PAL labor row erupts anew as workers protest DOLE decision

Press Release
November 1, 2010

The labor row at Philippine Airlines (PAL) flares up once more at the start of the airline peak season with its workers starting today a series of protest actions against the recent decision of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to allow the mass layoff of some 3,000 workers. At 10:00 a.m. today dozens of members of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), the ground crew union at PAL, held a symbolic protest at the main office of the Department of Labor and Employement (DOLE) in Intramuros, Manila.

The PAL employees brought a mock coffin with the label “RIP PAL workers” and also an effigy of Labor Sec. Baldoz in the image of the fictional “Kamatayan.” The protesters carried posters with messages such as “Job Security ng PAL Workers, Inilibing ni Baldoz,” “Baldoz Halloween Order and Lagman Midnight Decision, Parehong Anti-Labor,” “Baldoz, Mumultuhin ka ng Halloween Order Laban sa PAL Workers,” and “Kung Di Mo Kaya si Lucio Tan, Baldoz Resign.”

Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and also vice chair of the militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), stated that “The DOLE’s version of Oplan Kaluluwa is releasing an order on the eve of the Halloween holidays that revives the half dead proposal to permit contractualization at PAL. Contractualization means not just the death of job security at PAL but also kill the oldest union in the country.”

“Nobody will also themselves to be murdered without putting up a fight. This is a fight for decent jobs and protection for our families,” Rivera added. Tomorrow the protests continue with a march from the DOLE main office to Mendiola by several hundred PAL employees together with supporters from PM and other labor groups.

Rivera lambasted PAL’s argument that it will close down if the layoff and outsourcing move is not allowed. “This is simply blackmail and black propaganda meant to intimidate workers into accepting the unacceptable. Revenue generating departments such as airport services and catering will be outsourced to service providers which are partly-owned by Lucio Tan. PAL may be losing but the second wealthiest Filipino keeps on getting richer,” he argued.

He called on PAL workers to reject the termination notices that will come in the wake of the DOLE decision affirming the mass layoff plan. “PALEA calls on its members not to accept any termination paper and not to sign any employment contract with service providers. All for one and one for all in the fight for job security and union security,” he explained.

Rivera recalled that when the mass retrenchment was initially implemented last April, employees were asked to sign termination papers in one room and then to transfer to another room to sign employment contracts with service providers. “Let us not be tricked into swallowing the bitter pill of retrenchment now that it has been artificially sweetened with a slightly higher separation pay,” he insisted.

Labor party, PAL ground crew to support flight attendants strike

Press Release
September 30, 2010

The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), the ground crew union at the national flag carrier, both expressed support for the planned strike of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP).

Judy Ann Miranda, secretary general of PM, declared that “FASAP’s brothers and sisters in the labor movements stand as one body and speak with one voice in solidarity with the struggle of the flight attendants. We will mobilize our members, especially women workers, to support their fight.”

Meanwhile Gerry Rivera, PALEA president, stated that “PALEA members will respect any picketline that will be setup by FASAP. We will be with them in the picketlines.”

Yesterday FASAP announced the collapse of mediation talks with the Philippine Airlines (PAL) management in the face of the company’s hardline position on the contentious issue of retirement age. The flight attendants union is asking that the retirement age be raised from 40 to 60 years in order to remove the discrimination suffered by the predominantly female flight crew. FASAP declared that it will go on strike anytime by end of October or early November, the start of the peak season.

PALEA also has a pending notice of strike but the dispute over the planned retrenchment of some 3,000 ground personnel has been assumed by the Secretary of Labor and Employment. In comments that PALEA submitted to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz last September 14, it called on her to declare the mass layoff as illegal and to find PAL guilty of unfair labor practice.

“The demand of the flight attendants for higher retirement age is a call for gender equality and an issue of job security. They are too young to retire at age 40 but then too old to find a decent job. These are issues of women workers in general. That is why we support the FASAP fight. Women factory workers will link up arms with them in the event of a strike,” insisted Miranda.

