PAL layoffs meant to bust unions

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa slammed the massive layoff of 2,300 employees in Philippine Airlines (PAL) as meant to weaken if not bust the two remaining unions at the national flag carrier.

 

“Every economic crisis has been exploited by PAL management to reduce its regular employees and increase its outsourced and endo workforce. The 1997 Asian crisis led to the 1998 mass layoffs, the 2008 Great Recession led to the 2011 outsourcing and now the covid-19 pandemic is the alibi for another round of retrenchments. While PAL’s regular employees are cut to the bare minimum, outsourced endo workers have ballooned,” said Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

PM stated that the PAL layoffs are a wake up call to the government that the economic crisis is still worsening and that urgent action is needed to assist millions of unemployed workers. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced recently that half of the 400,000 workers reported as retrenched last year were fired in the last quarter of 2020.

 

“The DOLE cannot just be a passive collector of statistics of dismissed workers. It should be pro-active. In the first place, it should be regulating the series of mass firings since it may involve contractualization and union busting. Employers are weaponizing covid-19 to bust unions, shift to endo and deny workers their benefits and rights,” Magtubo asserted.

 

PM pointed to the 300 workers laid-off in the garment factory First Glory in the Mactan Economic Zone and the 200 employees rendered jobless by shutdown of the Arcya Glass Corp. in Calamba, Laguna. Among the fired First Glory workers were union officers and members. Some 76 First Glory union officers and members plan to file cases for union busting and illegal dismissal.

 

Meanwhile the union at Arcya Glass already has a pending case for union busting and illegal closure. The union alleges that the shutdown of the glass factory a few months ago was motivated by the company’s desire to avoid negotiating their collective bargaining agreement. Further, the union is calling on the DOLE to investigate since the factory is operating on a skeletal workforce despite filing for permanent shutdown. The workers maintain a picketline outside the factory in protest at the alleged illegal closure.

 

PM is supporting the labor coalition Nagkaisa’s call for an emergency jobs creation program called unemployment support and work assistance guarantee or USWAG. The group is also demanding a P100 across-the-board salary increase together with a new round of ayuda amounting to P10,000 for the informal sector and the unemployed. 

February 3, 2021