PAL union calls for Halloween strike as talks collapse

PHILIPPINE Airlines’ flight attendants withdrew from conciliation talks with the carrier’s management Wednesday, saying they would strike by the end of October.

The Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines, representing 1,600 cabin crew, issued its statement after the fourth conciliation meeting failed to break an impasse over the new retirement age that the union claims is too low.

“PAL is playing games and is insisting on its unreasonable retirement age limit,” group president Robert Anduiza said.

“They are not serious in resolving the dispute. PAL is just playing deaf and blind to the concerns of the flight attendants.

Anduiza said the union had already reduced its issues to PAL’s pregnancy and maternity policies, a salary increase and the retirement age.

“PAL is adding more conditions to muddle the issue and intends to make more money out of the dispute,” Anduiza said, citing the airline’s condition that the retirement age would be moved up from 40 to 45 years if the union agreed to implement a mixed crew complement.

He said that allowed the younger cabin crew to work on international flights with the senior attendants, but it required training, workshops and additional work for flight attendants.

“PAL wants to paint itself as reasonable but the real motive is to exploit the flight attendants,” Anduiza said.

Labor officials set another conciliation meeting for Oct. 4, but the union said it found no more need to meet and would focus on preparing for the strike.

“[The union] will proceed with its strike as planned to protest against PAL’s outdated and sexist policies,” Anduiza said.

Philippine Airlines urged the Labor Department to prevent the union from striking following its withdrawal from the talks.

Labor laws allow the department to assume jurisdiction over a dispute and disallow a strike if both parties fail to reach an agreement after a 30-day cooling-off period expires, and if the national interest is at stake.

“Management is asking [the Labor Department] to immediately step in to avert the strike and protect the interests of the riding public,” airline spokeswoman Cielo Villaluna said.

She said the carrier was surprised by the union’s strike announcement, adding it had been negotiating in good faith and had even bent backwards to accommodate some of the union’s demands.

“It is the union that is playing hardball, dismissing outright management’s offers without even a second glance,” she said.

She denied the union’s claim that mixed crews on international flights would bring layoffs or a reduction in flight assignments for cabin attendants.

“Why is [the union] so averse to the idea of their younger members earning a little more?” Villaluna said.

She said the airline’s retirement age for cabin crew was benchmarked against other carriers in the region.

“PAL maintains that while the early retirement age is negotiable, it is by no means illegal or immoral,” she said. –Jeremiah F. De Guzman and Vito Barcelo with Eric B. Apolonio and Eileen Mencias, Manila Standard Today