Teachers' strike looms at 3 universities

TEACHERS in three of the country's prestigious universities are poised to go on strike over alleged unfair labor practices. The faculty unions of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Silliman University (SU) and the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) filed separate strike notices at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). A labor problem is also brewing at the Centro Escolar University. The teachers at the universities are questioning the withholding of tuition increases by the schools' administrations. They argue that Republic Act (RA) 6728 requires that 70 percent of the amount collected from tuition fees must go "to the payment of salaries, wages, allowances and other benefits of teaching and nonteaching personnel." The UST Faculty Union (USTFU) filed its notice of strike last March 25 after the 2021-2026 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations with the school administration were deadlocked. The union said the university refused to release the faculty's share from tuition fee increases, amounting to over P220 million, collected from 2020 to 2023. It said RA 6728 and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order 8, Series of 2012, both mandate that 70 percent of tuition fee increases be immediately allocated to the salaries and benefits of teaching and nonteaching personnel. USTFU also claimed that while UST offers an 8.489-percent salary increase, the figure is inflated by aggregating three years' worth of increases and fails to match the 23.9-percent cumulative inflation from 2021 to 2024. The Lyceum Faculty Association (LFA), which filed its strike notice on March 27, alleged that aside from not paying the teachers' share from tuition hikes, the school also refused to remove the mandatory 20-year retirement policy, regardless of age. LFA also said that those who retired before reaching the age of 50 were slapped with a 30- to 35-percent tax on their benefits, significantly reducing their take-home pay. Silliman University Faculty Association (SUFA) submitted its strike notice to the DOLE National Conciliation and Mediation Board last Feb. 18 following a deadlock in CBA negotiations with the university administration. SUFA is asking for additional benefits beyond what RA 6728 mandates, arguing that the university's earnings in the past two years exceeded P250 million. The SU administration explained that going beyond the 70-percent pay increase would put the university in a bind. Labor groups Partido Lakas ng Masa and the Bukluran Manggagawang Pilipino have expressed solidarity and support to the faculty unions' demand for just wages. The groups also called upon all teaching and nonteaching employees in all academic institutions to close ranks and push for an industry-wide standardization of wages and benefits. They also asked the students of the universities to support their professors. Meanwhile, the Council of Teachers and Staff of Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (CoTeSCUP), an advocacy group promoting the rights and welfare of faculty and staff, expressed strong disappointment over the CHED's continued inaction on the issues raised by the faculty unions. "CHED's silence is alarming," said Rene Luis Tadle, CoTeSCUP president. "Faculty unions across the country, from Silliman University and Centro Escolar University, to the recent labor actions at the University of Santo Tomas and Lyceum of the Philippines University, have been highlighting persistent violations and unfair practices. Yet, CHED remains unresponsive to these systemic problems."