Subsidy to airlines must have pro-labor conditionalities

Photo from Asian Nikkei

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that any subsidy for the airline industry must be tied to conditionalities. “Public aid to private corporations, especially big business like airlines, should enhance social justice and workers’ rights. We demand that taxpayer bailout of the three local airlines must be conditional,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “Specifically, these conditions should include no layoffs, reinstatement of those already retrenched this year and institution of worker representation in the corporate boards of the airline companies. The airlines’ demand for P8.6 billion per month would easily surpass in two months the P3 billion spent for DOLE’s CAMP and P10 billion for SBWS that benefited workers. Withholding taxes levied on workers constitute the biggest portion of the tax revenues and thus labor is a stakeholder in any disbursement of people’s money.”

Last February 28, Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced a mass layoff of 300 regular employees allegedly due to the impact of covid. Then in March 19, Cebu Pacific let go of 150 cabin crew on probationary status because of covid travel bans. Finally on April 3, the 1Aviation Groundhandling Services Corp. retrenched 400 workers who were due to be regularized. The company services Cebu Pacific and is a joint venture of the Gokongwei-owned Cebu Air Inc. and another ground handling corporation.

“These 850 fellow airline workers deserve to have their jobs back as part of the recovery of the airline industry. No one must be left behind as the airline industry gets back on its feet with the help of taxpayer’s money,” insisted Eugene Soriano, former treasurer of the union PAL Employees Association (PALEA).

He demanded that PAL, before it receives any government subsidy, must implement the 2013 settlement agreement forged between the airline and PALEA to reinstate 600 employees retrenched in 2011 due to a controversial outsourcing program.

Magtubo argued that if the airlines would reject conditionalities on state aid for the airlines, the industry might as well be nationalized. “If the three airlines can only survive on taxpayer support, then nationalization is another option. Three private airlines competing for reduced passenger demand is an inefficient utilization of capital,” he averred.

PM’s demand for pro-labor conditionalities on government support is part of its call for “workers first in the new normal.” Part of its workers first platform are calls for ayudang sapat para sa lahat, balik trabahong ligtas, ayuda lagpas sa ECQ and makataong tugon hindi militarisasyon.

12 May 2020

Workers slam PAL labor violations in Ayala rally

Members of labor groups marched in Ayala Ave. today in a preview of the big workers rally for Labor Day and to slam Philippine Airlines (PAL) for labor violations in the agencies it has contracted. Workers from the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and Partido Manggagawa (PM) marched this afternoon from the Makati fire station to the PNB headquarters which also houses PAL offices.

“The inspections conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) with the participation of PALEA members have uncovered breaches of general labor and occupational safety standards. Also exposed by the inspection is the fact that agency workers are doing the work of formerly regular workers. That means PAL is guilty of breaking the law and rules on contractualization,” explained Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and PM vice-chair.

Last week, DOLE announced in a press conference that inspections conducted through the Special Assessment or Visit of Establishments (SAVE) found PAL and telecom company PLDT guilty of violating labor and safety rules, including on subcontracting. DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello even proclaimed that he will order the regularization of some 10,000 PLDT agency workers as a consequence.

Rivera insisted that “PAL must remediate the transgressions of its controversial outsourcing scheme by reinstating the 600 PALEA members as per the provisions of a settlement agreement and terminate the use of service providers that have displaced the jobs of regular employees.”

“The protest march today at the country’s central business district on the eve of ASEAN is also a condemnation of the anti-labor and pro-business agenda of the meetings. Labor rights are being sacrificed at the altar of trade liberalization through ASEAN and other multilateral institutions like the WTO and APEC,” insisted Rene Magtubo, PM chair.

SAVE inspections conducted by DOLE and PALEA at PAL and PAL Express are still ongoing as only operations in provinvial airports have been assessed and offices in Metro Manila are yet to be visited. Rivera also blasted PAL for sabotaging the inspections by questioning PALEA’s participation and delaying the conduct of SAVE in its Metro Manila operations.

