1.   PALEA secretary Bong Penas said one of their grievances is the hiring of contractual workers to do union work, thus undermining the union.

2.   He said the affected contractual workers were assigned to a phone system that will be replaced by digital lines.

3.   Marquez said the dismissal of the contractual workers was not cause for a strike.

4.   The workers say one of their grievances is the hiring of contractual workers to do union work, thus undermining the union.

5.   Union lawyer Arno Sanidad said the union has agreed to end the strike if management submits a collective bargaining proposal and stops hiring contractual workers.

6.   She lives in a one-room flat with her mother, who receives welfare and occasional money from her husband, a contractual worker, the report said.