Gonzalez warns gov't workers vs joining rallies

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez on Monday warned all government employees against joining rallies and similar activities against the government. The warning was issued six days away from the projected prayer rally against the administration-backed move to amend the Constitution. It was contained in a one-page memorandum sent to all government departments and agencies Monday. In it, Gonzalez reminded department heads about a recent Supreme Court ruling penalizing goernment workers who join protest actions. He cited the Supreme Court ruling which overturned a Court of Appeals decision that had earlier prevented the Government Service Insurance System management from imposing sanctions on workers who went on strike. The High Court - in the cited Dec. 6, 16-page decision - said the CA decision is contrary to the resolution of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) which prohibits government employees from engaging in any form of mass action or any prohibited concerned activity. The High Court cited that Section 5 of CSC resolution no. 0121316 defines prohibited concerted activity as "collective activity undertaken by government employees, by themselves or through their employees’ organization, with the intent of effecting work stoppage or service disruption in order to realize their demands or force concessions, economic or otherwise." The High Court said that the employees employed disruptive approach to air their grievances instead of exploring non-crippling activities during their free time. No right to strike The High Court said while the 1987 Constitution guarantees the right of government personnel to self-organization, such right is limited to the formation of unions and associations and it does not include the right to strike. "To say that there was no work disruption or that the delivery of services remained at the usual level of efficiency at the GSIS main office during those four days of massive walkouts and wholesale absences would be to understate things" the High Court said. With this decision, the SC's second division nullified the Oct. 18, 2005 ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA) which stopped GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia from imposing administrative sanctions against the striking employees mostly belonging to the Kapisanan ng mga Manggagawa sa GSIS. In the same ruling, the high court upheld the filing of administrative cases against the 278 employees of the GSIS who participated in a series of protest actions in October 2004 to denounce the alleged mismanagement of the financial resources of the agency. The justices said that to place the erring employees beyond the reach of administrative accountability would be to trivialize the civil service rules, "not to mention the compelling spirit of professionalism exacted of civil servants by the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees." -GMANews.TV