PALEA and PM are participating in the nationwide Labor Day rallies led by the coalition Nagkaisa. On May 1, Nagkaisa members will assemble at Welcome Rotonda at 7:30 am and then march to Mendiola for a program to call for a scrapping of the newly released DO 174, an end to all forms of contractualization and the protection of labor and human rights.

Also PM-Kabataan, the youth wing of PM, is also a holding a mass action at Welcome Rotonda at 4:00 pm on April 30 to highlight the pressing concerns of young workers like unemployment, contractualization and decent wages and benefits.

April 26, 2017

Advisory: Duterte asked for presidential intercession in PAL endo dispute

President Rodrigo Duterte is being asked by workers of Philippine Airlines (PAL) for intervention in the long-running dispute over outsourcing. They are holding a rally this morning at Mendola to call out for presidential intercession. The PAL workers union PALEA is calling on Malalcang to intercede for the implementation of a 2013 agreement that provides for the re-employment of some 600 outsourced PAL workers.

The rally will also ask the President to stand fast on his promise to end contractualization. The promise to end endo will be the main topic of a planned dialogue between Duterte and labor groups later this month.

TODAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2017

9:00   am assembly at Morayta 

10:00 am program at Mendiola

Labor yearender: Workers haunted by endo, EJK’s in 2016

The broken promise of ending endo and the spillover of the war on drugs to trade unionists were the big issues that confronted workers in 2016. Still like the rest of Filipinos, workers bid goodbye to the bad news of 2016 and look forward to good tidings in 2017. A hope for the coming year is the forging of an alliance for real change between millennial students and militant workers.

The year seemed to augur well for workers as all the presidential candidates, in a widely televised debate during the election campaign, promised to stop the pernicious practice of contractualization. After his resounding victory, Rodrigo Duterte followed through on that pledge with pronouncements that endo will be abolished and directed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to ensure this policy shift.

The new DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello announced that a new department order on contractualization will be issued by the end of 2016 after tripartite consultations. Indeed three labor summits were even convened for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

However the new draft DOLE DO 30, to replace DO 18-A promulgated under President Benino Aquino III, has been universally condemned by the full spectrum of labor groups, from the moderate to the militant. DO 30 has been soundly rejected by organized labor as continuing rather than prohibiting outsourcing, subcontracting and other forms of contractualization. The ball in now in halls of Malacanang as the labor coalition Nagkaisa has called on DU30 to nix DO 30 and instead uphold his promise of ending endo.

Aside from the epic fail of DO 30, another bitter disappointment for workers was the government’s lack of success in resolving the outsourcing dispute at Philippine Airlines (PAL). For months, the DOLE mediated meetings between PAL and the union PALEA on the issue of reinstating 600 employees who have bravely resisted endo at the flag carrier. Yet this December, the DOLE refused to order PAL to enforce a settlement agreement that provides for the re-employment of the PALEA 600. Bello’s DOLE did a Pontius Pilate and ordered that the courts should instead resolve the PAL-PALEA dispute.

Meanwhile, as many have feared, the bloody war on drugs finally caught up with ranks of organized labor. In the single month of September, two labor leaders were ambushed vigilante style, six farmers killed and a union officer arrested by police on trumped up drug charges. Just days apart, PM-Cebu leader Orlando Abangan was ambushed on his way home while former union president Edilberto Miralles was gunned down in front of the National Labor Relations Commission. In the heat of preparations for union certification elections, Patricio Tago Jr., a union vice president, was abducted in Tarlac by police and then imprisoned for allegedly being a drug pusher. Calls for tripartite consultations and convening a task force on violent attacks on unionists fell on deaf ears.

Various labor groups have blamed the culture of impunity for the spillover of killings onto the ranks of unionists. The groups have called for a stop to the killings and the war on drugs itself. They also point out to the fact that the war on drugs has indiscriminately targeted the poor and unemployed, which comprise practically the 6,000 people killed so far.

So before the end of the year, increasingly disillusioned over the Duterte administration’s failed promise of ending endo, enacting social reforms like a living wage, and implementing the “change is coming” slogan, militant workers were ready to link up arms with millennial students who took the lead in spontaneous protests against the hero’s burial for the dictator Marcos.

