• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Progressive Alliance of Capitol Employees (PACE) and the provincial government of Negros Occidental have signed a Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) covering a period of three years on Friday.
The signatories were PACE president Ruben Diamante and Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson.
“We hope that with this signing, the cooperation between the provincial government, and of course PACE and its members, will continue,” Lacson said in rites held at the Governor’s Office witnessed by other union officers and Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II.
The latest CNA features the provision of a total of six days of special leave privileges for all employees for specific circumstances stated in the agreement.
The CNA is a negotiated contract between an accredited employees’ organization representing a negotiating unit and the employer concerning terms and conditions of employment and improvements thereof that are not fixed by law.
It covers all rank-and-file employees of the province with salary grades 23 and below, excluding high-level, highly confidential, and co-terminus employees.
PACE is a duly-organized public sector employees’ union whose members are provincial government employees.
Under the said agreement, the province and the union have mutually agreed to renew, modify, and stipulate new provisions in the previous CNA to promote a good working environment, which would truly enhance the employees’ welfare and productivity, and to build a labor-management relationship that would ensure an effective and efficient public service.
It is also stated in the agreement that CNA incentives may be granted to both management and rank-and-file employees of agencies with approved and successfully implemented CNAs in recognition of their efforts in accomplishing performance targets in attaining more efficient and viable operations through cost-cutting measures and systems improvement.
Such CNA incentive shall be provided for under General Appropriations Act as under Administrative Order 135 “Authorizing the Grant of CNA Incentives to Employees in Government Agencies” issued on Dec. 27, 2005, the province agrees to grant the CNA incentive, in conformity with the provisions of Budget Circular 016 – 1, dated December 2016, and other DBM latest issuances relative thereto. | GB
