PAL stopped from lowering retirement age for female attendants

THE MAKATI Regional Trial Court (RTC) has stopped Philippine Airlines (PAL) from implementing an early retirement policy that allegedly discriminates against female attendants.

In a statement, lawyer Lorna P. Kapunan, counsel for 600 petitioners in the case, said acting presiding judge Oscar B. Pimentel of Makati RTC Branch 147 granted last July 19 a petition for preliminary injunction against a PAL retirement policy that put the age of early retirement for female employees earlier than that of their male counterparts.

The ruling follows the sudden resignation of 25 PAL pilots for higher-paying jobs abroad and a labor dispute with ground crew.

Members of the Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (FASAP), have also threatened to strike over a deadlock in collective bargaining talks.

FASAP, in its petition, noted that the retirement age for female flight attendants hired before Nov. 22, 1996 is at 55 years old, five years earlier than the retirement age for male flight attendants. The policy is stipulated under Section 144, Part A or the “compulsory retirement provision” of the collective bargaining agreement between PAL and the FASAP.

PAL spokeswoman Maria Cielo Villaluna declined to comment, saying the airline had yet to receive a copy of the decision. “We are going to react the moment we receive a copy of the ruling,” she said. — Prinz P. Magtulis, Businessworld