Thus barely two weeks after the surprise interment of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, labor’s traditional Bonifacio Day marches became an occasion for militant workers to join the #MarcosHindiBayani campaign. Student groups sent delegations to the traditional workers rally in the morning and the labor groups sent contingents to the evening protest at the People Power Monument against the Marcos burial.

With 2016 drawing to a close and 2017 about to open, it is time to remember the past even as the people look forward to the future. During the dark days of martial law, it was the student and workers movement that was the backbone of the people’s resistance against the Marcos dictatorship. Martyrs from the ranks of the students, workers and other sectors are the real heroes of our country.

Marcos was ousted in a people power uprising but all the succeeding governments failed to topple the structures of injustice and oppression that mired Filipinos in dire poverty. Thus this led to a section of the population prey to the historical revisionism and political ambitions of the Marcoses. Likewise to a mass of Filipinos susceptible to the wiles of a president who insists that the country’s problems can be reduced to drugs and criminality. The present generation of students and workers face the challenge of continuing the unfinished fight of the anti-dictatorship movement for real change.

December 30, 2016

Rallyists ask DOLE to act on killings of unionists, endo at PAL

In a rally today at the main office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the labor groups Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) asked the government to act with dispatch on the wave of killings and abductions of unionists, and the pending endo dispute at Philippine Airlines.

The rallyists demanded the intervention by the DOLE on the endo dispute at Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the enforcement of a settlement agreement that provides for the reinstatement of some 600 PALEA members. Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of the controversial outsourcing program of PAL that resulted in the mass layoff of more than 2,000 regular employees and their transfer as contractual workers in service providers.

“Similar to the task force on media killings formed by the current administration, such a body should be probe the spate of killings and abductions of labor unionists. It is an urgent concern as in this single bloody month of September, two labor leaders were assassinated, six farmers killed and a union officer abducted,” asserted Wilson Fortaleza, spokesperson for PM.

PALEA is calling on the DOLE to administer the implementation by PAL of a settlement agreement forged in 2013 and re-employ some 600 workers terminated in 2011. In September 2011, some 2,600 PAL regular workers were terminated and outsourced to become agency workers. After a two-year fight, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement.

Fortaleza added that “The DOLE has a responsibility to stop the culture of impunity that has resulted to the killing and abduction of labor unionists. Forming a task force to probe the attacks on workers and farmers is just a first step. As we have feared, the extra-judicial killings in the wake of the war on drugs has now spilled over into the labor movement. Truly human rights and labor rights are indivisible.”

Last week, Edilberto Miralles, former union president, was gunned down in front of the National Labor Relations Commission. On September 17, Orlando Abangan, a PM leader and organizer in Cebu, was ambushed on his way home. Last Sunday Patricio Tago Jr., a union vice president, was abducted in Tarlac and then imprisoned for allegedly being a drug pusher. Labor groups have called the drug charges as trumped-up.

Besides the latest fatal shooting of a farmer in Palawan, earlier this month, four farmers were shot dead in Nueva Ecija and then a farmer leader killed in Isabela.

September 28, 2016

Advisory: PALEA to picket DOLE today to demand reinstatement of regular workers

WHAT: In the picket, PALEA will challenge the DOLE on stopping endo, and demand the reinstatement of regular workers at Philippine Airlines outsourced five years ago

WHEN:  Today, September 28 (Wednesday), 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: DOLE main office, Intramuros, Manila

DETAILS: As part of the ongoing campaign against contractualization and to challenge the Labor Department on its end endo promise, the union Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) will picket the DOLE main office. The rally is timed for the fifth anniversary of the massive outsourcing that displaced more than 2,000 regular workers at Philippine Airlines and replaced them by contractual workers in service providers.

The renewed actions are spurred on by the promise of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to end endo. Last year, just before Duterte run for president, he met leaders of PALEA in Davao and expressed his opposition to contractualization. PALEA and the militant group Partido Manggagawa are now asking the president elect to make good on his promise to stop contractualization at PAL and other companies.

PALEA is calling on PAL to implement the settlement agreement forged in 2013 and re-employ some 600 workers terminated in 2011. In September 2011, some 2,600 PAL regular workers were terminated and outsourced to become agency workers. After a two-year fight, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute of 2011 yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement.

