RENEGOTIATION BETWEEN the UST Faculty Union (USTFU) and the administration have officially started for the final two years of the 2021-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), with teachers proposing a 3% annual salary hike, among other benefits.
The panels for both sides met on Friday, April 24, to discuss the proposal submitted by USTFU last March 10, which renegotiated the economic and welfare provisions of the current CBA ratified in June last year.
“This progressive adjustment is implemented to ensure equitable compensation, recognize social justice, and correct existing salary compression,” the USTFU’s proposal read.
Under the economic benefits, the union pushes for a 3% salary increase for both the academic years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
The union also wants non-tenured staff who completed three consecutive semesters of employment to receive 11th and 12th-month pay in June and July upon completing their fourth semester. This is a sharp reduction from the previous period of three years or six terms for the 11th month pay and the five-year or 10-term requirement for the 12th month pay.
The proposal also introduces six days of mental health leave per year to protect faculty wellness. If approved, staff would be required to notify the department chair and the unit head’s office at least two working days before going on leave.
Also outlined in the document is expanded coverage of current economic benefits, such as Christmas bonus, technology support and rice laundry allowance, and a P5 million hospitalization fund that will not come from tuition increases.
Republic Act 6728 mandates that 70% of tuition hikes must be allocated to salaries, allowances and benefits of school staff. The faculty’s P220 million worth of tuition hike shares from academic years 2021-2022 to 2023-2024 was one of the most contested provisions during the months-long CBA negotiations last year, which was only resolved following a strike notice and meditations by the Labor department.
The current CBA provides full hospitalization benefits for full-time staff and 50% for part-time faculty members, replacing the previous P100,000 annual medical coverage that was in effect for 20 years.
Once the annual P21 million hospitalization fund is depleted, medical coverage will revert to the UST Management’s proposed budget of P150,000 for regular illnesses and P350,000 for critical illnesses.
Meanwhile, the proposed retirement benefit states that a staff member who retires at age 65 with at least 10 consecutive years of work shall be paid 150% of his monthly salary for each year of service. The payment will be based on a 10-year average of actual load without the 21-unit cap and is to be released within 30 calendar days of receiving clearance from the head of the academic unit.
When faculty members are promoted, the union proposes that their salary change be retroactively effective from the beginning of the first academic year of the promotion cycle.
Other items listed in the proposal are an adjusted progressive salary scale for National Service Training Program facilitators, compensation for extended services and credits for junior high school faculty and a permanent office for the union.
The USTFU panel is composed of Asst. Prof. Emerito Gonzales, Asst. Prof. Edilberto Gonzaga, Asst. Prof. Maria Victoria Bongar, Jr. Pocholo Mari Arabit, Asst. Prof. Jonathan Cabero and Asst. Prof. Crisencio Paner. F
