Manila Standard Today
June 14, 2011
PHILIPPINE Airlines on Monday said it was hiring 60 customer service agents despite the flag carrier’s plan to outsource nearly 3,000 airport ground workers and customer service agents.
An airline official said the hiring was prompted by the recent resignations of 80 agents, of whom 18 had been poached to work in Singapore’s Changi Airport by SATS Ltd. The rest found work in the Middle East.
The Lucio Tan-controlled carrier had initially planned to employ contractual labor from MacroAsia, a ground-handling company also controlled by Tan, for six months, but decided against it after the union protested, airline spokesman Cielo Villaluna said.
“To avoid inconvenience to our passengers in terms of longer queues and waiting times, the management decided to hire customer service agents directly,” she said.
A customer service agent here earns P15,000 to P30,000 a month compared with the US$1,500 a month and housing benefits being offered in Singapore.
The PAL Employees’ Association used the airline’s hiring of customer agents as an excuse to hold a protest motorcade on Monday. Eric B. Apolonio
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