Former laborers of the China Road and Bridge Corporation based in Nagbagang, Sta. Catalina town, Oriental Negros, won their case before the National Labor Relations Commission in Region 7 and are now awaiting the release of their wage differentials.

More than 20 laborers filed a complaint with the NLRC for alleged underpayment of wages, claiming that some of them are paid salaries ranging from only P90 to P150 a day, way below the minimum wage set by the government.

Some of them said they have been rendering service for more than a year without any service incentive leave.

They also claimed to be working more than eight hours a day, the most being 12 hours, including Saturdays and Sundays.

The complaining laborers further claimed not to have received any holiday pay, premium pay for work rendered during rest days, or overtime pay.

In a decision penned by former NLRC labor arbiter Geoffrey Villahermosa dated January 2004, 14 of the employees were granted a total of P464,580 while nine others could not receive the salary differentials after they had signed a receipt and waiver of their monetary benefits.

China Road and Bridge Corporation appealed the ruling and claimed that the labor arbiter committed grave error in the appreciation of facts and computation of award in its decision.

The appeal was partially granted, when the award for differentials for Roberto Bagacay, Jovenio Baguio and Rodulfo Romanillos were deleted. The monetary awards to Danilo Regino and Alfredo Dayondon on the other hand, were only reduced, but the other aspects of the assailed decision stand, the NLRC-7 decision dated July 22,2005 states.*JG

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