Alliance of Contractual Employees (ACE) UP said it welcomes the “small victory” but considers the current count of reinstated guards “too few” considering the number of guards who were displaced.
By ARNETH ASIDDAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — After a month of negotiating with the UP administation, 37 dismissed security guards have been reinstated at the University of the Philippines Diliman on April 27.
They were laid off along with more than 20 other security personnels following the turnover of UP’s new security provider Grand Meritus Security Agency Inc. on April 1. Some displaced security guards had been working for UP for as long as two decades.
In a dialogue with Alliance of Contractual Employees (ACE) UP and All UP Workers Alliance last April 16, UP Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo said that UP would negotiate with Grand Meritus for the maximum absorption of security guards into the new agency.
ACE-UP said it welcomes the “small victory” but considers the current count of reinstated guards “too few” considering the number of guards who were displaced.
In a letter addressed to Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo, ACE-UP said the recent development has brought “disappointment” to the remaining guards who were recommended by the organization and UP units.
ACE-UP said Atty. John Barona, acting director of UP Public Safety and Security Office (PSSO), has released “a list endorsing a second batch of security guards for absorption.”
The group demanded for the exact date when the remaining 20 guards would be reinstated.
Security guards who were formerly employed under Northcom Security and Investigation Agency also appealed for Northcom to pay them their overdue salary, cash bond, 13th month pay and other benefits and incentives.
ACE-UP reiterated that those who will not be absorbed should be kept as part of the UP Diliman Special Services Brigade (SSB) to keep them employed and to maintain the security of the campus amid the unilateral termination of the UP-DND accord.
The UP-DND Accord, which prohibits state security forces from entering university premises without prior notice to the school administration, was unilaterally terminated by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana early this year.
