinated by a top level LMC. The productivity and quality improvement programs of the Del Monte camp LMCs are tied up with community relations programs. Included in these programs are: Family life and development (value formation, family budgeting, parenting, pre-school learning center, school bus service, etc.), environmental protection (solid waste management, anti-rabies, tree planting, etc.), health and safety (fire prevention, road and traffic signs, medical services and facilities, motorcycle shed, etc.), and observance of labor standards (like a drug-free workplace, etc.).

All the corporate LMCs operate on the employee volunteerism concept. This means that LMC members work beyond their work hours at no extra compensation. As stated in the Mabuhay IPC commitment, it "is organized on a purely voluntary basis for the mutual benefit of the company and employees." This is especially true for the LMC support in the community relations programs of the companies. Among the latest CSR projects of Energizer are: Plant-wide tree planting activities, adopt a school and feeding program at Leonard Wood Elementary School, mangrove planting at Olango island, and Gawad Kalinga heroes run. At Mabuhay, the company's CSR activities include the following: Youth scholarship in the TESDA-accredited six-month training in the field of electronics and electricity, medical missions, community services (like livelihood programs, skills training, solid waste management, summer dance lessons, etc.), Christmas gift giving to the children, Flores de Mayo, and clean up drive.

Labor-Management Cooperation: Challenges to Unions and Employers

There is an emerging side stream idea among industrial relations practitioners that trade unions have a political agenda that is opposite that of employers and management. Some have concluded that trade unions should be avoided, if not prevented, in order to achieve industry productivity and competitiveness. Worse, some groups even utilize LMCs as mechanisms that can supplant both trade unions and collective bargaining. This has driven a wedge between trade unionists and LMC labor practitioners.

Interventions designed to avoid unions - or worse "bust unions" - which violates both local and international statutes and standards will not benefit the people who create values in the workplace - employers, managers, and workers. Neither the employer nor the worker would ever aspire for inefficiency and bankruptcy. If there are conflicts among them which are inevitable, the best way to solve them is through open communications and joint and organized problem-solving interventions like the LMC.

The good practices in labor-management cooperation in the three companies have been documented here to inspire others and to illustrate how LMCs through social partnership among employer, management, and trade unions can lead enterprises towards enhanced productivity and decent work. There are no standard guidelines on which interventions and practices in labor-management cooperation can be used in a particular workplace. Good practices are borne out of specific interactions among actors in a particular workplace with a specific set of environments. It is up to LMC practitioners to analyze the adaptability of specific mechanisms and practices in solving their current workplace problems.

The UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP SOLAIR) is proud of the fact that it is a pioneer in the study and promotion of LMCs as a mechanism for the promotion of employer-labor social partnership. We pay tribute to our colleagues who first took these initiatives, then Director Manuel Dia, Prof. Daisy Atienza, and former Dean Jose C. Gatchalian.