PALEA stages rally against PAL outsourcing scheme

In protest of the Philippine Airlines plan to outsource its non-core operations, the flag carrier's ground crew union staged a protest rally at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport area in southern Metro Manila Friday afternoon, disrupting traffic in the process. The PAL Employees' Association (PALEA) said the rally was a "warning to PAL" against locking out its workers by the end of this month. “The mass participation by PAL employees in today’s protest is an expression of unity and defiance against the outsourcing and contractualization plan. This is a warning to PAL against enforcing a lockout of its workers after September 30," said PALEA president and Partido ng Manggagawa vice chairman Gerry Rivera. While PALEA said its protest action was to end at 8 p.m., the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said the crowds attending the rally began to clear as early as 7:11 p.m. (http://twitter.com/#!/MMDA/status/114659535658024961).
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV However, the MMDA said a large volume of vehicles was affected by the slow traffic caused by the rally. In its Twitter account, the MMDA said the rally likely affected traffic all the way to J.P. Rizal going to Guadalupe, and may have affected vehicles going to Sucat in Parañaque. PAL management made arrangements to help passengers with scheduled PAL flights get to the NAIA Terminal 2 on time. It earlier reiterated the advice to all PAL passengers to be at the NAIA Centennial Terminal 2 at least four hours before their scheduled flights to avoid inconvenience . The company said it made available air-conditioned buses to bring passengers from strategic areas directly to Terminal 2 via the airside where there was no traffic. The strategic areas include:

• Rotunda near Terminal 3 Entrance, Andrews Avenue
• PAL Flight Operations Center, along Andrews Avenue (beside footbridge)
• In front of LTO office along Old Domestic Road and
• Area near CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines), MIA Road leading to Terminal 2.

"The buses will be available until late this evening to serve the needs of PAL passengers," PAL said. Prayer rally, protest program PALEA members assembled around 3 p.m. at the PAL Nichols Gate 2, and marched to the Our Lady of the Airways Parish (OLAP) at the corner of MIA Road and Sucat Road. At the OLAP, PALEA was to hold a prayer rally and a protest program. According to a report by dzBB's Nimfa Ravelo, the massing of PALEA members started to disrupt traffic before 3 p.m. — VS, GMA News