BACOLOD City – The Philippine Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Workers Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (PACIWU-TUCP) has denied involvement in the “illegal termination” of some Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI) employees.
In a press conference at the Negros Press Club on Tuesday, the dismissed workers said they “decided to come out into the open so the public will know what kind of union they have.”
The group claimed they were “illegally ousted” after they did not take sides with the Yansons fighting over their multibillion-peso bus empire.
But these allegations were then slammed by PACIWU-TUCP national president Hernani Braza and VTI Union president Franny Santarin.
The union leaders said they insisted to help those affected workers, which they claimed resulted in 80 of them getting their jobs back.
“We have reached out to the employees but they made it difficult for themselves,” they noted. “Those employees abandoned their work after the standoff and went AWOL.”
They added that those who sought their
help all returned to work.
“We previously warned employees not to take sides in the ongoing feud within
the Yanson family who owns VTI,” they said.
The group, however, insisted that their termination came about through collusion between VTI president Leo Rey Yason and PACIWU-TUCP.
“We strongly condemn our dismissal from work without justifiable reason and process,” they said. “We strongly condemn the silence of our union and its pro-management stance.”/PN
