THE industrial climate in the country remained peaceful with no recorded strikes in the first month of the year, the Department of Labor and Employment said Wednesday.
The Labor’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board said last January was considered very peaceful, compared with the same month last year.
“Although a total of 53 notice of strike or lockout cases were filed during the first month of 2017, no new strike was declared in January,” according to NCMB executive director Shirley Pascual.
She said of the 53 cases, 16 were new while 37 were pending cases spilled over from last year, while 19 were settled.
“There were 101 preventive mediation cases handled by the NCMB. Of the said cases, 46 were settled for a 46 percent settlement rate resulting [in] P661,565 monetary package to 330 workers. The average duration of settlement is 36 days,” she said.
There were seven grievance machineries institutionalized, of which six were from unorganized establishments.
As of January 2017, there were 3,341 active grievance machineries nationwide.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III appealed to disputing laborers and management sectors to thresh out differences by engaging in closer dialogue and collaborative undertakings to cushion the impact of the current financial crisis.
