BASIC RIGHTS OF WORKERS

What is the NCMB?

We shall take off from a recall of our past discussion. Within SLU, a case may be settled through the grievance procedure as shown in these steps:

1. Filing of the letter of complaint to the UFESLU President by an employee

A letter of complaint is filed by an employee (addressed to the UFESLU President) and against SLU for interpretation of the CBA or interpretation of any of the rules and regulations in the University.

2. Clearing Meeting

The UFESLU schedules a Clearing Meeting with the SLU Administration. The Clearing Meeting is an informal meeting of the parties to determine the issues and to attempt to arrive at a settlement of the case.

3. Grievance Meeting

If the case is not settled in the Clearing Meeting, the case is elevated to the Grievance Meeting which is a more formal meeting of the parties to discuss the legal implications of the issues and to attempt to arrive at a settlement of the case.

4. UFESLU Files a case to the NCMB

If the parties fail to arrive at a settlement of the issues in the Grievance Meeting, the UFESLU will now file a case in behalf of the employee to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB).

Now, the NCMB…

The National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) is a part (attached agency) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the other agency being the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). To illustrate,

DOLE l----- NCMB
l
l-----NLRC


But these two agencies – NCMB and NLRC – have different issues that they handle. The issues that may be brought before the NLRC will be discussed later.

No employee can directly file a case against an employee to the NCMB. The case must FIRST pass through the Grievance Procedure outlined in the CBA before it can go to the NCMB.
As the term implies, the function of the NCMB is mediation (arbitration) and conciliation.

Conciliation is done by the Head of the NCMB. In this stage, the parties are compelled to appear before the Head of the NCMB for possible settlement. Should this fail, the case goes to mediation or arbitration.

In the arbitration stage, a voluntary arbiter (VA) is selected by mutual agreement of the parties to mediate and render a decision based on an impartial appreciation of the facts. The NCMB has a list of accredited voluntary arbitrators (AVA) where the parties can select. The AVA renders a decision similar to a judge.

If one of the parties does not accept the decision of the AVA, he/she may appeal to the Court of Appeals (CA). From the CA, appeal may be made to the Supreme Court (SC).

The NCMB is located at the Benitez Court, Magsaysay Avenue, Baguio City (in front of AMA Computer School).