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PAL: 500 PALEA members are apt to accept separation pay


The Philippine Airlines management has claimed that more than 500 union members have signified their intention to accept separation pay amounting to nearly P1 million for each. PAL said on Monday that because many union members are inclined to accept individual separation packages, it is now set to spin-off three departments and lay off 2,600 workers as part of its restructuring program. However, the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) — the ground crew members’ union — was quick to dispute the number of workers who might accept the separation package. Admitting that “some" members may have accepted management’s offer, PALEA Vice President Alnem Pretencio said the number did not come to 500 — or over a fifth of the total number of union members who will lose their jobs because of the restructuring program. PAL president Jaime Bautista also warned union members against going on strike, saying they will be terminated as the labor dispute in still pending at the Office of the President. “We have heard that PALEA filed a notice of strike before the Labor Department, but this cannot be possible since the issue is already assumed by the Palace," he said. No strike vote In a vote on Dec. 8, PALEA said 84 percent of its members favored a strike, citing unfair labor practices and union busting. However, the union is yet to file a notice of strike, Pretencio said. The union held back from filing the strike notice precisely because it was “hopeful" that Malacañang would be able to broker a solution to the dispute acceptable to all parties, he explained. “Mas mabuti na may ‘room’ for both parties to come to an agreement," the union leader said in a phone interview with GMANews.TV on Monday. In mid-November, PALEA asked President Benigno Aquino III to intervene in the dispute after losing its bid to reverse the DOLE decision recognizing PAL’s prerogative to spin off its catering, airport services and call center reservations units. With Malacañang intervening in the labor row, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said her department no longer has jurisdiction over the dispute. The DOLE has transmitted all documents and papers on dispute to the Palace, she told reporters at the Labor Department last week. The President has the power to review all decisions of the members of his Cabinet, and this applies to the DOLE ruling on the PAL-PALEA row. Union busting In November, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz affirmed an earlier DOLE decision allowing PAL to close three of its departments and to spin off those operations to outside service providers. It was a “management prerogative" to close down its “inflight catering operations, airport services operations and call center operations — and the consequent (termination) all affected employees — as well as the contracting out of these operations to… service providers, are based on lawful ground," the department said in its June 15 decision. With the spin off, 2,600 of PAL’s 4,000 employees will be retrenched. PALEA’s decision to hold a strike vote last week did not stem from this labor decision, but from alleged violations of a conciliation conference between union and management on Nov. 8, Pretencio told GMANews.tv. “Ang desisyong magkaroon ng strike vote ay isa lamang ‘offshoot’ ng patuloy na violation ng management doon sa mga kundisyon ng conciliation conference (The decision to hold a strike vote was only an ‘offshoot’ of continuous violations of the conciliation conference by the management)," he said. “Ang paglapit nila individually doon sa mga miyembro namin ay isang halimbawa ng mga violations nito (Approaching our members individually is an example of these violations)," he alleged. “Whether ito ay voluntary or pinilit, taliwas po ito sa pinag-usapan. (Whether [members agreed to accept the separation package] voluntarily or they were forced, this was contrary to our agreement," the union official said. “We understand that a strike at Philippine Airlines may inconvenience the public. But we also believe that the vast majority of the public are workers and their families who will benefit from PALEA’s fight for job security and labor rights," PALEA’s President Gerry Rivera also said in a statement on its website. Meanwhile, PAL assured its passengers that flights would continue to operate as scheduled. “PAL would like to assure the public that it is doing all it can to prevent any flight disruptions," Bautista said. In case of a work stoppage, he said the company has contingency measures in place including tapping workers from sister company AirPhilexpress, as well as 134 other international airline partners, to pinch-hit. — With Dani Molintas/VS, GMANews.TV

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