A tyranny of the minority

The wildcat strike staged by the PAL Employees Association which stranded some 14,000 passengers and caused millions of damage to the riding public, Philippine Airlines and the national economy is a clear case of the tyranny of a minority group.

Such a clearly illegal action by the employees’ group, which smacks of coercion and blackmail, and which was obviously meant to force the hand of government—both the Executive and the Judiciary—to give in to the workers’ demands should not go unpunished.

If PALEA is allowed to get away with impunity with the chaos it created when it forced the cancellation of 172 domestic and international flights of Philippine Airlines, then it would encourage other groups to resort to illegal action just to get what they want—no matter how unreasonable and illegal.

It’s good to know that President Benigno Aquino III is going after the strikers with the full force of the law.

An angry Aquino said that the PALEA officers and members who held the wildcat strike could be liable for the crime of economic sabotage. He has ordered the lawyers of Malacañang to study what cases can be filed against them.

He said that it is also possible to charge the strikers under the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008 which provides: “Any person who disrupts the services of an airport is criminally liable under the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008 and may be penalized with imprisonment ranging from one year to three years or a fine of not less than P50,000 but not exceeding P500,000 as determined by the courts”.

The cases that Malacañang could file against the illegal strikers for what transpired last Tuesday would not be difficult to prove. They either refused to do what they are supposed to do (as in the case of those manning the check-in counters) or they abandoned their post (as in the case of the ground crew) and thus totally paralyzed the PAL operations at the Centennial Terminal.

Officers of the employees’ group, of course, continue to insist that there is nothing illegal and criminal in the wildcat strike that they staged. They say it is the PAL management which is guilty of committing something illegal by pushing through with its outsourcing scheme which would spin off airports services, in-flight catering services and call center reservations which will affect the jobs of some close to 2,400 PAL employees.

PALEA officers, using twisted legal logic, say that since they have pending petitions before the Court of Appeals to stop the management from implementing the spin off/outsourcing plan which will take effect tomorrow, October 1, the plan should be shelved by PAL in the meantime.

The leaders of PALEA apparently were able to convince some 300 ground workers on duty in the ramp, check-in counters and catering areas that this legal position is right and they refuse to perform their official functions.

Like the 14,000 passengers who were affected by the wildcat strike, the PALEA members who were misled by their officers could be victims, too. They now risk not only criminal charges that could be filed against them for economic sabotage or violation of the Civil Aviation Authority Act; they also could also lose their retirement benefits.

The resistance of the 2,400 permanent employees of PAL affected by the spin off/outsourcing program is understandable. Losing a job in these difficult times even with the good retirement/transition package offered by the airline is hard to accept.

However, hard as it is, the affected employees must realize that it was inevitable and the spin off of non-core units (airport services, in-flight catering services and call center reservations) have been happening in all airlines all over the world in the past several years. In fact PAL is one of the last airlines in the world to implement a spin off/outsourcing plan.

PAL wanted to already implement the plan as early as last year as part of its restructuring effort. This is to keep the airline competitive in the light of the cut-throat competition in the global airline industry.

Airlines all over the world have been adversely affected by the weak global economy, terrorist threats, excessive liberalization, pandemics, stiff competition from mega carriers and the emergence of budget carriers.

The situation in the national flag carrier is made even more precarious because of the effects of the US FAA Category 2 downgrading which limits PAL’s operation to and from the United States, the European blacklist of all Philippine carriers from flying anywhere in Europe and the cutthroat competition due to budget carriers and government initiatives to implement open skies policy.

With losses of $312 million in 2008 and 2009, PAL has been forced to adopt leading airline practices including the spin off/outsourcing of its non-core services.

PALEA exerted all efforts to stop the spin off/outsourcing plan of PAL. It first went to the Department of Labor and Employment to question the legality of the plan. However, DOLE declared the spin off/outsourcing as a legal and valid exercise of management prerogative not once but twice first by acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman on June 15, 2010 and second by Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on October 29, 2010.

Dissatisfied with the DOLE ruling, PALEA elevated the issue to Malacañang. The Office of the President affirmed the DOLE ruling twice, on March 25 and again on August 11 of this year.

PALEA has filed a petition before the Court of Appeals to stop the spin off/outsourcing to be implemented this Saturday, Oct. 1. But the appellate court has not issued any ruling or a temporary restraining order. Hence, there is no hindrance to the implementation of the plan.

The retirement package for the affected employees is way above what is mandated by law. Affected employees will get 125 percent of their basic salary for every year of service, which is 25 percent more than what is prescribed in the PAL-PALEA Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The employee who is forced to retire is also given a P100,000 gratuity pay. The offer used to be P50,000 but Malacañang ordered PAL to double the gratuity pay offer.

Other transition benefits include 100 percent commutable-to-cash accrued vacation and sick leaves; free tickets benefits depending on years of service and medical and hospitalization benefits for one year for those who will join the third-party service providers.

PAL has also arranged that affected employees will be absorbed by the companies who will be the third party providers for the spin-off services. The airline has also guaranteed the salary (for one year of whatever salary is given by the service provider to workers) of those who accept the employment offer of the service provider.

The wildcat strike has punished the affected passengers. It has seriously affected PAL operations which according to news reports will take about a month to normalize. It has adversely affected the economy and the country’s image but what it has not done is to give PALEA its unjust and unreasonable demands.

PAL President and COO Jaime Bautista has made it clear that the wildcat strike used by PALEA to force PAL to back down from scheduled implementation of its spin off/outsourcing program on October 1 will not work. “There is nothing to negotiate as there is no legal basis for their demands.” –Alvin Capino, Manila Standard Today