PAL service reps quit; other workers buck outsourcing

By Paolo G. Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
3:22 am | Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

A string of resignations has hit Philippine Airlines (PAL), forcing the Lucio Tan-led flag carrier to hire about 60 new customer service agents (CSA) to man check-in counters at local airports.

This comes amid an ongoing labor dispute that has stalled PAL’s plan to outsource most of its ground services.

“The flag carrier intends to directly hire 60 CSAs to man check-in counters and do other ground duty. They would replace CSAs who had either resigned or were pirated abroad,” said PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna in a statement.

“To avoid inconvenience to our passengers in terms of longer queues and waiting times, PAL management has started processing applications for CSAs,” she said.

Villaluna said PAL management’s original proposal was to temporarily engage the services of MacroAsia Corp. for six months just to fill the employee gap. MacroAsia is an aviation services provider also owned by Lucio Tan.

“But since the union opposed this, management decided that it would hire employees directly to end the debate,” she said.

Rehire former employees

The PAL Employees Association (Palea), which represents PAL ground workers or about half of the airline’s work force, said it opposed the idea since hiring MacroAsia would be tantamount to outsourcing their jobs—which the union opposes.

“We rejected the plan but offered to help in rehiring former PAL employees and recalling trainees who were not hired due to a hiring freeze implemented last year,” said Palea president Gerry Rivera in a statement.

On June 9, Palea said it had submitted a partial list of people interested in the position of customer service agents.

The union said it took offense at PAL’s proposal to hire MacroAsia, which Palea considers to be a “backdoor implementation” of PAL’s controversial outsourcing plan.

Palace, DOLE approved plan

PAL’s outsourcing plan was earlier approved by the Department of Labor and Employment and the Office of the President as the legal exercise of a “management prerogative” meant to cut costs. The decision is currently under appeal.

“PAL management is hoping for a speedy resolution of the outsourcing issue. The longer it drags, the more our workers are disenchanted and forced to seek greener pastures. Thus, for the sake of our workers who want to peacefully move on and for the convenience of thousands of passengers, we hope Malacañang would decide with finality on the outsourcing issue,” Villaluna said.

Palea members on Monday took to the streets to protest what they called “an exacerbation” of the labor dispute at PAL.

The motorcade, consisting of some 50 motorcycles and 10 cars stopped by the PAL In-Flight Center along MIA Road.

Security personnel and airport police prevented the motorcade from entering the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 where the MacroAsia office is located.

The blockage caused heavy traffic in the area for some 30 minutes to the chagrin of motorists, which Rivera said was not intentional.

Rivera said the union and PAL management have not yet reached an agreement on the temporary outsourcing arrangement set for June 16.

“We are ready to defend our jobs and the union if PAL does not back down from deploying contractual workers. We will be vigilant until there is a firm commitment for direct hiring instead of temporary outsourcing,” he said. With reports from Julie M. Aurelio and Philip C. Tubeza