House labor committee asked to look into PAL row

Two party-list representatives are asking the Labor Committee of the Lower House to investigate alleged “bad faith" on the part of Philippine Airlines (PAL) management, a day after the officials and flight attendants of the country’s flag carrier failed to forge a new labor agreement. This was contained in Resolution No. 181 filed Monday evening by Akbayan party-list Reps. Walden Bello and Kaka Bag-ao and announced on Tuesday in a joint press conference of Akbayan and the Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (FASAP) in Quezon City. In legal terminology, a party negotiating “in bad faith" means that the party enters or continues a negotiation with an intent not to reach an agreement with the other party. The proposed investigation will also look into accusations that PAL allegedly committed the following violations:

• discriminated against its female flight attendants
• failed to meet prevailing minimum wage rates
• violated legislated labor standards, and
• violated provisions of the PAL-FASAP collective bargaining agreement.

In listing the said violations, the resolution cited various constitutional provisions and laws that prohibited workplace discrimination, including various sections of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, and R.A. 9710 also known as the Magna Carta for Women. It also cited several international conventions and covenants which protects workers’ and women’s rights, to which the Philippine government is a signatory. Bello said that he still is setting up a meeting with Valenzuela Rep. Magtanggol Guinigundo, who is the House Labor Committee Chairman. PAL in gridlock with FASAP During the briefing, Bello said that PAL management “has not come out with counterproposals" answering demands of FASAP. The Akbayan resolution also alleged that PAL “acted unilaterally" when it decided to cut crewmembers on flights without reportedly consulting the flight attendants. As a result, on PAL’s 747-400 series aircraft, only 12 instead of 18 attendants serve around 400 passengers of each flight, FASAP officials said. Similar reductions have also been implemented in the airlines’ other aircraft such as the A320, A330, and A340, they added. FASAP’s demands include extending flight attendants’ compulsory retirement age to 60 from the current 40, as contained in its previous CBA, which lapsed in 2007. Under the existing CBA, compulsory retirement age for male and female flight attendants hired before November 22, 1996 are 60 and 55, respectively. Those hired after November 22, 1996 are 40 for males and 45 for females. Those hired after November 22, 2000 are required to retire at 40 for both genders. Another FASAP demand is for PAL to junk its policy of forcing pregnant female flight attendants to go on leave without pay, among others. On Monday, PAL management and FASAP held talks at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB). However, both parties failed to forge a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) since they both refused to change their positions regarding the compulsory retirement age of flight attendants as indicated in a labor agreement that has already lapsed. During the meeting at the NCMB, PAL offered P80 million as “one-time payment" to “settle economic issues of the 2005-2010 CBA with FASAP," the company’s manifestation said. Roberto Anduiza, FASAP president, reiterated on Tuesday that “no amount of money will cure" what it considers as the “discriminatory" compulsory retirement age. It has been PAL management’s strategy to delay the matter and bring it up again at the next CBA talks, he said. “This has been taken up in the past two CBA negotiations but nothing has happened," he said. Meanwhile, Bello sought “new management thinking" among PAL officials. “Keys to profitability include good labor relations," he said. “You have to take care of labor to ensure capital advantage." A messsage of support was also given by defeated senatorial candidate and Akbayan member Risa Hontiveros during the briefing. “Kung mahal nila ang bansa, dapat mahal din nila ang mga manggagawa ng bansa, gaya niyo," she added. (If the company loves the country, it should also love workers of the country, like yourselves.)—JV, GMANews.TV