The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has issued a certificate of registration for the three-year Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) between the management of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Kalipunan ng mga Kawani sa Kagawaran ng Kalikasan (K4).
K4, duly recognized as the sole and exclusive negotiating representative of all DENR rank-and-file employees across 16 regions nationwide, received the CNA registration certificate from the CSC on October 24 at the DENR Central Office in Quezon City.
Each of the 16 chapters of K4 is represented by the president of the DENR Employees’ Union in the regional offices and bureaus.
The conferment of the registration certificate comes after the evaluation and review of the CNA pursuant to Executive Order No. 180, Series of 1987, or the Amended Rules and Regulations Governing the Exercise of the Right of Government Employees to Organize.
The CNA, signed in June 2022, will be binding until 2025.
Major agreements in the CNA include the representation of employees in various committees concerning their welfare and benefits, and the commitment of management to provide facilities, programs, and activities that will help respond to the needs of special groups, such as persons with disabilities, pregnant women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Other agreements include a housing program that employees will be able to access through various DENR offices nationwide; health and wellness programs and medical services; learning and development and scholarship programs to support the career advancement of the employees; and the CNA incentive that is granted every December.
The CNA incentive is a rationalized cash incentive granted to government employees who have contributed either in productivity or cost-savings in an agency. It shall be sourced solely from savings generated as a result of the cost-cutting measures or systems improvement as agreed upon by the employees’ union or the management.
In line with this, DENR Undersecretary for Legal, Administration, Human Resources and Legislative Affairs Ernesto D. Adobo Jr. said the DENR management continues to nurture its relationship with its rank-and-file employees and values human resources as lifeblood of the organization.
“It is through our employees that we are able to carry out the mandate of this agency,” Adobo said.
Adobo added that the commitments of the DENR management “will not be confined to the provisions of the CNA.”
For her part, CSC Field Office-DENR Director Fe P. Lacaba congratulated the agency for the registration of its CNA.
Lacaba clarified that the registration of the CNA will “not validate any of its provisions which is contrary to law, morals, good customs, public policy, or public order.”
“The DENR is opening its doors to anyone who may want to share thoughts and elevate concerns toward the improvement on how we do things,” Adobo said, echoing the words of DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga during her first day in the agency last July.###
