No strike, but peaceful demo

By JUN DEL P. FELICILDA, Reporter
IT’S not really a strike, but a mere peaceful demonstration of grievances against so-called procedural lapses at the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD).

This assurance was made by Engineer Tony Young, president of the First Labor Organization of COWD (FLOW), on newspaper reports (not in this paper) that COWD employees are ‘striking’ beginning February 15 this year.

“As government employees,
we are absolutely not allowed by civil service laws from airing our grievances by way of strikes. Therefore, we are resorting to one-hour daily peaceful demonstrations, between 12:00 noon and 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon, so as not to disrupt our operations,” Young explained.

He said they are bent to continue with the daily mass actions until all issues are completely resolved.
FLOW is questioning the installation of the interim general manager following the controversial stint of former General Manager Bienvenido Batar.
In its position paper, FLOW pointed out that before any intervention can occur, LWUA should first assess or audit the water district (WD) to determine precisely the existence and cause of the problem or deficiency.

“The installation of the interim general manager was expeditious that there was no assessment done prior to its entry. There was no report submitted by LWUA and COWD was not given the appropriate time to contest such a move,” the FLOW further stated.

FLOW is also opposed to the COWD Board action pushing for amendments and revisions on the bulk water supply project (BWSP) contract provisions, instead of reformation.

“We are consistent of our position that the COWD BWSP contract be reverted to its model agreement provisions,” it was further stated.
Likewise, FLOW disagrees to the memorandum of between the COWD Board and the City Mayor’s Office concerning the purchase of bulk water of 10,000 cubic meters everyday from Rio Verde Water Consortium.

Furthermore, the FLOW contended that “entering into another agreement involving Rio Verde is an act of conceding with the BWSP contract disputes and would only jeopardize our claims.”

For his part, Batar showed no reaction contrary to the impending daily one-hour demonstration, saying that FLOW has all the right to grievance.
“Everything, however, should be done without affecting our operations,” Batar stated.