Labor takes over PAL row

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:36:00 04/02/2011
By Jocelyn R. Uy, Tina Santos

MANILA, Philippines—Hours before the strike ban imposed on the Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) ground crew union lapsed on Friday, the labor department turned over the case to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), effectively averting a work stoppage at the national flag carrier.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on Friday issued a certification order, handing over the labor dispute to the NLRC since the issue involved “unfair labor practices” and not a deadlock in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

“The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) cannot assume jurisdiction because what is being talked about is unfair labor practices, not a deadlock in the CBA,” Baldoz told the Inquirer by phone on Friday night.

Same effect

But the certification order has the same effect as the assumption of jurisdiction as the former would also prevent the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (Palea) from going on strike, explained Baldoz.
Palea cannot push through with its planned work stoppage while the case is being heard by the NLRC, she said.

DoLE also upheld its earlier decision to stop PAL from retiring senior flight attendants who reach the age of 55.

In its ruling, the DoLE Friday affirmed its previous decision favoring the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (Fasap) in its CBA dispute with PAL.

Baldoz also directed PAL to reinstate the flight pursers who were retired while the labor case was being heard.

Before the DoLE order, Palea members and their supporters snarled traffic along Tramo Street in Pasay City Frid\ afternoon as they marched to Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

‘All systems go’

Palea members, along with other militant groups, announced that it’s all systems go for their first nationwide strike since 1998.

“Palea is 100 percent ready for a strike that will paralyze the operations of Philippine Airlines which is in cahoots with the Aquino government in denying workers the right to regular jobs and a collective bargaining agreement (CBA),” said Palea president Gerry Rivera in a statement.

He stressed that a strike could only be prevented if PAL heeds their demand to stop outsourcing and open CBA negotiations without preconditions.

Rivera added that synchronized mass actions were also held in Cebu and Davao.

“PAL will earn $1.6 billion in profit this year. Yet it refuses to share the fruits of production with its employees via a CBA,” Rivera insisted.

Ready for the worst

But PAL Friday assured its passengers that the national flag carrier is ready for a ‘worst case scenario’ of an actual work stoppage.

In a statement, PAL said it is ready to implement contingency measures to minimize flight disruptions and avoid passenger inconvenience in case a threatened walkout by its ground crew pushes through.
“Many PAL administrative employees, and even union members themselves, believe that a strike will not do the company any good. As such, they are ready to man posts to be vacated by protesting workers,” PAL president and COO Jaime J. Bautista said.

“We apologize to our passengers for whatever anxiety and inconvenience threats of work stoppage have spawned. Rest assured we are doing everything we can to ensure that your flights will proceed as scheduled,” he added.

Bautista said the planned strike had no legal basis. “First, it’s not true that management refuses to convene negotiations for a new CBA as claimed by Palea. Second, the union’s claim that there is no justifiable reasons for the spinoff of three units—airport services, in-flight catering and call center reservations—likewise have no leg to stand on,” he stressed.

  

Baldoz stops PALEA from holding nationwide strike

The Philippine Star
Updated April 02, 2011 12:00 AM
By Sheila Crisostomo 

MANILA, Philippines -  Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz yesterday stopped the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) from holding a nationwide strike.

“I transferred the case to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). It’s for the commission now to decide,” Baldoz said in a telephone interview.

The stoppage of the projected strike came on the heels of PALEA’s decision to go on a nationwide strike to demand the start of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with management.

“PALEA is 100 percent ready for a strike that will paralyze the operations of Philippine Airlines (PAL) that, in cahoots with the Aquino government, wants to deny workers the right to regular jobs and a CBA,” said PALEA president Gerry Rivera.

The Labor chief was expected to assume “jurisdiction” of the case but she said that she could not exercise this option since the CBA dispute did not end in deadlock.

“It was not a deadlock. This concerns unfair labor practice so it’s an NLRC case. But the effect is the same, they cannot hold a strike while the case is being heard,” she clarified.

Rivera earlier said the “only thing that can prevent a strike is for PAL to heed the demand to stop outsourcing and open CBA negotiations without preconditions.”

PALEA members and supporters yesterday held a rally at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 as a “dress rehearsal” for the work stoppage yesterday when the strike ban imposed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ended.



“This mass action is an expression of the unity of the labor movement in the common fight for regular jobs and against the government’s policy of contractualization. This is also a dress rehearsal for the nationwide strike,” Rivera said yesterday, unaware of Baldoz’s last minute move.

He reiterated that while PAL stands to earn $1.6 billion in profit this year, “it refuses to share the fruits of production with its employees via a CBA.”

“PAL’s workers have already sacrificed with a 12-year CBA suspension that has resulted in the stagnation of wages, benefits and working conditions,” said Rivera.

Baldoz sides with FASAP

On another labor-related issue at the flag carrier, Baldoz affirmed her previous decision favoring the demand of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) that PAL raise their retirement age.

Baldoz said PAL had failed to show “new evidence” that would warrant a reversal of her Dec. 23, 2010 decision, raising the retirement age of cabin crew from 40 to 60.

