Amid a strike threat, collective action and commitment of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) workers, the company management was compelled to agree to open Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations for 2024-2027. For more than three months, the company deliberately delayed responding to the submitted notice for negotiations and the demands of Manggagawa sa Komunikasyon ng Pilipinas (MKP), a union of rank-and-file workers.

The company and the union have agreed to officially begin negotiations for a CBA on August 8. This agreement nullifies the Notice of Strike (NoS) filed by MKP in April. Members numbering 3,371 or 99.4% of the total voters (3,390) and 83.4% of the total membership of the union (4,041) voted in favor of the strike on May 14-15.

The PLDT management was forced to respond to the union’s insistence because the workers would have launched a national strike in just a few days. They also held a protest action on May 27 in which workers from 92% of all PLDT offices in the country participated.

The workers’ initial demands include proper equipment and the compensation for services when on duty. These include payment for emission testing, car washes and other maintenance costs for workers’ vehicles.

They also demanded the regularization of PLDT’s more than 7,000 contractual workers in the installation, repair, and maintenance of lines. The company continues to ignore the Supreme Court ruling in March that PLDT workers should be regularized.

MKP said workers need to participate more in activities and actions because “the fight is just beginning.” It also said they should not suffer from weariness and disunity because the struggle for their rights will be tough.

PLDT is the oldest and largest telecommunications company in the country. In 2023, the company’s total revenue skyrocketed to ₱26.1 billion from ₱10.49 billion revenue in 2022. The company is owned by Indonesian billionaire Anthoni Salim through Filipino bourgeoisie comprador Manny Pangilinan.