Labor solon backs pilots resignation: Hits PAL for unfair labor practice

PRESS RELEASE

HON. RAYMOND DEMOCRITO C. MENDOZA
SW-204, House of Representatives, Tel. 951-3011
Trade Union Congress Party (TUCP Party-List)
TUCP-PGEA Compound, Maharlika cor. Masaya Streets, Diliman, Quezon City
Telephone Number: 351-3757

09 August 2010

Labor solon backs pilots resignation: Hits PAL for unfair labor practice

Trade Union Congress Party Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza expressed full support to the pilots who resigned from PAL Holdings, Inc., as an upshot of the ongoing dispute between the company and its employees.

“This should remind PAL management of the value of their employees’ services and that they should be treated accordingly with their rights always put into paramount consideration,” said Mendoza.

“For over a decade now, PAL management has been run by the evils of unfair labor practices which include age and gender discrimination, union busting, refusal for a CBA negotiation, and now the threat of massive lay-off and contractualization justified by a make-believe of financial losses, Mendoza lamented.

“It seems the essence of cost-cutting has been jumbled with cut-throat,’’ he noted.

According to the labor solon, “PAL could have resolved the ill-effects of the labor dispute only if it had the heart to go back to the negotiating table for a CBA negotiation. The implementing CBA expired in 2000 and PAL pilots are the only pilots in the country who are unorganized and unrepresented.’

PAL has announced its plan to shut down operations of certain divisions and outsource necessary services. The terminated employees will be merely transferred to the service providers as contractual employees.

“The move is in essence circumventing PAL’s obligations to its labor force,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza also called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to revisit its ruling on the legality of the flag carrier’s move to lay-off 2,600 employees due to an alleged “spin-off/restructuring” in its airport services department and in-flight catering services operations.

“DOLE should have come up with the decision after it has evaluated PAL’s financial statements which until now it has failed to produce,” Mendoza noted.

“Even if PAL management has a rightful claim to business losses, it cannot engage in labor-only contracting which is prohibited,” he added.

“TUCP Party-List condemns management oppression of the rights of its workers and calls on employers to steadily uphold core labor standards by all means,” Mendoza stressed.

The labor solon added that a privatized company such as the PAL Holdings, Inc. should be reminded it has social responsibility which includes fair labor practices.

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Rep. Mendoza is set to deliver a privilege speech today at the Plenary Hall.

For inquiries, please call Mr. Vicente Camilon Jr., Chief Political Affairs Officer.