Rivera also argued that fight of the PAL ground personnel against contractualization is a struggle for job security. “One common thread that runs through the grievances of PAL employees—whether ground crew, flight crew and even pilots. That is the demand for job security. We all want regular jobs with decent wages, sufficient benefits, good working conditions and the protection of a union that serves as the workers voice in the workplace. Unfortunately secure and protected jobs contradicts Lucio Tan’s new business model of a union-free and non-regular workforce,” he explained.

PAL ground crew union asks Labor Secretary to void layoff plan

Press Release

September 22, 2010

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), the ground crew union of the national flag carrier, called on Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to declare the planned retrenchment of some 3,000 workers as illegal and to find Philippine Airlines (PAL) guilty of unfair labor practice. The call is contained in the comments that PALEA submitted to Secretary Baldoz last September 14.

“On the basis of documents obtained from PAL, it is crystal clear that the financial position of the company does not warrant the retrenchment of some 3,000 union members, and that the company contracted out the services performed by these regular employees contrary to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between PAL and PALEA,” argued Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of the Partido ng Manggagawa.

PALEA yesterday celebrated its 64^th founding anniversary with a march from the Nichols terminal to the Our Lady of the Airways Parish near the NAIA Terminal 1and then a mass attended by some 200 PAL employees. Score of supporters from PM and other labor groups joined the PALEA anniversary.

Renato Magtubo, PM chair, stated that “The labor movement from its moderate to militant wings stands as one in support of the struggle of PAL employees against contractualization. Should PALEA as one of the oldest and strongest unions get busted then other unions which are younger and weaker will be easy picking for capitalists bent on copying Lucio Tan’s union-free business model.”

Rivera added that “PAL’s audited financial statements for the years 1997 up to 2007, as well as the supplement to the amended and restated rehabilitation plan, show that PAL successfully implemented its rehabilitation plan which belies its claims that its rehabilitation experience is the precursor of the crisis that it now allegedly confronts. After PAL exited from the rehabilitation in 2007, the company’s financial health is revealed by the expansion of its fleet of aircraft. From 35 aircraft in 2008, it increased to 47 aircraft in 2009.”

Rivera also clarified that “The services agreement, dated 15 April 2010, between PAL and Skykitchen Philippines, Inc., and the customer service agreement, dated 16 December 2009, between PAL and ePLDT Ventus Inc., violate the PAL-PALEA CBA by contracting out existing positions and jobs that are presently occupied and performed by the company’s regular employees.”

Skykitchen will takeover the catering department of PAL while ePLDT Ventus will service PAL’s call center operations. PALEA is yet to acquire a copy of the agreement with Skylogistics which will capture PAL’s ground and passenger handling.

The office of the Labor Secretary has assumed jurisdiction of the PAL-PALEA dispute since April 23 in view of a notice of strike filed last January. PALEA has a pending motion of reconsideration to the so-called “midnight decision” allowing PAL to proceed with the layoff that was issued by then Acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman last June 15.

PAL Labor Dispute Brief

The intended mass dismissal of more than two 2,600 rank-and-file employees of Philippine Airlines, Inc., who are members and officers of Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), is in violation of the law and the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) of PAL and PALEA.

In August 2009, during the period for the negotiation of a new CBA between PAL and PALEA, PAL announced its intention to close several departments of the company (In-Flight Catering operations, Airport Services operations and Call Center Reservation operations) and “outsource” its functions to various service providers. The intended closure and “outsourcing” would affect around 70% of PALEA’s membership and the total number of rank-and-file employees, 62% of the union leadership, and around 35% of the total employee complement of PAL.

PALEA maintains that the mass retrenchment is invalid and constitutive of unfair labor practice:

1.) It violates the law and the parties’ CBA.

   1.a) The termination of thousands of its regular employees is not necessitated by the company’s financial situation.

   1.b) PAL violated the CBA provision against labor contracting.

   1.c) PAL violated the CBA provision on Job Security.

2.) It violates Article 248 of the Labor Code, and Department Order No. 18-02.

    2.a) Despite PAL’s insistence, what it planned to do was not a “spin-off” but an “outsourcing,” which is equivalent to contracting-out of services.

