Press Release
November 3, 2010
The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) today disputed Malacanang’s pronouncement that it must keep its hands off Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz’ ruling allowing the mass layoff of some 3,000 employees.
Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and Partido ng Manggagawa vice chairperson, said that “Malacanang cannot do a Pontius Pilate on the mass layoff. Government put its hands deep into the labor row when former Labor Secretary Marianito Roque assumed jurisdiction (AJ). Sec. Baldoz kept government’s hands in the dispute since she did not lift the AJ and later affirmed the previous ruling permitting the mass layoff. In fact Baldoz used the same power to intervene by imposing another AJ order on the impending flight attendants’ strike.”
Nonetheless Rivera welcomed news reports that President Benigno Aquino III intends to review Baldoz’ ruling. “If indeed PNoy sent a text message to that effect then it is a welcome development. We challenge PNoy to uphold his promise of change by reversing the ruling. Also he better reprimand Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte for speaking from the hip for it is worse than tweeting undiplomatic messages. Valte may have read Baldoz’ decision as she alleges but she apparently did not understand it,” he explained.
Rivera added that Valte cannot recommend that PALEA file a motion for reconsideration (MR) since Baldoz’ ruling is in fact a denial of their MR. He stated that Valte moreover cannot use the argument that Malacanang must keep its hands off because the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is part of the executive and not a co-equal body like the judiciary.
PALEA also slammed DOLE for alleging that the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) recognizes management’s prerogative to exercise the mass layoff. “While the PAL-PALEA CBA upholds management prerogative in general, this exercise is restricted by a separate provision explicitly banning the company from contracting out existing positions, jobs, divisions and departments presently occupied by present or future regular employees within the collective bargaining unit. DOLE prefers to turn a blind eye to this specific provision protecting job security,” Rivera elaborated.
Further, Rivera dismisses as lies PAL’s claims that it is losing money and will go bankrupt if not allowed to outsource work. He asserted that “Jurisprudence allows retrenchment as a measure of last resort which should only be undertaken in case of serious and imminent losses. The financial statements and disclosures of PAL reveal that its business condition is improving and not deteriorating, thereby negating the necessity for retrenchment.”
PALEA also announced that their lawyers are already preparing the case to be filed at the Court of Appeals. The union believes that while the Baldoz’ ruling is under appeal then PAL is prohibited from undertaking the mass layoff.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
PAL workers march to Mendiola in protest at DOLE ruling on mass layoff
Press Release
November 2, 2010
The labor row at Philippine Airlines (PAL) continues as some 300 PAL employees and supporters from various labor groups marched from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) office in Intramuros to the historic Mendiola Bridge to protest the ruling allowing the mass layoff of 2,600 workers of the national flag carrier.
“Nasaan ang pagbabago sa gobyerno ni P-Noy? The Halloween order of Labor Secretary Baldoz merely reiterated the midnight decision of former Acting Labor Sec. Romeo Lagman that mass layoff is management prerogative. So is there any difference in the labor policy of Aquino and Arroyo?” stated Gerry Rivera, president of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) and vice chairperson of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).
The protesters shared a lunch of “kanin at tuyo” to signify the dismal holidays that PAL workers face. The mobilization is the second in a series of protest actions led by PALEA in as many days. Yesterday dozens of PALEA members erected a makeshift cemetery at the DOLE office to symbolize the “death of job security at PAL.” Rivera revealed that even bigger protests are on the drawing board.
“Sec. Baldoz once said that the PAL-PALEA dispute is a litmus test of labor relations under the P-Noy government. With her order permitting mass layoff and labor contractualization, then we can only expect anti-labor decisions and policies from this government,” argued Rivera.
“Lumihis na si P-Noy sa tuwid na landas. Wala dapat boss na kontraktwal. Wala dapat boss na busabos,” insisted Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general. She added that “We are all PAL workers,” as PM called on labor groups and civil society organizations to rally round the fight of PALEA for job security and union rights.
Rivera countered Baldoz’ contention that nobody will be unemployed since all the 2,600 to be retrenched will be rehired by the service providers. “The retrench then rehire scheme is a scam to implement contractualization. Baldoz cannot and did not promise job security in the service providers. As contractuals, we will have no security of tenure. We can be laid off at the whim of the service providers. We will have no union to protect us as employees in the service providers,” he explained.
