Delivery company J&T Express has granted their delivery riders in Cabuyao, Laguna a salary increase and benefits under a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) sealed last Friday.
The new CBA offered a salary uplift of P61 and a daily meal allowance of P150 starting Sept. 1. Subsequent increases involve a P10 raise on Sept. 1, 2024. The agreement also stated that the workers will receive the increase from Sept. 1 retroactively.
“Even though it (salary hike) is small… but at least somehow, it (CBA negotiations) moved forward after almost a year and three months of lobbying,” union acting president Ferdinand Cusi, speaking in Filipino, said in an interview.
Mr. Cusi said the union had been in protest for additional pay and benefits since July 2022.
Aside from the salary increase, J&T Express Laguna workers were granted a biannual rice subsidy of P2,000 and an allocated annual budget for sports and recreation activities, improved health benefits, life insurance, leave entitlements, and a sign-on bonus.
“They (the union) were not afraid or discouraged. They launched a strike, a bold move in championing their collective rights and interests,” said Mr. Cusi in a statement, citing the suspension of 21 workers amid the union’s strike. — Jomel R. Paguian