PAL union to appeal Palace ruling Tuesday

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) is set to file a motion on Tuesday asking President Benigno Aquino III to reconsider his decision allowing the planned outsourcing of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL). “The MR with the [Office of the President] is meant to exhaust the administrative measures available for PALEA in seeking redress of our grievances. We believe that the MR has merits because the OP decision overlooked facts relevant to the labor dispute," said Gerry Rivera, PALEA president. In its decision on March 25, Malacañang permitted PAL to lay off some 2,600 employees in its Airport Services, In-flight Catering, and Call Center Reservation Units, and to transfer them as contractuals in service providers. Partido ng Manggagawa, of which Rivera is vice chairman, and other labor groups will meanwhile express solidarity with PALEA by staging a protest rally in Mendiola soon. During Holy Week, the groups will also hold a protest called “Kalbaryo ng Manggagawa (Workers’ Calvary)" to train the spotlight on Filipino workers’ plight. “We consider the decision to be flawed in that it permits the mass lay-off at a time when PAL is expecting $1.6 billion in annual profit," PM chair Renato Magtubo said. “Further, the decision lets PAL reward the sacrifice of the 12-year-long suspension of the PALEA collective bargaining with the termination of workers whose wages, benefits, and protection have already stagnated in that period," Magtubo added. The activist leader added that the decision relays the message that the Aquino administration favors contractualizing labor and sacrificing the rights of workers in deference to company management. - KBK, GMA News