In her ruling, Baldoz agreed with FASAP that the 40-year-old retirement age set by PAL “constitutes a clear discrimination of their right to equal work opportunity.”

The labor chief had also junked PAL’s “no motherhood” rule, where flight attendants were required to take prolonged leave without pay during pregnancy.

Under the resolution, female flight attendants are entitled to two pregnancy leaves for a maximum of seven months for each leave, to be credited in computing the length of service for retirement, 13th month pay, Christmas bonus, rice allowance, and trip passes.

They are also given maternity leaves for a maximum of four deliveries and these should be credited in computing the length of service for retirement, 13th month pay, Christmas bonus, rice allowance, and trip passes.

FASAP president Roberto Anduiza thanked Baldoz for upholding the rights of PAL flight attendants.

“The struggle to address age and gender discrimination in Philippine Airlines has been a life long battle for FASAP, and this decision helps greatly to correct the injustice against the female flight attendants,” Anduiza said.

Philippine Airlines returns to India after 57 years

Business Mirror
Companies
By Recto Mercene
April 1-2, 2011

NEW DELHI—Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) inaugurated its regular service here on Wednesday, linking the country with the Indian capital of New Delhi. The non-stop flight took six -and-a-half hours and touched down at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 2:30 am with more than 200 passengers onboard. 

Key government and PAL officials, led by airline chairman Lucio C. Tan, were welcomed by India’s tourism officials, businessmen, investors, travel and tourism officials.

Vivienne K. Tan, PAL executive vice president for commercial group, said the launch of the Manila-New Delhi route “is in step with the government’s program to perk up the economy by bringing in more tourists and serves as a vital air link between [the] two countries.”

Jaime Bautista, president and chief executivesaid: “PAL is flying to an India that’s a destination in its own right. [The] country has emerged in recent years as one of the world’s economic powerhouses. The booming economy has spawned a high-spending middle-class of 350 million consumers and is growing by 20 million every year, for whom travel is a major aspiration. In 2009, about 8 million Indians traveled abroad, of which 2 million went to Southeast Asia.

Bautista, however, pointed out that only 32,817 Indians visited the Philippines, far behind the figures in Singapore (726,000), Thailand (611,983), Malaysia (589,838), and Indonesia (150,000).

He said PAL will aim to accelerate this traffic stream by making available over 188,000 airline seats a year for Indian travelers. He added that these travelers now enjoy the convenience of having their travel time greatly reduced from the previous 10 to 30 hours via a third-country connection to just six and a half hours with direct PAL flights.

“Our new service also aims to increase Filipino visitors to India. The Indian government has made our job much easier when it adopted, earlier this year, a visa-on-arrival policy for Filipinos,” Bautista said.

PAL’s new service is also expected to boost business travel between the two countries, particularly in the rapidly growing information technology sector.

PAL is allocating 188,000 seats a year on the Indian route, in keeping with the provisions of the 2005 Philippine-Indian air services agreement that also allows PAL to fly seven times a week from any point in the Philippines to Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai (formerly Madras).

PAL’s return to India coincides with the carrier’s 70th anniversary and underscores the storied past of Asia’s first airline.

The flag carrier first flew to the subcontinent on May 3, 1947 when it stopped in Calcutta on a pioneering DC-4 service from Manila to Rome, Madrid and London, making PAL the first Southeast Asian airline to fly to Europe.

The stopover in Calcutta was essential because the propeller-powered DC-4 had limited range. The journey from the Far East to Europe took two days and frequent stops were necessary.

Despite the distance, the Manila-Calcutta and vice-versa legs of PAL’s flights to Europe were quite popular. India and the Philippines were young, newly independent republics then and there was much interaction between the two nations.

In 1954, the Philippine government ordered the suspension of PAL’s long-range services, including the one to Europe, as an austerity measure in the midst of an economic recession. Unfortunately, this had the unintended effect of cutting off the Calcutta connection.

When PAL resumed European flights in 1969, the new DC-8 jets made technical stops in South Asia unnecessary. Regrettably, the link to India was never restored—until today.

Philippines is a hot destination for Indian companies engaged in business process outsourcing, with the country now hosting more than 20 Indian BPO firms, including such industry giants as Accenture, Infosys, Aegis, Genpact, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services.    

PAL starts regular flights to India

The Philippine Star
By Rudy Santos
April 1, 2011, 12:00 AM

NEW DELHI – Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) inaugurated its regular service here last Wednesday, linking the country with India’s capital, by flying non-stop in six and a half hours and touching down at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 2:30 a.m. with more than 200 passengers onboard.

 

Key government and PAL officials, led by PAL chairman Lucio C. Tan were welcomed by India’s tourism officials, businessmen, investors, travel and tourism officials.

Vivienne K. Tan, PAL executive vice president-commercial group, said the launch of the Manila-New Delhi route “is in step with the government’s program to perk up the economy by bringing in more tourists and serves as a vital air link between our two countries.”

 

Jaime Bautista, PAL president and CEO, said: “PAL is flying to an India that… has emerged in recent years as one of the world’s economic powerhouses, with GDP growth of close to nine percent this financial year. India’s $1.4-trillion economy is now the third largest in Asia and 11th largest in the world.”

