Opinion: An Illegal Transfer, WNU
While it is true that the reassignment or transfer of personnel is within the prerogative of management, it is not absolute. There are legal grounds and rules that must be faithfully observed in order to protect the rights of the workers, otherwise, arbitrary policies implemented by the management could not be held in check or at least regulated by labor laws. Such was the case of the three teachers in the high school department of West Negros University (WNU) who were transferred to the college department by virtue of Memo # 69, S,09-10 issued by Mrs. Cleo Grace T. Hinaut, to Mrs. Antonette Ang, Principal of the Integrated School, the memo was issued on April 28, 2010 by Mrs. Hinaut as the VP for Academic Affairs. The three teachers Mrs. Charito Kaw Chong Huat, Miss Lucy Alayon and Miss Gladys Campillanos are members of the WNU Faculty and Employees Labor Union-PACIWU as alleged by the administration, to have not possessed the qualifications to teach in the high school department, despite the fact that they had been teaching there for a long period of time and it is only now that their qualifications are questioned, because they are not graduates of a Bachelor of Science in Education (BSE) among others.
Since this labor issue involves substantial diminution of their monthly income, WNU-FELU-PACIWU which is the Certified Bargaining Agent of the rank-and-file employees and faculty, filed a complaint, questioning the illegal transfer, and submitted the case for voluntary arbitration before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB-RB6) and both parties agreed to chose Atty. Jose Lapak Jr. as the voluntary arbitrator that shall resolve the issue. There are other issues involved with reference to NCMB-RB6-BAC-NS-07-004-10, but for purposes of brevity I will focus on the illegal transfer issue.
On December 28, 2010 several months after the filing of the complaint, Atty. Jose Lapak Jr. Issued an Order and let me cite the dispositive portion to wit: “Declaring invalid and illegal the transfer of high school teachers Charito Kaw Chong Huat, Lucy Alayon and Gladys Campillanos to the WNU College Department, directing the Respondent (WNU), to reinstate them to their former classes in the High School Department without gap in service, loss of rank and seniority, and loss or diminution of pay and benefits and ordering Respondent to pay them actual damages in the amounts each of the said teachers individually lost because of their invalid transfer. So Ordered.”
This decision is another victory for WNU-FELU-PACIWU in their struggle to protect the rights of the workers. This is a moral victory for the Union, and for all the sleepless nights, besmirched reputation and mental anguish suffered by the three teachers, they were finally vindicated. The monetary award was about half a million pesos, more or less and after almost one year and six months, the long wait was finally over. Kudos to Atty. Jose Lapak Jr. for his impartial judgment and to the three teachers for their courage and determination to fight for justice. They will be reinstated to the High School Department on the opening of classes on June 2012.
As an alumni of WNU and as the founding president of WNU-FELU-PACIWU, my unsolicited advice for the administration of WNU is that, may this precedence serve as a wake-up call for them to evaluate their policies so that the resources of the WNU would not be depleted by paying monetary awards to labor cases whenever they lose. The amount should have been utilized to improve the school facilities and increase the salaries of the education workers. It is time to smoke the peace pipe with the Union and dismiss those oppressive administrators, who are doing more harm than good to the institution! Good luck!*