September 28, 2016

PALEA calls on Duterte to keep “end endo” promise in a rally near NAIA Terminal 2

To jumpstart the campaign against endo or contractualization at the Philippines Airlines (PAL), the union Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) picketed the company’s Inflight Center (IFC) near the NAIA Terminal 2. The renewed actions are spurred on by the promise of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to end endo.

Last year, just before Duterte run for president, he met leaders of PALEA in Davao and expressed his opposition to contractualization. PALEA and the militant group Partido Manggagawa (PM) are now asking the President elect to make good on his promise to stop contractualization.

Some 100 PALEA members held a rally on the road leading to the Terminal 2 for about one hour and then marched on to the PAL Nichols office to continue the protest until noon. Later in the afternoon, PALEA officers attended at mediation hearing at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board regarding the pending labor dispute with PAL.

Bong Palad, PALEA national secretary said that “PALEA is calling on PAL to comply with the settlement agreement they offered to PALEA and forged by the two parties in 2013. Specifically PALEA demands the implementation of the re-employment provision in the agreement.”

In September 2011, some 2,600 PAL regular workers were terminated and outsourced to become agency workers. After a two-year fight, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute of 2011 yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement.

PM also challenged on Duterte to prove that “change is coming” by rectifying the injustice committed by outgoing president Benigno Aquino who approved the PAL outsourcing scheme   and later threatened an economic sabotage case against PALEA for launching a protest that paralyzed flights.

PM chair Rene Magtubo argued that “A clear and determined path to end endo will be set if the contractualization scheme and scam at PAL is reversed.  by implementation of the settlement agreement with PALEA.”

Photos of the rally can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/jerry.bagsic/posts/1133381940025534

May 26, 2016

Advisory: PALEA to picket PAL Inflight Center tom

MEDIA ADVISORY

May 25, 2016

Contact Bong Palad @ 09165740596

       Start of renewed campaign to end endo:

PALEA to picket PAL Inflight Center tom

WHAT: In the picket, PALEA will demand the reinstatement of regular workers and implementation of settlement agreement

WHEN:  Tomorrow, May 26 (Thursday), 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: PAL Inflight Center, near NAIA Terminal 2

DETAILS: To jumpstart the campaign against endo or contractualization at the Philippines Airlines (PAL), the union Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) will picket PAL’s Inflight Center. The renewed actions are spurred on by the promise of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to end endo.

Last year, just before Duterte run for president, he met leaders of PALEA in Davao and expressed his opposition to contractualization. PALEA and the militant group Partido Manggagawa are now asking the president elect to make good on his promise to stop contractualization at PAL and other companies.

PALEA is calling on PAL to implement the settlement agreement forged in 2013 and re-employ some 600 workers terminated in 2011. In September 2011, some 2,600 PAL regular workers were terminated and outsourced to become agency workers. After a two-year fight, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute of 2011 yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement.

Workers urge Duterte to rectify ‘endo’ injustice committed by PNoy against PALEA

The militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) is urging incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to set off his anti-‘endo’ campaign to a good start by rectifying a grave injustice committed by outgoing President BS Aquino against the Filipino workers. 

According to PM Chairman Renato Magtubo, that injustice -- a mistake known to all -- was President Aquino's cold-blooded approval of PAL’s outsourcing program in 2011. 

The program, the labor leader said, altered from regular to contractual the employment status of 2,600 PAL employees. 

Members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), for more than two years, stood firm in opposing the program by building and sustaining a massive protest camp at PAL’s In-Flight Center near the Terminal 2.  The campaign call, “Ang laban ng PALEA ay laban ng lahat,” had since then become the battle cry of organized labor against the policy of contractualization.

In September 2013, the union and the PAL management entered into a Settlement Agreement (SA) which provides for a compensation and re-employment package for some 600 members of PALEA who remained opposed to the outsourcing program.  PAL has not fully complied with the agreement particularly on PALEA 600 re-employment as regular workers.

“Mr. President, this injustice does not require three or six months to fix and rectify.  It is simply an implementation of a binding agreement between the union and the management which you were made aware of during a meeting with PALEA officers before you finally decided to run as President,” said Magtubo.

