AS KEY items in the bargaining deal remain unresolved, the University administration and faculty union have decided to reschedule the 24th to 26th Dangal ng UST Awards from May 9 to Aug. 15 to have a “more conclusive celebratory atmosphere.”
In a memorandum issued to UST officials on April 26, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Prof. Cheryl Peralta said classes on May 9 may proceed as scheduled as they were initially converted to asynchronous mode to give way to the awards.
“Our Thomasian educators deserve nothing less than a gracious recognition for their achievements and a festive thanksgiving for all the blessings. We hope and pray that rescheduling the event to a later date will result in a more conclusive celebratory atmosphere and likewise, allow the organization to enhance the preparation for the occasion,” Peralta said.
Since October last year, the management and the UST Faculty Union (USTFU) have remained at odds over teachers’ demand for full hospitalization benefits, the release of the faculty members’ cut in tuition increases from 2021 to 2024 and the source for rank upgrades.
During the penultimate mediation meeting between both parties, USTFU asked that 50% of the P26 million salary rank upgrade be sourced from their share of the tuition hike and no longer entirely from the University’s treasury. It also called for the restructuring of senior high school salaries with a P10.5 million option.
Meanwhile, the UST administration suggested that future rank upgrades would no longer be deducted from tuition hike earnings, but that the 2023–2024 rank upgrade would be funded by the shares already received. The “unused” money would be “distributed as a one-time bonus for all academic staff.”
So far, four provisions in the deadlocked collective bargaining agreement (CBA) have already been settled, namely the National Service Training Program amounting to P2,000 per term, the reduced emergency loan interest from 6% to 4% and the 11th and 12th month pay, which will be up for renegotiation in June and an additional two-day vacation leave for non-teaching staff.
The UST management also agreed to distribute a portion of the tuition hike share worth P27.8 million, which traces back to the academic year 2020-2021, by May 20. However, it maintained that other proceeds from increased tuition (P51.45 million for 2021-2022; P63.22 million in 2022-2023; and P104.68 million for 2023-2024) would be released once a CBA has been ratified.
The Dangal ng UST Awards is an annual event that honors academic and non-academic staff’s notable contributions to teaching, research and service.
“The Dangal ng UST is a very important celebration of the dedicated service and exceptional achievements of our teaching and non-teaching academic staff in the areas of education, research, and community development,” Peralta said.
The awarding ceremony will be held at the Quadricentennial Pavilion from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., coinciding with the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. F
