Workers protest snarls traffic flow on SLEX

Year 2007 ended on a sour note for employees of the Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) who held a picket to disrupt toll operations at the South Luzon Expressway. Radio dzXL reported that the Philippine Skyway Corp. Employees Union led by president Jose Apollo Ado protested the turnover of Skyway operations to Indonesian-owned Citra starting January 1, 2008. The report said Ado and his colleagues distributed leaflets to motorists passing through the tollbooths as they prepare for a protest march to the PNCC head office in Nichols, Pasay City at 8 a.m. As of 7:45 a.m., radio dzBB reported that only one lane of the SLEX was passable to vehicles as some 100 employees prepared to march towards Nichols toll plaza. Ado claimed the takeover by Citra will affect some 800 regular workers, and likely displace 200 contractual workers. He said the contractual workers include booth tellers, company guards, maintenance workers, drivers, and workers in support services. - GMANews.TV