Added Magtubo: “Once justice is served to the PALEA 600, a clear direction is presumed to have been set for a serious anti-endo campaign of the new administration. We do expect a non business-as-usual approach to this issue.” 

Ending endo or the industry practice of hiring workers on contractual basis was one of the main platforms of President-elect Rody Duterte.  The policy is seen as a plague that perpetuates the problem of poverty and inequality in the country as it undermines workers’ right to decent work and life of dignity.

The labor group, however, is worried that the 8-point economic agenda of the President didn’t set out a “bagong daan” framework to indicate a new era or a new beginning.

Peace

Meanwhile, PM said it is also supportive of Duterte’s plan to open peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as well as with other revolutionary forces in the country.

“Ending the people’s war will not necessarily mean the ultimate settlement of class conflicts in the country. That won’t happen in the next six years or more under capitalism and the system of elite rule.  But aiming for momentary or long-term peace based on social justice is a better agenda than prolonging the war to an indefinite conclusion,” said Magtubo.

Duterte’s peace charm with CPP is coupled with a surprising offer of four cabinet positions to its nominees for DOLE, DAR, DSWD and DENR.

23 May 2016

At congressional inquiry yesterday: PALEA demands recall of mass layoff

At congressional inquiry yesterday: PALEA demands recall of mass layoff

At a congressional inquiry by the House of Representatives Labor Committee yesterday, the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) demanded that Philippine Airlines (PAL) recall the latest mass layoff and reinstatement the 117 fired employees. PAL responded by announcing that the termination of the affected workers is being delayed from November 9 to November 30, giving them three more weeks of work.

“Since PAL has not conceded to our demand for the recall of the illegal dismissals, PALEA’s notice of strike stays. So the work stoppage that will impact PAL flights and operations may happen later this month,” stated Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and a Partido Manggagawa bet for the party-list elections.

PALEA did not push through with the planned strike during the undas holidays in deference to conciliation proceedings called by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Another conciliation meeting is scheduled on November 10.

The congressional hearing was held in Davao City and presided by Rep. Karlo Nogrles. In response to queries on the status of the duly elected PALEA officers led by Rivera, DOLE Undersecretary Rebecca Chato testified in the hearing that pending final resolution of the intra-union cases, the status quo remains and thus current union officials are the legitimate representatives and bargaining agents of PAL ground employees.

“USec Chato’s clarification of labor law and jurisprudence should be a wakeup call to management to stop its unfair labor practice of disregarding PALEA and talking directly to union members, such as what happened in the termination of the 117 employees,” Rivera explained.

Representatives of factions that contested the leadership of PALEA also attended the hearing. Leaders of these factions lost in the PALEA union elections last February that was won by the slate of led by Rivera. Two petitions were filed at the DOLE by the losing candidates after the elections. Last month, some of the petitioners filed another case asking the DOLE to disregard the pending notice of strike by PALEA.

Rivera averred that “All these PAL employees who are noisily attacking PALEA’s fight against contractualization but who are suspiciously silent on the mass firings by PAL are being exposed as lackeys of management.”

“Since 1998, more than 8,000 PAL regular employees and union members have been fired and replaced by contractual workers who labor for longer hours but are paid less in wages and benefits, and work without a voice in the workplace. Thus even during times when PAL says that it is losing money, airline service providers owned by Lucio Tan and his family remain extremely profitable,” Rivera revealed.

Aside from the propriety of the latest round of retrenchments at the national flag carrier, the congressional inquiry also discussed PAL’s refusal to open collective bargaining negotiations for the last 17 years and to implement the terms of the settlement agreement to end the outsourcing dispute of 2011. PALEA had repeatedly asked PAL to start CBA talks and fulfill the re-employment provision of the settlement deal to no avail.

November 5, 2015

PALEA

Smear job targets bet—party-list group

Smear job targets bet—party-list group

The workers party-list group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today claimed that one of its nominees for the coming elections is the target of a “smear job” by Philippine Airlines (PAL) due to a pending labor dispute over the layoff of 117 employees. Gerry Rivera, president of the union Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), vice chair of PM and one of its party-list bets, has been charged with estafa as reported in the Inquirer today (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/736662/party-list-bet-faces-estafa-raps).