There is no spin-off of company departments in this case. No subsidiary corporation was formed by PAL, and not one of its divisions was transformed into an independent company. What is involved here is contracting out of functions wherein regular rank-and-file employees and union members will be terminated and the functions that they are performing will be farmed out to service providers. Worse, the terminated regular employees themselves are envisioned to be the employees of the service providers, i.e. upon their termination, they will just be transferred to a different employer but will be performing the same tasks that they had been performing as regular employees of PAL.

Contracting out, whether labor-only contracting or legitimate job contracting, is absolutely prohibited by the parties’ CBA. Section, 4, Article XXIV states:

“Section 4. The Company undertakes not to contract out existing positions, jobs, divisions, and departments presently occupied by present or future regular employees within the collective bargaining unit.”

There are no sufficient bases for retrenchment. Retrenchment is a measure of last resort which should only be undertaken in case of serious and imminent losses. A close review of the financial statements and disclosures of PAL reveals that its business condition is improving and not deteriorating, thereby negating the necessity for retrenchment.

The mass termination of employees constitutes unfair labor practices. It will dissipate union membership and will exclude from the coverage of the bargaining unit the positions that are now held by union members. This will result to the abolition of PALEA. This grim scenario is made even worse when the timing for implementing the retrenchment program is considered. The contracting out of the various departments and the consequent retrenchment of union members are being undertaken at a time when a new CBA between the parties is about to be negotiated. It should not be amiss to state that the CBA negotiation is being proposed by PALEA after more than a decade of suspension of the CBA between the parties. It is aimed at defeating the negotiation of a new CBA.

Job security is also the demand of the PAL pilots and flight crew. Thus PAL management is faced with a three-front war with its airline pilots, flight crew and ground personnel because of its drive to demolish job security, replace regular employees with contractual workers and bust the remaining unions in the company.

The public should know the truth. PAL keeps on repeating the lie that it is losing money and so the workers will have to be the burden of its rehabilitation. Of course PAL will be in the red because the sources of revenues, even its assets, have been transferred to sister companies like MacroAsia and Air Philippines. PAL’s maintenance and engineering department was shifted to MacroAsia and so expenses are charged to the former but the income is reflected in the latter. PAL ground personnel in the outlying stations services Air Philippines so the costs are borne by the former but latter keeps the savings.

Contractualization at PAL is just the tip of the iceberg. In factories, shops, offices and malls contractual workers are working side-by-side with regular employees in doing the same job for lesser pay and worse working conditions. We demand that Congress institute reforms to enhance job security and stop contractualization schemes. PALEA calls for a stop to the race to the bottom in working conditions and labor standards. Ang kontraktwalisasyon ay baluktot na landas.

In the conciliation meeting between PAL and PALEA last Thursday, management moved for the Labor Secretary to decide on the legality of the planned layoff. On the other hand PALEA is asking that mediation continue until an agreement acceptable to both sides is forged.

Contractualization is the cause of PAL labor row

Press Statement
August 17, 2010
Gerry Rivera
President. PAL Employees’ Association (PALEA)
Vice Chairperson, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM)

The scourge of labor contractualization lies at the root of the labor dispute at Philippine Airlines. The contracting out of jobs of the ground personnel will lead to the massive layoff of some 3,000 PAL employees. Regular employees will be retired from PAL only to be rehired as contractual workers in companies owned by Lucio Tan’s Kamag-anak Inc. These companies will be money-earning service providers to PAL and so we end up doing the same work as before but for cheaper pay, less benefits and no security of tenure.

Job security is also the demand of the PAL pilots and flight crew. Thus PAL management is faced with a three-front war with its airline pilots, flight crew and ground personnel because of its drive to demolish job security, replace regular employees with contractual workers and bust the remaining unions in the company.

The public should know the truth. PAL keeps on repeating the lie that it is losing money and so the workers will have to be the burden of its rehabilitation. Of course PAL will be in the red because the sources of revenues, even its assets, have been transferred to sister companies like MacroAsia and Air Philippines. PAL’s maintenance and engineering department was shifted to MacroAsia and so expenses are charged to the former but the income is reflected in the latter. PAL ground personnel in the outlying stations services Air Philippines so the costs are borne by the former but latter keeps the savings.

