MIWD contractual employees assured of 3-month extension
Contractual employees of the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) could now heave a sigh of relief. Well, at least in the next three months.
This, as the members of the MIWD board of directors approved for the extension of contract of some 75 casual employees after their employment contract will end on June 30.
But instead of the usual 6-month employment contract, the extension is only good for 3 months or until September 30.
Atty. Hans Sayno, MIWD board secretary, explained that the budget for the contractual employees will be taken from the existing budget.
Sayno claimed that the management will decide on which part of the budget they would re-align to address the salary of casual employees that would be re-hired in the next 3 months.
It was gathered that the board would opt for the filling up of plantilla positions in the MIWD.
Supposedly, there should be 220 plantilla positions. But currently, there are only 171 regular employees.
“We would have a policy to fill-up these vacancies giving priority to casual employees who are Civil Service eligible,” Sayno added.
Casual employees would be given a chance to get the Civil Service eligibility exam and if they are fit for the post, they should be hired as regular employees, he said.
But still, Sayno pointed out that the management has the prerogative who to hire.
Earlier, there were reports that the MIWD Board of Directors is not bent on approving the budget for the salary of the existing contractual workers.
The said development came after the MIWD management and the agency’s employees came into conflict with the MIWD board of director over their opposing views on what to do with the MIWD.
While the management would want the water district to be converted into a cooperative, the board of directors allegedly want it privatized.
MIWD General Manager Le Jayme Jalbuena earlier said that they would want the water district to be turned into a cooperative with all employees owning a share of the water district.
On the other hand, the MIWD Board of Directors allegedly pushed for a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), which is “most suited for MIWD in effectively managing, operating, improving and maintaining its water supply facilities aimed to respond to the water, sewer and sanitation needs of the ever growing populace of its service area.”
