PAL: Union rally failed to disrupt operations

Philippine Airlines (PAL) ground crew union members failed to disrupt the flag carrier’s operations with the rally they staged Friday, PAL said over the weekend. PAL even posted a relatively high on-time performance of 85 percent while all its scheduled flights pushed through, the company said in a statement. The flag carrier, however, also apologized for the inconvenience caused by the PAL Employees Association (PALEA)'s protest rally. PALEA staged a rally at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) area to protest the flag carrier’s plan to outsource its non-core operations. The rally, which was supposedly a “warning to PAL" against locking out its workers by the end of September, disrupted traffic around the airport area. 'Contingency measures' PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna credited the company’s contingency measures for enabling their passengers to catch their flights despite the rally. PAL, for example, deployed “volunteer administrative staff and on-duty PALEA members who did not join the union protest action, the company said. These employees picked up stranded passengers and brought them to PAL’s hub at NAIA Terminal 2 using five chartered air-conditioned buses, according to PAL. Meanwhile, Villaluna said the service providers tapped to take over PAL’s catering and ground-handling units have secured the necessary accreditation from the Department of Labor and Employment. “As we prepare for a seamless transition to the service providers, the goal is to have the least disruption to our operations. We try not to let union actions distract us from that focus," the company spokesperson said. Earlier, PALEA requested the flag carrier’s management to reconsider its plan to outsource its non-core operations and instead create a business model that would retain PAL’s non-core workers. The union has made this appeal despite Malacañang’s decision to give PAL the go-signal to outsource its non-core businesses. Spin-off plan can't take off During last Friday's rally, PALEA said the management's outsourcing plan "cannot fly" because of the "unity and defiance of union members," said Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa. Rivera said "most of the 2,600 employees who will be affected by the mass layoff and outsourcing plan" have not signed the termination notices and only a few have signed up to work for the three service providers the management has contracted. “A significant number of the employees who availed of the separation package, have already executed affidavits of retraction, alleging that they only accepted the termination under duress and with deceit," Rivera claimed. Also, Rivera denounced the termination of an additional 55 customer service agents (CSA’s) who were hired in batches last June and July. “These CSA’s were hired on a six-month contract, but PAL early last week pre-terminated their employment contracts for no reason at all and were told that October 15 is their last day of work, Rivera added. — with Paterno Esmaquel II and Jerbert Briola/LBG, GMA News