Miranda questioned PAL and DOLE’s common position that the national flag carrier will close down if the mass layoff is not permitted. “This blackmail and black propaganda aims to fool workers into accepting the bitter pill of retrenchment. The precedent of PAL’s maintenance and engineering department is illuminating. This revenue generating department was outsourced to Lufthansa Technik Philippines which is partly-owned by Lucio Tan. PAL may be bleeding but the second richest Filipino keeps on getting wealthier,” she insisted.
November 2, 2010
The labor row at Philippine Airlines (PAL) continues as some 300 PAL employees and supporters from various labor groups marched from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) office in Intramuros to the historic Mendiola Bridge to protest the ruling allowing the mass layoff of 2,600 workers of the national flag carrier.
“Nasaan ang pagbabago sa gobyerno ni P-Noy? The Halloween order of Labor Secretary Baldoz merely reiterated the midnight decision of former Acting Labor Sec. Romeo Lagman that mass layoff is management prerogative. So is there any difference in the labor policy of Aquino and Arroyo?” stated Gerry Rivera, president of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) and vice chairperson of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).
The protesters shared a lunch of “kanin at tuyo” to signify the dismal holidays that PAL workers face. The mobilization is the second in a series of protest actions led by PALEA in as many days. Yesterday dozens of PALEA members erected a makeshift cemetery at the DOLE office to symbolize the “death of job security at PAL.” Rivera revealed that even bigger protests are on the drawing board.
“Sec. Baldoz once said that the PAL-PALEA dispute is a litmus test of labor relations under the P-Noy government. With her order permitting mass layoff and labor contractualization, then we can only expect anti-labor decisions and policies from this government,” argued Rivera.
“Lumihis na si P-Noy sa tuwid na landas. Wala dapat boss na kontraktwal. Wala dapat boss na busabos,” insisted Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general. She added that “We are all PAL workers,” as PM called on labor groups and civil society organizations to rally round the fight of PALEA for job security and union rights.
Rivera countered Baldoz’ contention that nobody will be unemployed since all the 2,600 to be retrenched will be rehired by the service providers. “The retrench then rehire scheme is a scam to implement contractualization. Baldoz cannot and did not promise job security in the service providers. As contractuals, we will have no security of tenure. We can be laid off at the whim of the service providers. We will have no union to protect us as employees in the service providers,” he explained.
Miranda questioned PAL and DOLE’s common position that the national flag carrier will close down if the mass layoff is not permitted. “This blackmail and black propaganda aims to fool workers into accepting the bitter pill of retrenchment. The precedent of PAL’s maintenance and engineering department is illuminating. This revenue generating department was outsourced to Lufthansa Technik Philippines which is partly-owned by Lucio Tan. PAL may be bleeding but the second richest Filipino keeps on getting wealthier,” she insisted.
Monday, November 1, 2010
PAL labor row erupts anew as workers protest DOLE decision
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.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
PAL union slams final DoLE decision on layoff
Press Release
October 31, 2010
The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), the ground crew union at the national flag carrier, slammed the final decision of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to allow the planned mass layoff of some 3,000 employees. Gerry Rivera, president of PALEA and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), stated that “The Department of Labor and Employment’s go signal for the retrenchment of half of the workforce means the death of job security at Philippine Airlines.”
Last Friday Labor Sec. Baldoz denied PALEA’s motion for reconsideration and affirmed the previous order by then Acting Labor Sec. Romeo Lagman. Both Baldoz and Lagman found the planned mass layoff to be a legitimate exercise of “management prerogative.”
Rivera announced that the union intends to appeal the decision at the Court of Appeals. Tomorrow PALEA together with PM will hold a mass action at the DoLE main office in Intramuros to denounce the order of Baldoz. The protesters plan to bring a mock coffin with the message “RIP PAL Workers” and an effigy of Baldoz as the mythical “Kamatayan.”
Rivera explained that Baldoz’ decision entirely disregarded the unions’ arguments and merely reiterated PAL ’s position that it must outsource work to service providers in order to be financially viable. “The order is not a win-win solution that balances the interest of workers for job security and management for financial viability. Instead it is simply management’s slightly improved offer disguised as DoLE’s decision,” he insisted. Baldoz’ order, compared to Lagman’s, provides for a gratuity of P50,000 per employee and 125% separation pay instead of 100%.
