Attn: Mr. ROLLY B. FERNANDEZ, Bureau Chief
Mr. ROBERT JAWORSKI L. ABAÑO, Asst. Bureau Chief
Ms. GOBLETH R. MOULIC, Editorial Assistant

N. Vizcaya mine braces for strike
By Melvin C. Gascon, Inquirer Northern Luzon

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya--A foreign company that is operating a gold-copper project in upland Kasibu town has called out employees over an impending strike by members of a workers’ union amid an ongoing dispute over their wages.

Brennan Lang, general manager of the Didipio project of OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. said employees who are not members of the union will be asked to alter their schedule, or perform functions in anticipation of the vacuum that will be created by those who will join the picket line.

“All department heads have been tasked with developing contingency plans to maintain operations in the event of a strike,” he said in a memorandum that was circulated among workers last week, a copy of which was obtained by the INQUIRER.

The work stoppage at the OceanaGold Didipio mine loomed closer after the Pun-oh-ohaan Hi Kiphodan labor union, the solely recognized workers’ organization of the Didipio project, unanimously voted on Monday last week to proceed with the strike.

The Jan. 20 balloting came more than a month after the union filed on Dec. 10, 2013 a notice of strike with the Department of Labor and Employment, following failed negotiations.

According to Lang, workers who do not report for work, regardless of whether they joined the strike or not, shall not be paid their wages.

The union has about 80 members, mostly Didipio residents, out of the total 350 workforce of OceanaGold.

The impending strike is the latest hump to hit the Didipio mining project, which began commercial production in 2013 amid continuing opposition from the anti-mining community led by the church in Nueva Vizcaya.

The dispute stemmed