PAL questions legality of union’s strike vote

INQUIRER.net
First Posted 17:23:00 12/06/2010

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Airlines on Monday questioned the legality and propriety of the planned strike vote of the PAL Employees Association (Palea).

In a statement, the flag carrier said Palea’s notice of strike vote it filed with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) “is without basis” and that the conditions that justify the holding of a referendum calling for a work stoppage were not present. PAL said Malacanang had yet to decide on the union’s pending appeal for presidential intervention in the PAL-Palea labor dispute.

As this developed, PAL assured its passengers that flights remained normal and continued to operate as scheduled. “A work stoppage does not happen overnight. PAL will exhaust all legal means to prevent any disruption that could hurt the economy and cause inconvenience to the riding public,” PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said.

While PAL management has received assurances from various employee groups that they would not join any strike, Villaluna said PAL had contingency measures in place. “PAL has made arrangements with sister airline Airphilexpress and other local carriers to help carry domestic passengers, while PAL’s 134 interline partners are also ready to lend a hand in our international routes. To ensure the steady supply of food and other amenities, PAL also made arrangements with several catering firms to supply meals,” she said.

Villaluna explained that conciliation talks before the NCMB “remain pending and have not bogged down. In fact, it was upon mutual agreement by PAL and Palea to suspend conciliation meetings to allow the Office of the President to act on Palea’s appeal to reverse an earlier ruling of the Department of Labor and Employment.”

She stressed that it was Palea itself that 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. Thus, she said, the holding of a strike vote, despite its own pending appeal, displayed “the arrogance and lack of respect for legal processes by Palea’s leaders.”

“Our lawyers will contest Palea’s call for a strike vote, including their planned work stoppage. We believe Palea’s objective is to pressure Malacanang to rule in their favor and at the same time hold hostage thousands of Filipinos whose travel plans for the forthcoming holidays are already firmed up,” Villaluna said.

She added that any work stoppage at national flag carrier would not only hurt PAL’s finances but also cause damage to the Philippine economy, aside from inconveniencing travelers.