Hinatuan Mining Corp. (HMC) and Taganito Mining Corp. (TMC) were recently named Regional Winners in the 2021 Search for Outstanding Labor-Management Cooperation Program, the sister firms under Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) said in a statement.
They are now contenders for the National LMC Competition, the awardees of which will be announced this December.
The award is given by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) for Outstanding Labor-Management Cooperation (LMC) and Grievance Machinery (GM) for Industrial Peace in the regional level.
NAC is the Philippine’s largest producer of lateritic nickel ore and one of the largest in the world. Its operations are multiple winners of the Presidential Mineral Industry Environment Award (PMIEA), the highest recognition for environmental excellence in mining in the country.
NCMB honored HMC and TMC, subsidiaries of NAC, for exemplary dedication, support and determination in sustaining harmonious labor-management relations in the workplace.
Policarpo O. Asilo, President of Hinatuan Mining Labor Union-National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno (HIMLU-NAFLU-KMU), shared the excellent relationship HMC has with its Labor Union.
“The Union and HMC management maintain a good and harmonious relationship by building trust and respect, with open table discussions in making decisions,” Asilo said.
Pedro D. Urbiztondo, TMC Labor Union president, said the award is “proof of the unity and harmony between management and labor union.”
“Through the LMC, programs and activities, and assistance are extended to employees as well as residents of neighboring communities,” he added
With the theme “Responsiveness and Resilience in Times of Disruption”, the 2021 Search for Outstanding LMC is a special edition, recognizing organizations that have remained focused and true to the very essence of cooperation and partnership, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
This recognition highlights the commitment of NAC’s Human Resources team to job security most especially during crises.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has had a negative impact in economies and employment across the globe and for a company to be able to give the sense of job security is part of the survival mechanism people need. Job security is a big deal right now, more than ever, the companies said.
“If we have to have one, I’d choose and use the hashtag #walangnafirebagkusnaghire because we are proud of the sense of job security NAC provides to its employees especially during these difficult and uncertain time of the pandemic,” said Maria Elena Sierra, HR manager based at the NAC Head Office in BGC, Taguig City.
Sierra said NAC currently has 3,329 employees across the organization. Consistent with all its subsidiaries, no one was let go. Despite the pandemic, the Head Office personnel at the NAC Tower now totaling 185 is actually a 14.2% increase, when 23 new hires came on board between 2020 to 2021.
Mayett Panio Ravina, HR Manager at HMC, said: “Mine site management did not reduce its manpower despite huge expenses incurred in responding to COVID-19 and some due to delayed shipments because of the pandemic.”
Emy Tabula, HR Manager at Rio Tuba Nickel, a NAC subsidiary based in Palawan, said: “RTNMC did not separate or suspend any of its workforce during the pandemic and salaries and bonuses, up to 16th month pay, were all given as usual.
“We also continued with the regularization, promotion and hiring of needed employees. Currently we have 1,124 direct hires in RTNMC alone,” she added.
“We employ alternative working schedules to comply with the strict COVID protocols, but we have had normal operations this whole time of the pandemic,” Tabula said.
Dave Borquit, Jr., HR Manager for Cagdianao Mining, NAC subsidiary with operations in Dinagat Islands, said 29 permanent positions were filled despite the pandemic.
Boraquit added that the firm’s salary increase system, on top of regular salary, continues despite the economic and health crisis. This is plus the advanced release of the 13th month pay in March 2020, and midyear bonus in June, aside from the 15th and 16th month bonus released in the year-end, a policy implemented NAC-wide.
The newest addition to the NAC family, the Dinapigue Mining Corporation (DMC), operating out of Isabela, had 32 positions filled during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
Marizel Bismar, DMC HR Manager, said all employee benefits, consistent across the entire NAC organization, are retained despite the economic crisis.