“Since PAL is unable to justify the latest retrenchment, the non-implementation of the terms of a Settlement Agreement and the lack of collective bargaining negotiations for the last 17 years, it is instead discrediting the leaders of PALEA and PM, which are steadfastly fighting contractualization at the national flag carrier,” argued Rene Magtubo, PM chair and another of its party-list nominees.

He added that “The estafa case against our nominee will not hinder PM in its party-list bid. PM fights for the welfare of workers thus we make enemies of capitalists and their minions.”

“The estafa complainant is barking at the wrong tree because he is in fact an attack dog of PAL. Unlike the complainant, the rest of the 600 PALEA members who are subject to the Settlement Agreement are protesting and demanding that PAL implement the re-employment provision of the deal,” Magtubo averred.

The labor row over the new round of firings at PAL is now the subject of a notice of strike filed by PALEA. A planned strike by PALEA over the undas holidays was deferred due to the ongoing conciliation meetings called by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Today a congressional inquiry by the House of Representatives Labor Committee headed by Rep. Karlo Nograles is being held in Davao City. Rivera and other PALEA officers are attending the hearing this afternoon together with PAL employees in the Davao airport who were affected by the mass layoff.

PALEA is demanding the recall of the latest retrenchment and the reinstatement of the 117 employees fired. Absent a resolution to the dispute over the mass layoff, PALEA is planning a strike later this month.

Magtubo recalled that the estafa complaint was preceded by the filing of a petition at the DOLE by six PAL employees to dismiss the PALEA notice of strike. “Those who filed the DOLE petition were sore losers in the union elections early this year that was handily won by Rivera and the current PALEA officers. Further, they are scabs willing to do management’s bidding. All of these intra-union cases are upon the orders of management. PAL through a board resolution appointed an attorney-in-fact to represent the company in the intra-union disputes well before these cases were actually filed,” he explained.

He insisted that “All these PAL employees who are attacking PALEA are mere pawns and their puppet master is management. PAL want to muddle the issue and divide the union in order to sabotage fight against mass layoff and labor contractualization.”

November 4, 2015

PALEA accuses PAL of dividing union

#BoycottPAL team leafleteering

October 26, 2015

PALEA

The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) accused the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) of splitting the union in a bid to weaken its fight against the latest mass layoff at the national flag carrier. PALEA issued this reaction to a story in some news outlets three days ago about six PAL employees opposing the notice of strike filed by PALEA.

To resolve the notice of strike over the recent mass layoff of 117 employees, the Department of Labor and Employment is calling PAL and PALEA to another conciliation meeting today at the Quezon City central office of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.

With PALEA’s strike deadline nearing, the conciliation meeting is the fourth attempt to settle the labor dispute. In the conciliation today, PALEA will push for the recall of the mass layoff and the reinstatement of the 117 dismissed workers.

“We know for a fact that PAL management is talking to the six employees who are publicly opposing the notice of strike. PAL’s coddling of scabs in the campaign to defend regular jobs is a classic case of divide and conquer,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM).

Rivera insisted that the latest retrenchment of PAL personnel at domestic airport across the country is part of an “outsourcing spree” since 1998 that had resulted to the dismissal of a total of 5,500 employees and their replacement by contractual workers. “We are determined to stop the epidemic of contractualization in PAL and elsewhere, and to protect job security and decent wages for all Filipino workers,” he explained.

No collective bargaining negotiations between PAL and PALEA has happened since 1998 when a 10-year CBA suspension was imposed. After a two-year fight, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute of 2011 yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement. Thus PALEA has asked PAL to open collective bargaining negotiations and fully implement the deal that ended the dispute over the last mass retrenchment in 2011.

Rivera added that “The fact that these six scabs are publicly opposing PALEA’s strike while deafeningly silent on PAL’s layoffs exposes where they stand on the battle between the union and management over contractualization. They are acting as management spokespersons as their statements against PALEA is precisely the line and policy of the company.”