 

He said the booming economy has spawned a high-spending middle class of 350 million consumers that’s growing by 20 million people every year, for whom travel is a major aspiration. In 2009, about eight million Indians traveled abroad and two million of them headed to Southeast Asia.

 

However, Bautista noted that only a trickle, 32,817 Indians, visited the Philippines, far behind corresponding figures for Singapore (726,000), Thailand (611,983), Malaysia (589,838) and Indonesia (150,000).

 

He said PAL will aim to accelerate this traffic stream by making available over 188,000 airline seats a year for Indian travelers to and from the Philippines. He added that these travelers now enjoy the convenience of having their travel time greatly reduced from the previous 10 to 30 hours via a third-country connection to just six and a half hours with direct PAL flights.

 

PAL flew to Calcutta 57 years ago for refueling stop on the way to Rome, Paris and London using a propeller-driven DC-4. The whole trip took 30 hours.

 

To complement the direct Delhi-Manila service three times weekly, Bautista said PAL has added another three weekly flights routed via Bangkok. This gives the traveler a wider choice of itineraries for the three cities covered by the PAL service.

 

“Going the other way, our new service also aims to increase Filipino visitors to India. The Indian government has made our job much easier when it adopted, earlier this year, a visa-on-arrival policy for Filipinos.”

 

With all of the incentives now in place – visa-on-arrival, combined with PAL’s six flights weekly and greater promotional efforts in the Philippine market – expect a boom in Filipino visitor arrivals in India, Bautista added.

 

As bonus, he said that PAL’s new service is also expected to boost business travel between the two countries, particularly in the rapidly growing information technology sector.

 

PAL is allocating 188,000 seats a year on the Indian route, in keeping with the provisions of the 2005 RP-Indian air services agreement that also allows PAL to fly seven times a week from any point in the Philippines to Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai (formerly Madras).

 

PAL’s return to India coincides with the carrier’s 70th anniversary and underscores the storied past of Asia’s first airline.

 

The flag carrier first flew to the subcontinent on May 3, 1947 when it stopped in the cities of Calcutta and Karachi on a pioneering DC-4 service from Manila to Rome, Madrid and London, making PAL the first Southeast Asian airline to fly to Europe.

PAL union workers vow to bring outsourcing plan to SC

By Philip Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:56:00 03/31/2011

Filed Under: Air Transport, Labour dispute, Government offices & agencies

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) vowed to challenge before the Supreme Court Malacanang’s decision to uphold the outsourcing plan at the national flag carrier.PALEA president Gerry Rivera made the statement on Wednesday as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) tried to patch up for the second straight day the labor row between union and management that could lead to a strike as early as Saturday.

“The ruling of the Office of the President (OP) is not yet final and executory. We can still appeal that before the courts. I think the last arbiter would be the Supreme Court,” Rivera said in an interview.

He said even PAL management—before Malacanang released its decision allowing the outsourcing of 2,600 jobs—said that it would go to the courts if the Palace ruled against them.

“We just received the OP decision this Monday and we are now studying it to prepare an appeal before the court of Appeals or the High Court,” Rivera said.

The union leader also insisted that management has been refusing to negotiate for a new collecting bargaining agreement (CBA) with PALEA—the reason why the union has threatened to go on strike as early as this weekend.

Rivera explained that while PAL submitted its CBA counter-proposal on Monday, it included the ‘precondition” that the CBA should cover only those who would not be affected by its outsourcing plan.

“So, who will be left? I myself will be affected by the outsourcing plan. So, they are still refusing to negotiate. Our position is the CBA negotiation should be treated independently from other issues,” Rivera said.

“The CBA is a right of workers and the obligation of management so there should be no preconditions except for those that we agreed to,” he said.

“But they’re imposing this precondition…What if it takes the courts five years to rule on the (outsourcing) issue, does that mean we won’t have a CBA for the next five years? That is unacceptable,” he added.

Rivera said the DoLE officials suggested during the first conciliation hearing on Tuesday at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) that this precondition of PAL be removed but the issue remained unresolved.

Another mediation hearing was held Wednesday afternoon at the NCMB but Rivera said PAL president Jaime Bautista was not present because he left for New Delhi on Tuesday night with PAL owner Lucio Tan.

“With the (PAL) president absent, I don’t know if those present on their side have the authority to negotiate and seal agreements,” said Rivera, who also did not attend Wednesday’s hearing and sent only PALEA representatives and lawyers to the hearing.

PALEA last week held a strike vote and majority of its members agreed to go on strike due to the “refusal” of PAL management to negotiate a new CBA.

Rivera said that they submitted the results to DoLE last Friday, which meant that upon the end of the seven-day “strike ban” this Friday, PALEA would legally be able to on strike.

However, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz could assume jurisdiction over the labor case since a labor strike at the flag carrier could affect national interests. Such a move would ban any strike from breaking out at PAL.

“We’ll cross the bridge when we get there,” Rivera said, when asked what PALEA would do if Baldoz made such a move.