May 23, 2025 at 11:02:00 AM
Photo by Marc Stephen Dalida/The Capital
The University of Santo Tomas (UST) management reached an agreement with the University of Santo Tomas Faculty Union (USTFU), resulting in a landmark decision that increased the coverage of employees’ medical benefits at the UST Hospital.
The hospitalization coverage for employees, which had been capped at P100,000 for the last 25 years, will now shift to coverage of 100 percent of expenses, the USTFU announced in a press briefing at the St. Raymund de Peñafort building on Friday, May 23.
USTFU noted that the University’s previous offer was to raise the base hospitalization coverage to P150,000 from P100,000, and critical care to P350,000 from P300,000, which the union rejected.
In a press statement, the faculty union recognized the decision as “a long-overdue and deeply significant step toward building a more humane, compassionate, and dignified workplace for all.”
In an earlier joint statement with the faculty union the University said the new deal “reinforces our unity and shared purpose of advancing the interests of the academic community.”
The USTFU Negotiation Panel proposed to name the fund as the “Pope Francis Hospitalization and Medical Benefit Fund,” which is subject to the approval of the University’s rector, Fr. Richard Ang, O.P., as well as its Board of Trustees.
The new hospitalization benefit and its implementing rules and guidelines are subject to a 2-year trial period, USTFU President Asst. Prof. Emerito Gonzales said.
The faculty union also announced that the new agreement covers the release of the faculty’s 70% share from tuition hike collections from Academic Years (AY) 2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2023-2024, which amounted to almost P220 million.
On May 20, the University already released a total of P27.8 million, of which P21.8 million was allotted for salary increases while the remaining P6 million was reserved for the hospitalization fund.
The union plans to conduct onsite or online secret balloting to ratify the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) by June, which will pave the way for the enforcement and availability of the benefits, Gonzales said
USTFU added that they intend to initiate CBA renegotiations for AY 2024-2025 and AY 2025-2026 upon the start of the upcoming school year.
“Kasama diyan sa pag-uusapan namin ‘yung manner of distribution [ng benefits] ng Senior High, and ‘yung salary improvement ng NSTP [instructors],” Gonzales told The Capital.
In March, disagreements on the CBA reached a deadlock, resulting in a notice of strike filed with the labor department’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB).
The dispute nearly resulted in a strike before the faculty union deferred its May 15 strike vote to extend dialogues with the UST management.
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UST Faculty Union, University of Santo Tomas