“The six scabs are part of a faction that lost in the PALEA election early this year and are utterly without any mandate to speak on behalf of the union. Still it is to the benefit of management for these scabs to sow intrigue and dish disinformation against PALEA’s legitimate and duly elected officers,” Rivera argued.

#BoycottPAL! Fight contractualization!

PALEA protests vs. PAL layoffs enters second week

Press Release

September 14, 2015

PALEA

For the second straight week, the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) is holding protests against the latest round of mass layoffs at Philippine Airlines (PAL). More than a week ago, PAL announced the retrenchment this November of 117 employees, all working at domestic airports all around the country.

Today PALEA is once more picketing the PAL main office at the PNB Building in Macapagal Boulevard. In last week’s protest, some one hundred PALEA members with a contingent from the militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) picketed PAL’s main office and also its offices in Nichols at the Airport Road

PALEA revealed that the mass actions are the start of a renewed campaign to oppose contractualization and outsourcing. It will continue on to PALEA’s 69^th year anniversary on September 21 and then escalate in November in time for the APEC summit.

“The new round of layoffs is another wave of contractualization. Regular unionized workers are being replaced with contractual employees who will be paid less in wages and benefits,” insisted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and PM vice chair.

He added that “Last September 2, PAL sent a formal notice of separation due to redundancy to PALEA. But in truth, no redundancy will transpire since the positions will not be vacated; workers to be retrenched will be replaced by new employees from so-called service providers. Also in some cases, employees served by the notice of separation were immediately replaced by contractual workers.”

Aside from blasting the latest layoffs, PALEA is also calling for the opening of collective bargaining negotiations and the full implementation of a settlement agreement that ended the dispute over the last mass retrenchment in 2011.

No collective bargaining negotiation between PAL and PALEA has happened since 1998 when a 10-year CBA suspension was imposed. After a two-year fight, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute of 2011 yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement.

“PAL has given no clear criteria in implementing the supposed redundancy program except to announce the separation benefits. In fact, we suspect that most of the regular PAL workers to be retrenched may just be rehired as contractual employees by the service provider since they possess the skill set needed for the job. Meaning this is a contractualization scam similar to the 2011 outsourcing program that affected more than 2,000 workers.”

Further Rivera argued that the latest round of layoffs is another expression of PAL owner Lucio Tan’s “no union policy.” He called for the solidarity of the labor movement and allied groups for PALEA’s continuing fight for regular employment.

PALEA protest vs. layoff today

MEDIA ADVISORY

PALEA

September 14, 2015

  

WHAT: PALEA to protest against mass layoff of 117 PAL workers

WHEN:  Today, September 14 (Monday), 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: PAL headquarters, PNB Building, Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard

DETAILS: The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) will hold another protest today against the latest round of mass layoffs at Philippine Airlines (PAL). More than a week ago PAL announced the retrenchment in November of 117 employees all working at domestic airports all around the country.

The picket today follows on the heels of similar protests last week. Aside from opposing the latest retrenchment, PALEA is also calling for the opening of collective bargaining negotiation and the full implementation of a settlement agreement that ended the dispute over the last mass retrenchment in 2011.

No collective bargaining negotiation between PAL and PALEA has happened since 1998 when a 10-year CBA suspension was imposed. After a two-year fight, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute of 2011 yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement.

The mass actions are the start of a renewed campaign to oppose contractualization and outsourcing. It will continue on to PALEA’s 69^th year anniversary on September 21 and then escalate in November in time for the APEC summit.

Beyond in-flight exchanges and selfies with Pope, labor party reminds PAL of its Christian commitments on the ground

Press Release

January 23, 2014

There is no doubt the Philippine Airlines is reaping the benefits of a good press from the successful visit of Pope Francis to the country.  

But the labor party, Partido Manggagawa (PM), reminded the flag carrier that in order to sustain its “blessed” flights, it has a Christian commitment to fulfill to which the Pope is also committed  – the reinstatement of its outsourced ground workers and the negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement that has been stalled for 15 years.

PAL blew its own trumpet during a press briefing the other day by taking pride of its role to the safe and comfortable airlift of Pope Francis in and out of Tacloban and to his journey back to Vatican.

