PAL flight attendants to stage strike vs age discrimination

The flight attendants of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) filed a notice of strike at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday to protest what they called "age discrimination." The Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) announced their planned strike at a press conference in Pasay City before proceeding to the DOLE office to file the notice of strike.' According to a report of dzXL radio, the placards at the FASAP press conference venue read "100 percent strike" and "No to age ... discrimination." "Pag sinunod namin we're looking at end of October hanggang November ... may karapatan kaming magwelga, ie-exercise namin ito," FASAP president Bob Anduiza said in an interview on dzXL radio. (If we follow procedures, we expect the strike to last end-October until November... We have a right to strike, and we will exercise it) Anduiza said they will announce the actual date of the strike soon. PAL spokeswoman Cielo Villaluna, however, appealed to the FASAP not to push through with the strike, which she called as "untimely." Villaluna instead urged the attendants to return to the negotiation table. "Ang isasagawang paghain ay di napapanahon. Makakaapekto ito sa Philippine tourism at sa aming financial position. Ang negotiation table ang tamang venue upang maresolba ang aming problema," Villaluna said in an interview on dzBB radio. (The strike is not timely. It will affect Philippine tourism and our financial position. The negotiation table remains the proper venue to resolve this.) Earlier, FASAP questioned PAL's mandatory retirement for flight attendants who reach age 40. PAL, however, claimed that this was part of their collective bargaining agreement with them. However, Anduiza said since 2000, they have been trying to raise the retirement age of both male and female flight attendants to 60 years old. "PAL however would always insist on the 40, 45, and 55 years old retirement ages," he said in an August 25 article on the FASAP website. "What PAL is not saying is they want younger and pretty flight attendants because of the outmoded stereotyping of treating them as sex objects. It is plain sexism and age discrimination. It's the 'beer house' mentality of lusting for young and pretty girls as cocktail waitresses," he added. –VVP, GMANews.TV