The Department of Labor and Employment has assumed jurisdiction (AJ) of the PAL labor dispute and this has enjoined PALEA from proceeding with a strike. The AJ should also stop management from making any actions that will exacerbate the dispute. However in violation of the AJ, PAL is shifting work from its in house call reservations center to an outside contractor. Reservations calls are being rerouted to ePLDT Ventus while dropped calls are answered by PAL’s call center department. Thus regular jobs are being transferred to an outside contractor and only excess work is maintained in PAL.

Contractualization at PAL is just the tip of the iceberg. In factories, shops, offices and malls contractual workers are working side-by-side with regular employees in doing the same job for lesser pay and worse working conditions. We demand that President Aquino make concrete his promise that democracy should work for all by instituting reforms to enhance job security and stop contractualization schemes. We call for a stop to the race to the bottom in working conditions and labor standards. Ang kontraktwalisasyon ay baluktot na landas.

In the conciliation meeting between PAL and PALEA last Thursday, management moved for the Labor Secretary to decide on the legality of the planned layoff. On the other hand PALEA is asking that mediation continue until an agreement acceptable to both sides is forged.

But even as we negotiate in good faith we have to be prepared for all eventualities including the necessity of a strike if the planned layoff pushes through. Thus we are appealing for support and understanding from fellow workers, institutions such as the Church and the broad public. Our job is our life and if necessary we will strike to defend our livelihood for the sake of our families.

PAL labor row intensifies as ground crew union prepares for strike

Press Release
August 12, 2010

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), the ground crew union at Philippine Airlines (PAL), met management in a mediation meeting this afternoon at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) but announced that it is prepared to do everything to stop the disputed contracting out of jobs. “Our job is our life and if necessary we will strike to defend our livelihood for the sake of our families,” declared Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) vice chairperson.

PALEA’s readiness to strike intensifies the labor row at PAL with none of the resigned pilots returning and the flight attendants union threatening to stop work unless the deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations is resolved. PAL’s ongoing labor dispute with its ground crew arose out of the planned contracting out of jobs that will lead to the layoff of some 3,000 employees. Workers in airport services, inflight catering and ticketing reservations will be retrenched and then rehired as contractuals in service providers also owned by Lucio Tan to do the same job for less pay and no job security.

“PAL is faced with a three-front war with its airline pilots, flight crew and ground personnel because of its drive to demolish job security, replace regular employees with contractual workers and bust the remaining unions in the company. We are asking the government of P-Noy through Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to review the policy on contractualization and strengthen protection for job security or else it faces a wave of labor unrest,” explained Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

PM members joined PALEA and other labor groups in a picket today to ask the DOLE to tighten regulations and plug loopholes that have allowed employers to massively supplant regular work with contractual labor. “In factories, shops and offices contractual workers are working side-by-side with regular employees in doing the same job for less pay, no benefits and without security off tenure. Contractualization at PAL is simply the tip of the iceberg. We demand that President Aquino make concrete his promise that democracy should work for all by instituting reforms to enhance job security and stop contractualization schemes,” argued Magtubo.

The mediation meeting today arose out of PALEA’s pending motion for reconsideration of the former Acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman’s “midnight decision” that affirmed PAL management’s prerogative to contract out jobs of ground crew. “We welcome the preference of Secretary Baldoz to mediate the dispute on job contracting in PAL unlike Lagman who unilaterally issued a midnight decision favoring management. But even as we negotiate in good faith we have to be prepared for all eventualities including the necessity to strike if the planned layoff pushes through,” Rivera stated.

Kontraktwalisasyon sa PAL, idudulog ng mga manggagawa sa Kongreso

PRESS RELEASE
9 August 2010

Susugod sa Batasan Complex ang mga empleyado ng Philippine Airlines ganap na ala-una ng hapon mamaya para idulog sa Kongreso ang kanilang mga hinaing laban sa kompanya na pag-aari ni Lucio Tan.

Ayon kay Gerry Rivera, pangulo ng Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), idudulog nila sa Kamara ang pinaplanong malawakang tanggalan at kontraktwalisasyon sa PAL kung saan maaring umabot sa 3,000 empleyado ang maapektuhan.

