Fired employees of the Philippines National Construction Corporation (PNCC) staged another protest action yesterday morning, marching towards the Metro Manila Skyway office at Bicutan, Taguig in a reprise of a similar action last Monday.

The 300 workers belonging to Skyway Corporation, a subsidiary of PNCC said they are protesting their sacking following the turnover of Skyway operations to Indonesian-owned Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corporation which started handling operations on New Year’s Day.

Led by Philippine Skyway Corporation Employees Union (PSCEU) president Jose Apollo Ado, the striking workers insisted that they be reinstated. They brought copies of a supposed return-to-work order issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

They said they were given their walking papers only on December 28, and that they were never consulted about the termination.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion yesterday said the layoff appears to be legitimate. Brion said that based on the facts presented to DOLE’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), the respondents to the case filed by the PSC Employees’ Union (PSCEU) "seem" to have abided by the rules.

Brion also clarified that his office did not issue any "return-to-work" order to Skyway but only an "assumption of jurisdiction".

Brion explained that the order only signifies that DOLE has recognized that there is a dispute between the PNCC-Skyway Corporation and its workers and that will take direct action on it.

He, however, assured workers that DOLE will act end the dispute before the end of the month.

Ado said they were initially told that they would be absorbed by the new company. However, he said this was not included in the agreement between PNCC-Citra and the new operator, the Skyway Operations and Maintenance Corporation.

The termination was a result of the Amended Supplemental Toll Operators Agreement (ASTOA) signed in July 2007 between the PNCC, Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. and the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) which gave the management of the 35-kilometer toll road to Citra. – Ashzel Hachero and Gerald Naval