PAL union leader hopeful for Yes win in strike vote

12/08/2010 | 01:40 AM
gmanews.TV

On the eve of releasing the complete results of its strike vote, which was expected to reach a final tally by morning of Wednesday, the rank-and-file workers union of national carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it is hopeful that its members will vote to go on strike.

Alnem Pretencio, Vice-President of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), said in a phone interview with GMANews.TV that while the union still did not yet have a full count of the votes of all its 3,700 members, it was “hopeful" that more than the majority of members will vote for a strike.

“Historically, 70 percent or above ang kadalasang resulta ng mga strike votes ng PALEA [was the usual result of strike votes by PALEA]," Pretencio said.

As of 1 a.m., Wednesday, PALEA’s election team was able to count most of the votes from its members in PAL offices in Metro Manila. Some of the votes from members in the airports of Cebu and Davao were still coming in, while those from the outlying PAL stations in 14 other cities nationwide had just begun to trickle in, the union official said.

When asked if he could predict the results, the union official refused to air his speculations, but still exuded a hopeful note.

“Ayaw naming pangunahin yung aming Committee on Elections, pero maari kong sabihin na malaki ang pangarap namin na boboto ang mga miyembro namin ng yes," he said. (We don’t want to preempt our Committee on Elections, but I can say that our hopes are high that our members will vote yes.)

Nonetheless, even if the strike vote turns out positive, PALEA will not immediately go on strike — at least for the next seven days.

“We will be complying with the cooling off period," Pretencio said.

Under the Philippine Labor Code, the cooling-off period between a strike vote and the actual strike is 20 days. But for strikes declared over unfair labor practices and union busting, the period is seven days, he said.

Should its members vote not to hold a strike, Pretencio said that the union leadership will comply.

“Siyempre, naniniwala kami sa [Naturally, we believe in] democratic processes," he said.

PALEA also said that it was hopeful that things could change within the next few days, as Malacañang is also mediating the talks.

In mid-November, PALEA sought presidential intervention after losing its bid to reverse the DOLE decision recognizing PAL management’s prerogative to spin off its airport services, catering and call center reservations units.

“Mas mabuti na may [It’s better that there’s] room for both parties to come to an agreement," the union leader said.—Dani Molintas/JV, GMANews.TV