“It was indeed a rare and fateful journey between the Pope and PAL.  We really hope, however, that beyond those in-flight exchanges of gifts and selfies, we both go back to the reality as the Pope had suggested.  Here on the ground oppressed workers are waiting not just for compassion but for concrete and immediate action,” said PM chair Renato Magtubo.

PAL has yet to finally comply with the last but most important item in the PAL-PALEA Settlement Agreement signed in November 2013 which ended the protracted labor dispute in the flag carrier. It also has to sit down with PALEA for the continuation of CBA negotiation, the last being in 1998.

An intense battle for management control between the Lucio Tan group and San Miguel, which ended with the former’s buyback of PAL, delayed the final implementation of the settlement agreement.

During the height of the outsourcing dispute in PAL, PALEA sought the help of Pope Francis through the Church Labor Conference and the social arm of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. A letter was sent personally to the Pope through Fr. Edu Gariguez of NASSA-CBCP. 

Pope Francis is a strong advocate of labor dignity.  To him, there is no dignity without decent work and that human dignity comes from work and not from power and money.

Labor Yearender: PAL-PALEA settlement to impact on labor relations

Press Statement

December 27, 2013

Undoubtedly the biggest labor story for the year was the settlement of the long-running dispute between Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA). It hardly made it to the news though as the historic deal ran smack of biggest story of the year—supertyphoon Yolanda. At the height of Yolanda and with howling winds buffeting their picketline, PALEA members voted to ratify the agreement.

The settlement provides for the rehiring as regular workers of some 600 PALEA members who were retrenched in 2011 but refused to accept the outsourcing scheme. The process of PALEA members applying for re-employment has started and PAL is mandated to give them priority for hiring in regular positions. The agreement also grants an improved separation package of 200% per year of service and P150,000 in gratuity pay.

The settlement of the labor dispute over outsourcing will have repercussions far beyond the PAL and are highly significant for the challenge presented by precarious work to workers, employers and the state.

The victorious resistance of PALEA against contractualization and the vigorous campaign it has engendered puts into question the popular view that precarious work is a global trend that cannot be rolled back. In fact just weeks after the PAL-PALEA agreement was signed, 500 contractual mining workers in Cebu won regularization after mass actions by the union PAMCC. The PAMCC union in the Toledo City-based Carmen Copper Corp., one of the biggest mines in the country, was active in the PALEA solidarity campaign in Cebu and was directly inspired by the outcome of the PAL dispute.

Indeed well before the settlement was signed and just two months after the implementation of the outsourcing plan, the dispute already changed the landscape of industrial relations. In November 2011, the Department of Labor and Employment issued DO 18-A to spell out new regulations over contracting and subcontracting arrangements arguably in the face of an outcry from organized labor about the retrenchment of 2,400 workers at PAL.

Arguably resistance saved PALEA’s regular jobs. If they had accepted rather than fought outsourcing then they would have become contractual workers trapped in an endless cycle of 6-month endo jobs. Or worse they would have become unemployed in a jobless growth economy. Instead some 600 PALEA members will be returning to their regular jobs in the coming weeks.

Labor groups, both in the country and abroad, have hailed PALEA’s victory as a victory for all workers. Meanwhile PALEA has expressed its gratitude for the fervent solidarity of workers, community and Church groups which launched protests, lobbying and a boycott campaign. While difficult to assess, the boycott contributed to PAL’s P2.19 billion in losses due to reduced passenger revenues just for the first half of its latest fiscal year.

PALEA’s campaign combined old school tactics of struggle and modern means of organizing solidarity. PALEA’s fight struck a sympathetic chord in the international labor movement and thus two global days of actions involved protests in airports and embassies across four continents. PALEA members used Facebook to maintain contact, exchange ideas, call for action and solicit support. PALEA was a trending topic on Twitter in the immediate aftermath of the airport protest as allies and critics debated in cyberspace, and again during the impeachment trial of the Supreme Court Chief Justice when it was exposed that he received “platinum cards” as gift from PAL.

The coming year will see how far the outcome of PAL-PALEA labor dispute can reverberate outside industrial relations at the flag carrier.

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.