Rivera added that “Baldoz’ order means the green light for contractualization at PAL via a retrench-rehire scheme. PAL will retrench 3,000 regular unionized workers who will be rehired as contractuals by service providers that are partly owned by Lucio Tan. The loss of 3,000 regular jobs cannot be compensated by the creation of 3,000 new contractual positions. Baldoz’ decision released on the eve of All Souls’ Day is symbolic for it will conjure up 3,000 zombie positions which will have cheaper wages, less benefits, no security of tenure and no protection by a union.”
PALEA also declared that the mass action tomorrow is just the start of a series of protests by PAL employees and their supporters from the labor movement. An assumption of jurisdiction order from DoLE had prevented PALEA from holding mass actions including a strike since April this year. A similar assumption order was imposed on the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines while a decision remains pending at the office of Sec. Baldoz regarding the separate dispute about retirement age and other issues.
October 31, 2010
The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), the ground crew union at the national flag carrier, slammed the final decision of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to allow the planned mass layoff of some 3,000 employees. Gerry Rivera, president of PALEA and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), stated that “The Department of Labor and Employment’s go signal for the retrenchment of half of the workforce means the death of job security at Philippine Airlines.”
Last Friday Labor Sec. Baldoz denied PALEA’s motion for reconsideration and affirmed the previous order by then Acting Labor Sec. Romeo Lagman. Both Baldoz and Lagman found the planned mass layoff to be a legitimate exercise of “management prerogative.”
Rivera announced that the union intends to appeal the decision at the Court of Appeals. Tomorrow PALEA together with PM will hold a mass action at the DoLE main office in Intramuros to denounce the order of Baldoz. The protesters plan to bring a mock coffin with the message “RIP PAL Workers” and an effigy of Baldoz as the mythical “Kamatayan.”
Rivera explained that Baldoz’ decision entirely disregarded the unions’ arguments and merely reiterated PAL ’s position that it must outsource work to service providers in order to be financially viable. “The order is not a win-win solution that balances the interest of workers for job security and management for financial viability. Instead it is simply management’s slightly improved offer disguised as DoLE’s decision,” he insisted. Baldoz’ order, compared to Lagman’s, provides for a gratuity of P50,000 per employee and 125% separation pay instead of 100%.
Rivera added that “Baldoz’ order means the green light for contractualization at PAL via a retrench-rehire scheme. PAL will retrench 3,000 regular unionized workers who will be rehired as contractuals by service providers that are partly owned by Lucio Tan. The loss of 3,000 regular jobs cannot be compensated by the creation of 3,000 new contractual positions. Baldoz’ decision released on the eve of All Souls’ Day is symbolic for it will conjure up 3,000 zombie positions which will have cheaper wages, less benefits, no security of tenure and no protection by a union.”
PALEA also declared that the mass action tomorrow is just the start of a series of protests by PAL employees and their supporters from the labor movement. An assumption of jurisdiction order from DoLE had prevented PALEA from holding mass actions including a strike since April this year. A similar assumption order was imposed on the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines while a decision remains pending at the office of Sec. Baldoz regarding the separate dispute about retirement age and other issues.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Solidarity Message to the November Workers Rally in Japan
Greetings of solidarity!
In the name of the working class of the Philippines, the Partido ng Manggagawa or Labor Party, extends the long hand of solidarity to the workers of Japan and other countries who are participating in the November Workers Rally. The call of the November Workers Rally for the establishment of a nationwide network of militant unions in Japan to lead the revival of the labor movement and the fight against the onslaught of neoliberal globalization is utterly correct and necessary.
All over the world, workers are facing the vicious attack of the capitalists and their governments against labor standards and workers rights. As international capitalism plunges into a deep and historic crisis, the race to the bottom in wages and working conditions worsens ever more. The working class is being made to pay the price of a crisis that is not of its own making.
We fully understand the plight of the 1047 dismissed national railway workers. We also recognize the negative impact of privatization and deregulation on workers and the people. In fact the very same issues animate the struggles that are being launched by workers in the Philippines.
