Labor dep’t favors PAL on CBA issue

Business World
October 5, 2011

A PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) union sustained another blow after the Labor department ruled in favor of the flag carrier’s management which had been accused of refusing to engage in collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations.
MEMBERS OF the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) stage a strike outside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Sept. 30. -- JONATHAN L. CELLONA
The department’s National Labor Relations Commission reportedly absolved PAL from the charges on top of allowing the airline to lay off 2,600 ground crew earlier.

In a statement, PAL said that the ruling, which it received on Sept. 29, cleared the airline from accusations of imposing “unfair labor practice” as there was allegedly no evidence that PAL failed to conduct CBA talks.

“The submission of PAL’s counterproposal… is a positive indication of its intention to bargain collectively, and if there was any delay in the negotiation it was due to the union’s hardline position to include the issue on ‘outsourcing/spin-off,” the state agency was quoted as saying in the PAL statement.

PAL said the state agency sided with the flag carrier’s management which had insisted that the issue on the outsourcing of the ground crew’s jobs should be resolved first before both sides proceed with CBA negotiations.

PAL claimed the state agency’s ruling further stated that “the labor dispute on outsourcing is beyond the realm of CBA negotiations as it has its own legal course to take.”

Sought for comment, Alnem Varona Pretencio, Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) vice-president, said in a telephone interview that the labor union has yet to decide on its next move.

The state agency’s decision comes in the aftermath of a PALEA protest action last week which forced the carrier to suspend flights that day.

The airline had said it expects operations to normalize in three to four weeks time, meaning it will revive all its flights.

PAL reported a net loss of $10.6 million for the quarter ending in June from an income of $31.6 million in the same period last year, due to rising fuel costs and the global economic slowdown.

The airline is aiming for a “modest profit” for its 2011-2012 fiscal year ending in March, after raking in $72.5 million in the previous fiscal year.

Shares of listed PAL Holdings, Inc., increased by 0.14% to P7.10 apiece yesterday. -- KAM