Press Release
April 8, 2011
PALEA
The fight of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) against the planned outsourcing at Philippine Airlines (PAL) garnered more support with the backing of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP). “We welcome the solidarity of our brother and sister employees of PAL. With FASAP’s backing, PALEA is slowly but surely completing the components for the paralyzing work stoppage in defiance of the Labor Secretary’s order enjoining us from a strike,” announced Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa.
In a statement FASAP, declared that “FASAP will support the PALEA union in its intended strike action to protect the job security of its members. Our members will not cross the strike picket lines. We will stand beside them in their struggle to keep their jobs.” FASAP represents PAL’s flight crew and is the second union within the flag carrier. PAL’s pilots are not represented by any union.
The support of FASAP comes in the wake of an earlier pronouncement by Manila Auxiliary and chairman of the CBCP’s National Secretariat for Social Action Bishop Broderick Pabillo defending PALEA’s right to strike as a means to seek redress of grievance. Both FASAP and Bishop Pabillo expressed criticism over the decision of the Office of the President allowing the mass layoff of more than half of the ground crew and their transfer as contractual workers in service providers.
“We are deeply disheartened with the Palace's decision allowing PAL to spin-off its ground services, adversely affecting 2,600 PAL employees,” FASAP said in its statement.
Rivera added that “With the support of fellow employees of PAL, organized labor and other sectors, we believe we can hold a successful strike that will finally force management to heed our demand to maintain regular jobs and start collective bargaining negotiations. We intend to test the law, and defy the assumption and certification order of the Labor Secretary which has been abused to deny workers their means of defense.”
Rivera added that “With the support of fellow employees of PAL, organized labor and other sectors, we believe we can hold a successful strike that will finally force management to heed our demand to maintain regular jobs and start collective bargaining negotiations. We intend to test the law, and defy the assumption and certification order of the Labor Secretary which has been abused to deny workers their means of defense.”
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