NEWSFLASH

Manila, July 26, 2000 - Labor officials appealed Wednesday to workers of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) to understand the plight of some 400,000 commuters affected by their wildcat strike.

Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) made the appeal after LRT employees allegedly thwarted repeated attempts to get them to return to work.

"Huwag sana magtagal ang inconvenience sa ating commuting public (We hope they don't prolong the inconvenience caused to our commuting public)," Laguesma said in a series of radio interviews.

Citing statistics reaching his office, Laguesma said some 400,000 commuters use the LRT daily. The LRT connects Kalookan City in the north to Baclaran in the south.

Employees of the LRT staged a wildcat strike Tuesday, stopping coaches dead in their tracks and inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of commuters.

The military deployed trucks late Tuesday to help stranded LRT commuters in Metro Manila.

In the meantime, Laguesma said the DOLE continues to monitor closely the developments on the labor dispute, and is ready to help resolve the matter.

But he said the workers’ union is also making things difficult by making themselves scarce when the DOLE tried to issue a return-to-work order.

"Umaasa tayong meron naman diyang substitute na kaparaanan ... Gumagawa ng paraan ang ating process server (We hope there would be other ways to resolve this. Our process server is working on all possible means)," he said.