Retrenched LRT-1 workers assured of benefits

FILE: LRT Line 2 (Photo: cb_agulto/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

MANILA – Workers of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) who are about to lose their jobs are assured that the management will comply with the guidelines set by the Department of Labor and Employment.

These include getting “rightful benefits under the law and even above what is in the existing collective bargaining agreement.”

In a statement, the Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), the operator and maintenance provider of the LRT-1, said the reduction of its workforce was caused by a 90-percent drop in ridership of the LRT-1 as well as suspension of other projects.

LRMC also partnered with Xcelarator Talent Solutions to help its affected workers on livelihood and investment management.

“Webinars and online consultations on managing mental health will also be offered,” the LRMC statement read.

“This will aim to right-size the organization to better suit the current and future business conditions, as well as maintain stability while navigating through the uncertainty of this global crisis,” it added.

The decision will take effect on September 15.

Before it was approved, it said the decision went through “multiple levels of approvals” involving the management of the LRMC and its employee union.

In a message on Wednesday, Jacqueline Gorospe, LRMC Communications and Customer Relations head said the number of retrenched workers, over 100, was equal to 20 percent of the LRT-1’s workforce.

Following the announcement of the retrenchment, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade asked the country’s three other rail services to immediately absorb qualified personnel.

Tugade also tasked the LRMC to subject all of its personnel to testing for Covid-19, and ordered senior officials of the DOTr to review LRT-1’s health and safety protocols for Covid-19.