Kasama ng PALEA sa isasagawang pagkilos ang mga kinatawan ng KONTRA, ang alyansa ng ibat-ibang samahan ng manggagawa na lumalaban sa patakaran ng kontraktwalisasyon.

Alas dos ng hapon ay nakatakdang maghain ng resolusyon sa Kamara si Akbayan Representative Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao kaugnay ng kontraktwalisasyon sa PAL at alas kwatro naman ay magsasagawa ng privilege speech sa parehong isyu ang kinatawan ng Trade Union Congress of the Philippines na si Congresman Raymond Mendoza.

Sinabi ni Rivera na gaya ng reklamo ng mga piloto na downgrading ng kanilang status, ang mga ground crew at flight attendant ng PAL ay nangangamba rin sa kanilang job security dahil balak nang kompanya na magbawas ng empleyado at gawing kontraktwal ang mga regular sa pamamagitan ng isasagawang outsourcing ng ibat-ibang serbisyo ng PAL gaya ng passenger handling, cargo handling, at customer care. Sa mga flight attendants naman ay ibaba sa 40 ang kanilang retirement age, bagay na labis nilang tinututulan.

Lahat umano ng balakin ng kompanya para makawala sa pagkalugi ay pawang kontra sa kapakanan ng manggagawa at tahasang paglabag sa mga istandard ng paggawa na kinikilala ng ating mga batas at international conventions.

Nakakamuhi umanong isipin na habang hinihikayat pabalik ng PAL ang mga nagbitiw na piloto ay sinisipa naman nito palayo ang libu-libo pa nitong empleyado.

Ayon naman kay Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general ng Partido ng Manggagawa, nararapat lang na makialam ngayon ang Kongreso sa problemang ito, kabaliktaran ng pananahimik nito sa isyu noong1998 nang ipatupad ang iligal na 10 taong moratorium sa CBA ng PALEA at PAL.

Bukas ng umaga ay nakatakda rin umanong magharap sa deparment of labor ang management at mga lider ng Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (FASAP) para naman sa matagal nang ibinibinbin na CBA negotiations sa kanila ng PAL management.

Job security at the heart of recurring labor problems in PAL

PRESS RELEASE
August 5, 2010

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) agreed with Malacanang’s initial view that the problems besetting the Philippine Airlines (PAL) is more than the pilots’ decision to seek better paying jobs elsewhere.

The group insists that at the heart of the continuing labor disputes in PAL is job security and the regression in labor standards in the flag carrier.

“A regression in labor standards in Asia’s first airline is a scorn to Filipino’s pride that is supposed to be flying high with the flag carrier,” said the group in a statement.

Partido ng Manggagawa chair Renato Magtubo, said the current resignations of PAL pilots, the ground crews’ struggle against spinoff and contractualization and the flight attendants fight for job security, “all speak of deteriorating labor standards at the flag carrier and as such warrant an active intervention if the government intends to correct this rocky labor-management relations in PAL.”

Magtubo, who’s group has been involved with the PAL employees struggle for job security since the 1998 strike believes that the pilots’ mass resignations and the company’s unresolved disputes with the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and the Flight Attendants and Stewardees Association of the Philippines (FASAP) may again lead to a full-blown strike if the company refuses to heed the employees demands and the government fail to carry out proper intervention.

Proper government intervention, according to Magtubo, can be done by invoking not just the ‘national interest’ but also the ‘social justice’ provision of the Constitution declaring a State policy recognizing the primacy of labor over capital.

On Agust 12, PALEA has a scheduled conciliation meeting with the management and the labor department on the planned spinoff of PAL’s ground handling operations to other Tan companies. The plan will result to the mass layoff of some 2,600 ground crew pesonnels as they shift from regular to contractual work arrangements with the spinoff companies.

PALEA describes the plan as a ‘massive contractualization of regular employees’ thus it is seeking the reversal of the ‘midnight decision’ by then acting secretary Romeo Lagman rendering legality for the planned contractualization scheme.

The FASAP is also struggling against the lowering of their retirement age to 40 and several other issues affecting their job security.

