Through collective action and asserting their rights, Union of Bakers at Gardenia Bakeries Philippines Inc. (UPGBPI-OLALIA-KMU) members successfully negotiated their new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) last July 18.

The union secured a ₱70 wage increase per year for the next three years, an additional ₱0.50 in seniority pay, a ₱20,000 signing bonus, a ₱7,500 lump sum, a ₱80 meal allowance with an extra ₱35 during overtime, and added leave credits for workers with more than 15 years in the factory.

The union also compelled management to grant workers the additional pay (retroactively) for the months from October 2025 to June of the current year.

This is the second CBA between the union and Gardenia management. The first five-year agreement ended on September 30, 2024, and negotiations for the new CBA began on November 18, 2024.

Union second vice president and plant production operator Rhoel Alconera said unity and collective action among union members substantially contributed to their victory.

“Of course, we could not have achieved that just at the negotiating table. We needed organized actions which we held to pressure management to agree to our demands,” Alconera explained.

In January, the union declared a deadlock, spending almost three months of negotiations at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board for the unresolved CBA provisions such as wages, job security, seniority pay, vacation, and maintaining the number of union bargaining units. The union recognized this as a management tactic to prolong negotiations.

In June, the union filed unfair labor practice (ULP) cases following a series of charges against Alconera and other union officers and members.

The supervisor charged Alconera with loitering while he was in a meeting with the union and management, while other members were marked as late for not working overtime. Alconera also faced fabricated charges of terrorism financing in 2023 and was accused of being a former NPA member. The case was dismissed due to lack of evidence.

Reports of harassment against workers at Gardenia and Philfoods have surfaced since 2021, with the involvement of forces from the PNP and Ntf-Elcac. Despite harassment by state agents and the company, the workers resolutely stood in asserting their rights.

The union calls on Gardenia management to stop harassing the union and simply implement the provisions of the CBA.