Manila (6 November) -- Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque reported yesterday to Malacanang that notices of strikes and lockouts filed with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) in 351 establishments since January this year did not materialize into actual strikes or lockouts.

Citing an NCMB report, Roque said the settled notices represented 98.87% success rate out of the 355 cases, which the Board handled from January to Oct. 15 this year. The cases included those pending at the end of 2007.

He lauded the disputing parties for opting to settle their conflict amicably and, thus, prevent the occurrence of debilitating strikes or lockouts. He said that labor and management in the 351 firms showed maturity in choosing to settle their disputes rather than resort to strikes or lockouts.

The Labor and Employment Secretary said he urged disputing labor and management to thresh out their differences by engaging in closer dialogue and collaborative undertakings to cushion the negative impact of the current worldwide financial crisis particularly at the plant level.

He appealed to social partners to exhaust all means in the settlement of their disputes to prevent strikes and lockouts that can certainly worsen the impact of the financial crisis to the economy.

So far, only five strikes occurred in the country since January this year, he said.

The NCMB report also showed that 7,388 workers received a total of P529 million in monetary benefits upon the settlement of cases involving deadlock in collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).

Another 2,162 workers got a total of P188 million in separation pay and restitution packages in settled cases involving unfair labor practices (ULP).

The NCMB also settled 13 preventive mediation (PM) cases involving bargaining deadlock issues which benefited 1,354 workers who received a total of P101 million in CBA packages.