THE UST Faculty Union (USTFU) will lobby for the permanent separation of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) talks and the discussion of academic staff’s tuition increase shares, one of the most contested points that triggered its months-long labor dispute with the administration.
In the union’s general assembly held on Tuesday, June 10, USTFU President Emerito Gonzales said the decoupling of the tuition hike and CBA talks would be proposed formally in the renegotiation of the last two years of the CBA.
“We, the union panel, will propose it (separation of tuition hike shares from the CBA talks) in the re-negotiation of this signed CBA, in mid August,” USTFU president Asst. Prof. Emerito Gonzales told The Flame.
“If we are turned down, we shall again push for it in the next CBA proposals come August 2026,” he added.
The distribution and allocation of the tuition hike proceeds were among the most debated provisions of the CBA that led to several deadlocks between the union and University management. This prompted the seeking of the labor department’s intervention, which culminated in the ratification of the agreement on June 11.
During the back-and-forth negotiations, USTFU persistently called for the immediate release of the faculty’s share of tuition hikes from the years 2020 to 2024, which amounted to P247.8 million.
However, the University administration had rejected the union’s request multiple times, insisting it could only release the amount upon the ratification of the current CBA to avoid legal complications.
Both parties were able to reach a settlement after multiple meetings with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB).
Of the debated P248 million from AY 2020–2021 under the previous CBA cycle, P21.8 million was distributed to academic personnel on May 20, while P6 million was allocated for hospitalization. The remaining P220 million will be released following the agreement’s signing on May 30.
“The manner by which the [tuition increase] shares will be distributed can be discussed, legally, outside the CBA negotiation,” Gonzales said.
The union chief argued that the teachers’ cut in tuition increases is already part of their benefits by law and therefore should no longer be negotiated. He noted that other universities follow the practice.
“The [tuition increase] share is already the benefit of the faculty members according to the law. The CBA is a negotiation wherein we, the union, negotiate for what is over and above what the law provides,” Gonzales said.
“The separation of the [tuition increase] shares from the CBA negotiation is the ideal that teachers or employees in DLSU (De La Salle University) Manila do, and in Silliman University do in Dumaguete,” he added.
The signed and ratified CBA now includes a clause stating that undistributed excess amounts in tuition hikes should be given to faculty members the following academic year.
“The University shall inform USTFU of this excess amount and shall distribute it in the same manner as previously given,” the signed CBA read.
The agreement also states that the excess in distribution will likewise be deducted from the faculty’s share in the next year.
Also among the previously contentious provisions in the CBA were the employees’ hospitalization benefits.
Under the agreement, eligible full-time academic staff are now granted full coverage of their total medical expenses, while part-time faculty members will receive 50% per utilization. The new arrangement, which will be put under trial for two years, will replace the 20-year-old provision of P100,000 annual medical coverage for faculty members.
The University will employ a “tiered framework,” wherein if utilization has exceeded the yearly P21 million cap, the medical coverage would revert to the UST management’s initial proposal of P150,000 for regular illnesses and P350,000 for critical cases
The framework will be in place for the academic years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027, or until the full depletion of the P21 million within one academic year. F
