A labor NGO criticized popular courier company LBC Express for not moving its workers’ rights forward by refusing to sincerely bargain in ongoing CBA negotiations, causing a deadlock, and prompting workers to file a notice of strike.

The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) cited claims made by workers through their Facebook Page “Elbisi – Hari ng Pagbarat” that the LBC management is offering a wage hike of P10 to P12 per year, against the workers’ demand of P40-40-50 for the three years of CBA coverage.

“LBC has become a successful company and a household name largely because of the LBC workers. Now that workers are suffering from soaring prices and cost of living, LBC should give them a bigger share of the product of their work,” said Kamz Deligente, CTUHR executive director.

The LBC Express workers said that the management agreed to P14-10-8 wage hike for the 2020-2023 CBA round, which is even higher or only slightly lower than what it is offering for the following years.

“Companies can show compassion for their workers and their resolve to advance labor rights by increasing wages compared to previous CBAs. The cost of living crisis, which has worsened in recent years, forces workers to ask for nothing less,” added Deligente.

The LBC workers also cited the company’s capacity to meet their wage hike demands, as indicated by the P14 billion service revenue collected by LBC Express Holdings Inc. in 2025.

“With their protests, the LBC workers are showing that they are discontented with the management’s offers and that they are ready to hold a strike. We hope that the LBC management listens to the workers’ demands sooner rather than later,” Deligente stated.

CTUHR also echoed the workers’ concerns over the company’s increasing deployment of contractual workers under manpower agencies to try to weaken the union’s capacity to assert their demands and to evade upholding rights at the workplace.

“Contractualization is a wholesale violation of workers’ rights that should be junked completely. All companies, especially those that are financially capable like LBC, should stop this practice. LBC should regularize its contractual workers, upheld all their labor rights, and allow all of them to become union members,” Deligente added.