PAL can’t stop pilots from seeking greener pastures, says labor group

By Philip Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:37:00 08/03/2010

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Airlines cannot stop its pilots from seeking better-paying jobs overseas and then force them to fly its planes, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said Tuesday.

TUCP secretary-general Ernesto Herrera said professionals were "entitled" to seek out better-paying jobs available to them.

"Professionals are entitled to go wherever their skills will get the greatest reward," Herrera said in a statement.

The TUCP includes the PAL Employees' Association (PALEA), the flag carrier's union of reservation clerks, maintenance crew, caterers, cargo handlers and load controllers.

"If employers or companies can invoke their need to stay profitable in order to justify indiscriminate job cuts, then surely professionals and other staff are also entitled to abandon their posts in favor of greener pasture elsewhere," said Herrera, a former senator.

On another dispute involving PAL and its employees, Herrera said TUCP has petitioned the Department of Labor and Employment to review a previous ruling favoring the airline's decision to close down and contract out essential activities.

In June, DOLE allowed the PAL management to outsource the airline's contact center activities and other critical operations which led around 3,500 employees to lose their jobs.

"We are still hoping for a resolution that will favor the affected employees," said Herrera, former chairman of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development.

He said the problem of a growing number of highly skilled Filipino professionals departing in favor of better employment abroad was affecting not just PAL but also other large corporations here.

Herrera cited the case of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc., which he said were "rapidly losing first-rate engineers to foreign employers in the Middle East, Singapore and other parts of the world."

For several days now, PAL has been forced to cancel more flights due to a lingering dispute with a batch of pilots who quit their jobs for better-paying jobs abroad.

Herrera said PAL had no choice but to lure back those pilots with highly improved emoluments, or "engage fresh replacements, if not from here, then possibly from other countries."