In the Philippine Airlines, our national flag carrier, more than half of the workforce, some 3,000 workers, is facing retrenchment. Regular unionized employees will be replaced by agency workers who will have cheaper wages, less benefits, no security of tenure and no right to organize. While the plight of workers when the Philippine Airlines was nationalized was no heaven, it has become hell after the flag carrier was privatized and bought by the second richest man in the Philippines.
The fight for job security and workers rights at Philippine Airlines is the biggest labor dispute in the country. Not only is it a litmus test of the labor policy of the new government in the Philippines but it is a trailblazer struggle for the workers movement. The future of labor relations and the labor movement depends on the outcome of the fight between labor and capital in Philippine Airlines.
The defense of labor standards and workers rights is the content of the struggle at Philippine Airlines and in other establishments, factories, shops and offices in our country. In fact it is the same everywhere else for workers. In Japan, you call agency workers as dispatch workers. In the Philippines we call them contractual workers. The term is different but the conditions are the same for all workers exploited by the greed of capitalists.
The same issues confront workers in the Philippines that are employed by Japanese transnational corporations. Many of the 600,000 export zone workers in the Philippines are employees of Japanese companies, which are arguably the biggest investors at the moment. The most prevalent issues of export zone workers are violations of mandated labor standards, restrictions on the freedom to organize, and restraints on the right to peaceful concerted actions including strikes.
Indeed there is much that binds the workers of the Philippines and Japan in particular and of other countries in general. If not for the labor dispute at Philippine Airlines, I would have also participated in the international conference and workers rally in Japan. Still the workers of the Philippines are one in spirit with the call and demands of the November Workers Rally for defense of workers rights and the fight against neoliberal globalization.
Gerry Rivera
Vice Chairperson, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM)
President, Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA)
In the name of the working class of the Philippines, the Partido ng Manggagawa or Labor Party, extends the long hand of solidarity to the workers of Japan and other countries who are participating in the November Workers Rally. The call of the November Workers Rally for the establishment of a nationwide network of militant unions in Japan to lead the revival of the labor movement and the fight against the onslaught of neoliberal globalization is utterly correct and necessary.
All over the world, workers are facing the vicious attack of the capitalists and their governments against labor standards and workers rights. As international capitalism plunges into a deep and historic crisis, the race to the bottom in wages and working conditions worsens ever more. The working class is being made to pay the price of a crisis that is not of its own making.
We fully understand the plight of the 1047 dismissed national railway workers. We also recognize the negative impact of privatization and deregulation on workers and the people. In fact the very same issues animate the struggles that are being launched by workers in the Philippines.
In the Philippine Airlines, our national flag carrier, more than half of the workforce, some 3,000 workers, is facing retrenchment. Regular unionized employees will be replaced by agency workers who will have cheaper wages, less benefits, no security of tenure and no right to organize. While the plight of workers when the Philippine Airlines was nationalized was no heaven, it has become hell after the flag carrier was privatized and bought by the second richest man in the Philippines.
The fight for job security and workers rights at Philippine Airlines is the biggest labor dispute in the country. Not only is it a litmus test of the labor policy of the new government in the Philippines but it is a trailblazer struggle for the workers movement. The future of labor relations and the labor movement depends on the outcome of the fight between labor and capital in Philippine Airlines.
The defense of labor standards and workers rights is the content of the struggle at Philippine Airlines and in other establishments, factories, shops and offices in our country. In fact it is the same everywhere else for workers. In Japan, you call agency workers as dispatch workers. In the Philippines we call them contractual workers. The term is different but the conditions are the same for all workers exploited by the greed of capitalists.
The same issues confront workers in the Philippines that are employed by Japanese transnational corporations. Many of the 600,000 export zone workers in the Philippines are employees of Japanese companies, which are arguably the biggest investors at the moment. The most prevalent issues of export zone workers are violations of mandated labor standards, restrictions on the freedom to organize, and restraints on the right to peaceful concerted actions including strikes.
Indeed there is much that binds the workers of the Philippines and Japan in particular and of other countries in general. If not for the labor dispute at Philippine Airlines, I would have also participated in the international conference and workers rally in Japan. Still the workers of the Philippines are one in spirit with the call and demands of the November Workers Rally for defense of workers rights and the fight against neoliberal globalization.
Gerry Rivera
Vice Chairperson, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM)
President, Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA)
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