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Flight attendants: PAL has enough savings for bigger pay hike


Philippine Airlines (PAL) reportedly posted substantial savings worth hundreds of millions of pesos, a union of flight attendants said, disputing assertions that the firm is unable to offer its workers increased pay. From 2007 to 2010, the country’s flag carrier reduced the number of its flight attendants by some 220, incurring savings worth P235 million, the Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (FASAP) said on Tuesday. This is why FASAP feels that PAL’s offer of P80 million "as part of its economic package" in its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is insufficient. FASAP withdrew on Tuesday from mediation talks with PAL management at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) office, saying that continuing negotiations will lead nowhere. No new offers were made by airline management, who simply reiterated its previous position, FASAP president Robert Anduiza said. The estimated P235 million covers wages, 13th month bonuses, and rice, uniform, luggage, training, and transportation allowances, FASAP vice president Andy Ortega told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. A flight attendant earns P30,000 monthly, an amount which includes benefits and training costs, Ortega said. With a reduction of 220 flight attendants, Philippine Airlines is estimated to save some P92.4 million a year. The P235 million estimate does not include the per diems, or daily allowances, that have been withheld from cabin crewmembers who fly undermanned and are therefore obligated to work more, Ortega said. Usually, per diems of absent crewmembers — anywhere from $100 to $150 — are shared by flight attendants, he explained. As a result, while the flag carrier ended up with substantial savings, it also prompted the current 1,600 crewmembers to cover the staffing shortage through extra workloads, he said. With undermanned flights, PAL aircraft such as its Boeing 747-400s take off with only 12 cabin crewmembers instead of 18. Sign of good faith For its part, PAL said that its P80-million offer to FASAP is a "sign of good faith." Despite what it claims as nearly P15 billion in losses in the last two years, PAL said it did its best to set aside P80 million in the hope of successfully closing the 2005-2010 CBA negotiations with FASAP. However, it appears that FASAP’s motivation for the CBA is not purely economic, the airline firm said in a statement. PAL said FASAP seeks the abrogation of CBA provisions on early retirement, which the flight attendants call “unreasonable" and “unjustified." The company said this is surprising, since the early-retirement provision is contained in a CBA that FASAP approved not once, but twice since 1996. All cabin crews who joined PAL after 1996 are well aware of this provision, the statement said. On what FASAP calls a “discriminatory" and “unlawful" maternity policy, PAL clarified that the provisions on forced leave of absence of pregnant crew members are also in the same CBA that FASAP and management approved in the past. "The reason for preventing pregnant crew members from flying is simple: it is to promote their personal safety and that of the child they carry," the company said. It added: "Besides, a female cabin crew is first and foremost a safety officer. Her job, therefore, is not simply to serve but to ensure passenger safety especially in times of emergency. A crew who is on the family way cannot run, jump or carry heavy loads without putting themselves and their baby at risk." This is the reason for the forced maternity leaves, and not the accusation that PAL management “discriminates" against pregnant crew members, the company said.—JV, GMANews.TV

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