Aquino temporarily stops PAL layoffs, strike

(Updated 8:58 p.m.) President Benigno Aquino III has temporarily stopped the retrenchment of 2,600 employees and the planned strike at the Philippine Airlines (PAL) as he assumed jurisdiction over the labor dispute hounding the flag carrier. In an assumption order dated December 15, the President directed the airline and its labor union, the PAL Employees’ Association (PALEA), “to desist from undertaking any action that will aggravate the situation." PALEA legal counsel Marlon Manuel said that through the order, Aquino ordered the PAL management to “hold in abeyance" the implementation of two Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) orders on the layoff. “This is an initial victory for PALEA dahil napatigil ang tanggalan. Temporary pero magandang simula ito," he told GMANews.TV in a telephone phone interview Wednesday. The PAL management was given 10 days after it received the order to file a comment on the President’s move to intervene in the labor dispute. The same order also directed PALEA to “desist" from proceeding with a planned strike.
“Walang tanggalan na mangyayari sa ngayon dahil sa stay order, kaya wala ring welga," Manuel said. Aquino, however, did not specify in his order when he will decide on the labor dispute. The PAL management, meanwhile, welcomed Aquino's assumption order that stopped PALEA’s strike plans and hold in abeyance the flag carrier’s spin-off program that would have resulted to the layoffs. “The order stopping the strike is the best Christmas gift the Palace can give to thousands of anxious PAL passengers with scheduled flights this holiday season. The strike ban will assuage the anxiety of our passengers in the midst of PALEA's repeated strike threats," PAL President Jaime Bautista said in an article posted late Wednesday on PAL's website. Bautista said the Palace order is most timely since it comes at the height of the Christmas rush, when travelers have firmed up their travel plans and are eager to spend the holidays with their loved ones. Bautista said PAL has always maintained that Malacañang has primary jurisdiction over the labor dispute. The DOLE released two separate orders in June and October approving PAL management’s plan to layoff 2,600 employees and for the airline to outsource its catering, ticketing, and ground operations to third party service providers. As a results, PALEA members decided to file a notice of strike and hold a strike vote to oppose the planned retrenchment. — KBK/VS, GMANews.TV