PALEA to appeal Palace’s decision on PAL outsourcing plan

The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) announced on Thursday plans to file an appeal before the Court of Appeals after Malacañang affirmed its earlier decision allowing Philippine Airlines (PAL) to outsource its non-core operations. In a statement, PALEA also criticized the Palace’s decision, calling the decision PNoy’s “fire-all-you-can" policy. “With the decision permitting PAL to retrench thousands of workers despite billions in profit, PNoy has unveiled his fire-all-you-can policy. This overturns the provisions of the Labor Code and jurisprudence of the Courts that serious financial losses are a necessary ground for retrenchment," said Gerry Rivera, PALEA President and Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) vice chairperson. The Office of the President (OP) denied PALEA’s motion for reconsideration in a decision dated August 11, affirming its earlier decision giving PAL the green light to spin off its catering, ground handling and call center reservation units. The Palace’s decision came a week after PALEA filed manifestations to both the OP and the National Labor Relation Commissions on August 3 asking the two organizations to consider PAL’s yearly net income of $72.5 million. “The OP has turned a blind eye to the fact that PAL’s robust financial health belies the latter’s argument that outsourcing is necessary for the flag carrier to survive. Since PAL is awash in profits even without outsourcing, then there is no reason for it to retrench employees," Rivera added. Following Malacañang announcement, PAL said that it will invite PALEA leaders to a dialogue and plan a smooth transition for the spin-off program. Continued protest On August 22, PALEA, PM and the Church-Labor Conference will stage a motorcade to protest the decision and banner the campaign against contractualization. The motorcade will run from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority office in Pasay City to Ayala Avenue in Makati. “PNoy’s employment policy is a second-rate trying-hard copycat of American industrial relations where giant money-making corporations can fire at will. But he should beware since the result of flexible employment relations in the US was not economic progress but financial crisis. The unequal distribution of wealth is at the root of the global financial crash of 2008 and even the present threat of a double-dip recession in the US," Rivera said. Prior to the statement Thursday, PALEA had accused Malacañang of conspiring with PAL in the plan to outsource it’s non-core businesses. Malacañang has denied the accusation, saying the administration needed to “balance competing interests" with the decision. Meanwhile, PALEA has also filed a complaint against the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) before the International Labor Organization (ILO) for alleged violations of ILO conventions on freedom of association, collective bargaining and the right to hold strikes. Town hall meetings PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna added that PAL will be holding town hall meetings in the affected departments to lay out the plans for the spin off. Primers will also be given to soon-to-be-laid-off workers to instruct them on how to get their retirement benefits and gratuity pay which will be processed on a “first come, first served" basis. Over P2.5 billion in severance benefits have been allocated for workers in the three non-core units. According to an October 29, 2010 order from Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, affected workers will receive a separation pay equal to 1.25 months’ worth of salary for every year of service, P50,000 as gratuity pay and other non-cash benefits. Malacañang will also be granting an additional P50,000 as gratuity pay. The spin-off plan is intended to stabilize PAL’s finances in the aftermath of the global recession and has been seen as a valid exercise of management prerogative. In 2008 and 2009, PAL lost $312 million. In 2010, it posted $72.5 million in comprehensive net income, but reported a $10.6 million loss in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The spin-off program was first upheld by acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman on June 15, 2010 and later recognized as legally valid by Baldoz on October 29, 2010. Twice the OP sustained the decision — on March 25, 2011 and August 11, 2011. PAL has yet to announce when the outsourcing of non-core services will be implemented. — BC/VS, GMA News