Labor group cautions government against PAL takeover

Press Release
August 3, 2010

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) expressed caution on the proposal for a government takeover of Philippine Airlines (PAL) in case the labor row with pilots is unresolved. “The government can exercise eminent domain and police power to takeover PAL if the labor problems are unsettled but that will only sweep the dirt under the rug without actually cleaning the house. Unless the grievances of the airline pilots, flight attendants and ground crew are redressed now then labor unrest will simply simmer and explode later,” argued Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

The labor group instead called on the Aquino government to mediate PAL’s labor dispute with the aim of addressing the workers’ demands. “A better option is for the Aquino government to apply social justice so it can resolve the problem of contractualization that lies at the root of labor unrest at PAL. PAL is not simply competing with Cebu Pacific but they are copying the contractualization scheme that is rampant in its rival,” Magtubo asserted.

Gerry Rivera, PM vice-chairperson and president of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), emphasized that “Contractualization is the cause of deteriorating working conditions at PAL. PAL farmed out its pilots to sister company Air Philippines and thereby effectively demoted them. How can you fault the pilots then for leaving the sweatshop conditions at PAL for the good pay, regular status and better working environment offered abroad?”

Aside from the pilots’ resignation, PAL is faced with an ongoing labor dispute with its ground crew over the planned contracting out of jobs that will lead to the layoff of some 3,000 employees and the threat of a strike by flight attendants over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations. Rivera declared that the ground crew, flight attendants and PAL pilots are now in talks in order to defend job security and working conditions at the country’s biggest domestic and international carrier.

He also announced that PALEA is scheduled to attend a conciliation meeting called by the Department of Labor and Employment on August 12. PALEA has a pending motion for reconsideration of the former Acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman’s “midnight decision” that affirmed PAL management’s prerogative to contract out jobs of ground crew to third party companies that employees alleged are also owned by Lucio Tan.

Aside from a reform of the policy on labor contractualization, PM is also calling on the government to lift the six-month prior notice on the migration of workers who are categorized as mission-critical skills for unduly disadvantaging labor.

Labor group asks PNoy to lift ban on migration of skilled workers

Press Release
August 2, 2010

In the face of the PAL pilots’ issue, the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) asked the Aquino government to lift the six-month prior notice on the migration of workers who are categorized as mission-critical skills. Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson, said that “Banning the migration of skilled workers by six months disadvantages labor and favors capital. There is an opportunity cost on workers which government and employers cannot possibly repay. After the six month ban, there is no assurance that offers still exist for skilled workers who just dream of a better life for their families. If employers want to retain skilled workers in the country then they must match the good pay, regular status and better working conditions offered abroad.”

The labor group also called on both the government and PAL not to punish the 25 pilots who have resigned by filing criminal and administrative charges. “It behooves the Aquino government, even PAL management, to think of the root causes and review policies that discriminate against labor. Both government and PAL face a full-scale war with PAL pilots, flight attendants and ground crew if an iron-fist policy is used on labor,” Magtubo argued.

PAL is faced with an ongoing labor dispute with its ground crew over the planned contracting out of jobs that will lead to the layoff of some 3,000 employees and the threat of a strike by flight attendants over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations. Gerry Rivera, PM vice-chairperson and president of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), revealed that they are working to unite the ground crew, flight attendants and PAL pilots to defend job security and working conditions at the country’s biggest domestic and international carrier.

Rivera explained that “The abrupt resignation by the PAL pilots is rooted in management’s drive to make all of its employees contractual instead of regular. The pilots resigned not simply because they were poached by other airlines with offers of better pay. The pilots were enticed by better working conditions which assure them of security of tenure and good benefits unlike their status as contractuals in PAL.”

PALEA is scheduled to attend a conciliation meeting called by the Labor Department on August 12. “We welcome the preference of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to mediate the dispute on job contracting in PAL unlike the former Acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman who unilaterally issued a midnight decision favoring management,” Rivera stated.

He added that “The Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines was busted in 1998 so the pilots’ discontent was expressed in individual resignation instead of collective protest. But their deteriorating working conditions are no different from that experienced by flight attendants and ground crew.”

Militant workers, ground crew call on PAL not to file cases vs. pilots

Press Release
August 1, 2010

The militant group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the ground crew union Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) called on the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) not to file cases against the pilots who abruptly resigned. Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and PM vice-chairperson, urged PAL to “Think twice before swinging the Damocles sword on the heads of the pilots lest the company face a three-front war against all of its employees.”

