TUCP, Ecop: Reduced workweek to backfire

Workers and employers are one in opposing a proposal for a four-day work week to conserve electricity in offices and factories.

Both the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines said the proposal put forth by the Energy department would backfire and erode productivity.

The Department of Energy’s failure to have a policy on power security and competitive rates led to this crisis, said Louie Corral, TUCP executive director. “How dare it now tries to impose a labor policy. Why will workers sacrificed to answer for the policy failure and lack of forward planning of the Department of Energy? When did workers become the safety net to ensure high profits for power generation and Meralco?”

Ecop president Edgardo Lacson, for his part,  said that to cut working days to four a week would blunt the country’s competitive edge in the global workplace.

“While the rest of the world continuously work from five to six days a week, it will  be expected that the country will further slide down in the competitiveness ladder,” Lacson said.

Both groups said the compressed workweek would tell on the health of the workers whose efficiency and productivity would suffer due to fatigue caused by the stressful 2-hour extension for 4 nights.

The Philippines bears highest cost of electricity in Asia and the Filipino family in general has exhausted all means to cut cost, Corral said. “Have they lost all decency? Is this their idea of the social contract of our government with its people? Their cavalier treatment of the SONA directive to consult and their easy conclusion of who must pay the price speak volume about what we can expect from the both of you during the DOE leadership,” he added.

He said that while many Filipinos  are sacrificing because of the power crisis, Petilla apparently does not seem to share this sentiment.

‘Instead of time-bound and transparent multi-sectoral consultations, Petilla is very quick to dump the burden on worker while he insensitively undertook negotiations for expensive power barge rentals. Petilla apparently do not understand correct sequencing,’ he said

For his part, TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said that a compressed  week for daily wage earners would mean one day less of wages.

Tanjusay reiterated the call TUCP made with the Nagkaisa labor coalition in April to President Aquino to convene a multi-agency, multi-sectoral task force to generate a national response and work towards solutions-- a clear policy on power supply, price and a coherent strategy out of the crisis.

He said the DOE failed the consumers by not applying a full-options approach which would have nipped the crisis in the bud or minimized its impact.

The DOE, he said, rather contently sleepwalks from crisis-to-crisis applying one band-aid solution after the other but what they really did was surrender the real power policy making to Meralco and to the generation sector actors-- neither wants a secure power supply or a competitive rate. - By Vito Barcelo

TUCP thumbs down 4-day workweek plan

by JING VILLAMENTE

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has shot down the four-day workweek proposal by Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug Jr. as a means to conserve energy.

TUCP Executive Director Louie Corral on Thursday said the proposal highlighted the Department of Energy’s lack of policy on power security and competitive rates.

“Why will workers be sacrificed to answer for the policy failure and lack of forward planning by the Department of Energy? When did workers become the safety net to assure high profits for power generation and Meralco?” Corral added, referring to the Manila Electric Co., the country’s biggest power distributor.

“In this power crisis, all must bear the burden and all must sacrifice but Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla apparently does not seem to share this sentiment,” he said.

Corral accused Petilla of “dumping” the burden on workers while pushing for “expensive power barge rentals” to ease the energy shortage.

TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said a compressed four-day workweek would be stressful for workers.

Tanjusay reiterated the group’s call for President Benigno Aquino 3rd to convene a multi-agency, multi-sectoral task force to generate a national response and a clear policy on power supply, price and a coherent strategy to address the looming power crisis.

TUCP urges Petilla to hold dialogue on power problem

 Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla

MANILA, Philippines - The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Monday called on Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla to hold consultations with stakeholders and immediately establish policies and plans to address the looming power crisis.

The TUCP made the call after President Benigno Aquino III, during his 5th State of the Nation Address, instructed Petilla to schedule time-bound consultations.

Without the consultation, the TUCP said that various businessmen are taking advantage of the current power situation by offering expensive sources of electricity.

“Power policy is de facto being set by the independent power generation sector and Meralco. They are now taking advantage of the absolute lack of leadership of Petilla as one group is peddling very expensive solar, another trying to lease power barges to the government and Meralco is shuffling around maintenance schedules to prevent the crisis,” TUCP executive director Louie Corral said.

TUCP has also appealed to Aquino to convene a multi-agency, multi-sectoral committee to draw up a consensus on what policy the government should implement on power security and competitive rates.

“Only the president can restore investor and consumer confidence. Petilla preens with confidence but his explanation sounds curiously fraudulent," Corral said.

- By Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com)

KRISIS DAW O | So where is the energy plan? Labor group asks energychief Petilla

 PHOTO BY BERNARD TESTA

MANILA – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has expressed alarm that Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla still has not set up the time-bound and transparent consultation that President Aquino has instructed him to do at last week’s SONA to establish policies and plans to address the power crisis.

In a related development, a partylist lawmaker on Monday questioned the forecast of the Department of Energy (DoE) of a looming power crisis that could result in rotating brownouts in Luzon in the summer months next year.

“Power policy is de facto being set by the independent power generation sector and Meralco. They are now taking advantage of the absolute lack of leadership of Petilla as one group is peddling very expensive solar, another trying to lease power barges to the government, and Meralco is shuffling around maintenance schedules to prevent the crisis,” said Louie Corral, TUCP executive director, in a news release.

TUCP appealed to Aquino to convene a multi-agency, multi-sectoral committee to draw up a consensus on what policy we will have on power security and competitive rates.

“Only the president can restore investor and consumer confidence. Petilla preens with confidence but his explanation sounds curiously fraudulent.”

Corral reminded Petilla that the power crisis is not just due to a power deficit but to power rates among the highest in the world.

“Our sky-high power rates have made us regionally uncompetitive in the ASEAN, and now we have all these salesmen of expensive power lobbying on the respective merits of their products,” Corral said.

He empasized that multi-sectoral consensus is key if the people will be made to sacrifice during the crisis.

“We gently remind the DOE secretary that it will be the Filipino taxpayer and the Filipino consumer who will end up footing the bill. If expensive solutions are not backed up by a modicum of government savvy and intervention, we will end precisely where we are now: at the mercy of the independent power producers.”

Is the power crisis real?

Bayan Muna partylist Representative Neri Colmenares said that based on DoE figures as of 2013, the installed capacity for Luzon grid was 12,790 MW and dependable capacity was 11,469 MW. He added that the peak demand for the grid was only 8,700 MW, and Meralco’s share was 6,121 MW.

“So if you deduct dependable capacity from peak demand, there should have been allowance for reserves amounting to 2,700MW. This is more than the 400 MW deficit that (Energy) Secretary (Jericho) Petilla claims. Based on the DoE figures itself, even in a tight supply condition, there should be more than enough supply,” Colmenares said.

“As I see it and based on the DoE data itself power supply is not a problem and there is no need for emergency powers if the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and DOE would get their acts together. The Aquino administration should stop crying wolf and once again try to find an excuse for a power rate hike,” Colmenares added.

Petilla has been pushing Congress to grant President Benigno Aquino III emergency powers to allow him to deal with the looming crisis.

Colmenares said that if the DoE's reference on plant capacities were accurate, then it should have been addressed a long time ago through the Power Development Plan.

“Is it really supply that is a problem or there are other factors that prevent some capacities from being dispatched, like the supposed collusion between power industry players last year? Up till now the ERC has yet to submit their investigation on the matter,” he said.

The lawmaker also noted that one unit of the 650-MW Malaya plant -- 300 MW capacity -- was down.

"When can the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) bring it back to operation so it can contribute to 2015 summer supply?” he said.

- By: Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com