PALEA: Message to supporters on settling outsourcing dispute

Greetings of solidarity to brothers and sisters in the labor movement!

A bit of good news from the Philippines amidst the national tragedy of the super typhoon Haiyan: Last November 14, Philippines Airlines and PALEA signed an agreement to end the long-running labor dispute over outsourcing. PALEA members will be going back to work as regular workers! Under the agreement, the PALEA members at the picketline will receive an improved separation offer and then be re-employed within three months from the date of the signing.

Resistance saved PALEA’s regular jobs. If PALEA had accepted outsourcing then its members would have become contractual workers trapped in an endless cycle of precarious jobs. Or worse they would have become unemployed in a jobless growth economy. Instead PALEA members will be returning to their regular jobs in a few months.

PALEA expresses its deep gratitude for the passionate support of the labor movement across the world to its struggle against job outsourcing and contract work. At its peak, a global day of action spanned four continents. The international solidarity not just sustained the fight but inspired PALEA to continue the struggle until victory.

Looking back at the three long years of PALEA’s fight, it is clear that the old school tactics of direct action at the workplace, the traditional picketline, labor solidarity and community support was crucial in developing the struggle. Every single instance PALEA lost the outsourcing case before government bodies and the labor courts. Yet in the end, PALEA won its demand through negotiations but drawing strength from resistance and solidarity. PALEA owes this hard-won victory to the steadfast fight of PALEA members and the fervent solidarity of workers, community and Church groups in the Philippines and abroad.

However, even as PALEA celebrates its win, the union sympathizes with the victims of typhoon Haiyan. For PALEA, the disaster is up close and personal. PALEA’s vice president grew up in the worst hit city of Tacloban and still has family living there. After a few agonizing days, he learned that they are safe though shaken. Scores of PALEA members work at the Tacloban airport which was utterly destroyed save for the runway.

PALEA’s affiliated labor party, Partido ng Manggagawa or PM, is appealing for assistance to workers and the poor who have suffered from Haiyan. PM is calling for solidarity so it could offer relief at least to its affected members and organized communities. Among them are PM members among informal drivers and the urban poor in Tacloban. Relief would complement the organizing efforts of PM on the basis of working class issues.

PALEA’s victory is the victory of all workers. PALEA believes its victory will jumpstart the revival of the labor movement in the Philippines. PALEA wishes too that its win will inspire union brothers and sisters around the worldwide. PALEA pledges its solidarity to workers fighting everywhere as it has done for comrades in Qantas and Turkish Airlines.

Keep women and children safe from rape and sexual abuse in disaster areas

Joint Statement of Partido ng Manggagawa Women’s Committee and Women’s Day Off

15 November 2013

It’s the 6^th day of the aftermath of super-typhoon Yolanda.  Food distribution, power and water supplies, communication and transportation have remained big problems.  Hence, victims have become hungrier and more desperate.  According to Secretary Ochoa, government needs to produce 146,000 relief packs a day.  So far, it has only been able to produce 50,000 per day.  Various groups, families of victims and individuals have mobilized relief goods but these could not compensate for the big shortage.  Logically, a significant number of people have been going hungry for days.

Today, the situation has become even more distressing as confirmed reports of rape began to surface, particularly in Tacloban City.  Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and Women’s Day Off fear that the same thing may be happening in other affected areas especially in towns/sitios where power has not been restored and the local government non-functional.  Moreover, the consequent deprivation of food and water for days increases the danger of coercive sexual encounters among women and children.

The impact of disasters such as Yolanda on reproductive health can be devastating.  We are equally concerned with displaced women who will be pregnant, face delivery under dangerous conditions, and others who may be victims of violence.  In addition to food and water, and other basic needs, we expect the need for reproductive health services and information to persist and even escalate.

The Philippine government should immediately set-up temporary refuge/shelters to house women and children to isolate them from the risk of rape and other forms of sexual abuse.  In the absence of hospitals or clinics nearby, makeshift health facilities with essential items to ensure the health of women and newborns should likewise be set-up.  Finally, makeshift toilets and baths with locks should also be constructed for the use of women and children.  Their safety is as vital.  Recovery and rehabilitation will take time, hence, the importance of these temporary structures and services for women and children.

PM: Battle over outsourcing at PAL over but war vs. contractualization continues

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.

PALEA back as regular workers in pact with PAL

Press Release

November 14, 2013

PALEA

The union Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) hailed a settlement agreement signed today with the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) that provides for the re-employment of some 600 members as regular workers. In a private ceremony in a downtown hotel in Mandaluyong at noon, officers of PAL and PALEA signed the agreement.

“Resistance saved PALEA’s regular jobs. If we had accepted rather than fought the outsourcing scam implemented in 2011 then we would have become contractual workers trapped in an endless cycle of 6-month endo jobs. Or worse we would have become unemployed in this jobless growth economy. Instead we will be returning to our regular jobs in the next few months.” said Gerry Rivera, PALEA president.

The agreement provides for an improved separation package of 200% per year of service and P150,000 in gratuity pay for PALEA members. Within three months PAL shall process the applications for re-employment of PALEA members who will be given priority for hiring in regular positions.

“We owe this hard-won victory to the steadfast fight of PALEA members and the fervent solidarity of workers, community and Church groups both here and abroad. PALEA’s victory is the victory of all workers,” Rivera explained.

He added that “We thank PAL management led by President Ramon Ang for recognizing that an amicable settlement is preferable to continuing labor strife. We hope to build on this agreement and the protection of job security it provides towards rebuilding labor management relations in the flag carrier.”

At 5 pm today, hundreds of PALEA members will gather in the protest camp outside the PAL Inflight Center near Terminal 2 to hear a thanksgiving mass to be celebrated by Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo. Tomorrow representatives of PAL and PALEA will proceed to the other protest camp near the Mactan International Airport in Cebu to meet the concerned workers there.

Rivera noted that “We pledge to the riding public that as regular workers we can better provide quality service and safe travel. We call on our supporters to lift the boycott PAL campaign as PALEA’s demands have been substantially met.”

PALEA is planning a victory march, program and concert at the protest camp later this week. Last November 8 at the height of super tyhoon Yolanda, some 550 PALEA members out of the 600 affected, assembled and voted to ratify the draft agreement negotiated by its officers.