PAL is faced with an ongoing labor dispute with its ground crew over the planned contracting out of jobs that will affect some 3,000 employees and the threat of a strike by flight attendants over a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations. Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson challenged the ground crew, flight attendants and airline pilots to unite to defend job security and working conditions at the country’s biggest domestic and international carrier.

Rivera explained that “The pilots resigned not simply because they were poached by other airlines with offers of better pay as PAL’s propaganda releases state. The pilots were enticed by better conditions which assure them of security of tenure and good benefits unlike their status as contractuals in PAL. The impromptu resignation by a dozen PAL pilots is the damaging results of management’s drive to make all of its employees contractual instead of regular.”

“The Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines was busted in 1998 so the pilots’ discontent was expressed in individual resignation instead of collective protest. But their deteriorating working conditions are no different from that experienced by flight attendants and ground crew. All for one, one for all in the fight against labor contractualization and union busting by PAL,” Rivera added.

Meanwhile Magtubo appealed to the Aquino government to review the policy prohibiting the migration of workers classified as mission-critical skills. “Prohibiting the migration of skilled workers by six months is unduly discriminatory on labor and one-sidedly favors capital. After the six month ban, there is no assurance that the offers remain for these skilled workers who just want a better life for their families. If capitalists want to retain skilled workers in the country then they must match the good pay, regular jobs and better working conditions offered abroad.”
PM reiterated its support for the fight of PALEA and the flight attendants. PALEA is scheduled to attend a conciliation meeting called by the Labor Department on August 12. “We welcome the preference of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to mediate the labor dispute unlike the former Acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman who unilaterally issued a midnight decision favoring PAL management,” Rivera stated.

Labor groups to engage Aquino government on contractualization demand

Press Release
July 10, 2010

A gathering of some 100 labor leaders and trade unionists yesterday afternoon resolved to engage the government of President Noynoy Aquino in the demand to defend job security and stop the proliferation of contractualization schemes. The labor forum was sparked by the ongoing labor dispute at the Philippines Airlines in which the PAL Employees’ Association (PALEA) is fighting management’s alleged illegal contracting out of regular work.

Gerry Rivera, PALEA president, said that “We welcome the solidarity of the different labor groups in our fight against contractualization at PAL. We pledge too to support the common call of reforming the policy on contractualization.” The groups which attended the forum plan to mobilize for the coming State of the Nation Address to highlight the demand against labor contractualization.

Rivera added that “We appreciate P-Noy’s order for the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to review and evaluate the midnight decision on the PAL dispute. The PAL dispute will not only be a litmus test of the Aquino government’s handling of labor management relations. It will also be an acid test of the task of cleansing the DOLE of corrupt officials and reforming the policy on labor contractualization.”

Renato Magtubo, chairperson of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), explained that “The epidemic of contractualization is a result of failure in both policy and enforcement. There are glaring loopholes in the law that have been abused by employers to wipe out regular jobs and replace them with contractual workers that have less in wages and benefits and enjoy no security of tenure. Management is allowed by law to contract out jobs that are necessary and desirable to the business of the company. This has been interpreted to mean that practically all jobs can be outsourced, not just janitorial or security services. Thus you find factories and malls in which contractual workers outnumber regular workers several times over while all do the same job.”

Magtubo argued that “We are challenging P-Noy to make concrete his promise that democracy should work for all by certifying a set of pro-labor reform bills as urgent in his SONA. We welcome the 22-point labor platform of the Aquino administration as announced by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. The 22-point platform is a good first step and militant workers are open to engaging with new President and the new Labor Secretary to make the promise of reform a reality.”

The labor forum was hosted by the Manggagawa sa Komunikasyon ng Pilipinas (MKP), the union of PLDT rank-and-file workers, at their office in Crossing, Mandaluyong. Aside from PALEA and MKP, other groups such as the PM, Makabayan, Alliance of Progressive Labor, United Filipino Service Workers, Alliance of Genuine Labor Organizations, United Cavite Workers Association, Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Paranaque, Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Antipolo and the former union of PNCC employees the joined the forum.