Press Release
November 14, 2013
The labor party Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) congratulated the
union Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) for the settlement
agreement signed today with the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL).
“Kudos to PALEA officers and members for a hard fought
struggle and a well deserved victory. The battle over outsourcing at PAL is over
but war against contractualization continues. Workers should learn to heart the
lesson of PALEA’s struggle—we can win as long as we fight well,” declared
Renato Magtubo, PM national chair.
The most salient part of the settlement agreement provides
for the re-employment of PALEA members to regular positions after receiving an
improved separation package compared to that mandated by the Department of Labor
and Employment (DOLE) and the Office of the President (OP).
“At every single instance PALEA lost the outsourcing case
before the courts and government bodies—like DOLE and OP. Yet in the end, PALEA
won its demand for regular jobs through negotiations on the basis of resistance
and solidarity,” Magtubo explained.
PM along with the workers coalition Nagkaisa, labor groups,
community organizations and Church institutions were among PALEA’s most
determined supporters. The group said that they are ending the boycott campaign
launched against PAL and its sister airline Air Philippines with the formal signing
of the agreement.
He added that “The return of PALEA members to their regular
jobs belies the hollow argument of government officials that outsourcing is a
global trend that cannot be challenged.”
Magtubo averred that “Ang panalo ng PALEA ay panalo ng
lahat. We believe that PALEA’s victory will start rolling back the epidemic of
contractualization and be a turning point towards the revival of the labor
movement.”
PM leaders will join PALEA members in a thanksgiving mass at
5:00 pm today at the PALEA protest camp outside the PAL Inflight
Center near Terminal 2. Manila
Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo—among PALEA’s solid supporters in the Church—is
scheduled to celebrate the mass.
The group will also be attending a victory march, program and
concert on Saturday at the PALEA picketline.
