Church joins call to end PAL labor row

MANILA, Philippines – The Catholic Church yesterday joined the growing clamor for an immediate end to the prevailing labor dispute at the country’s flag carrier.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and the Church Labor Conference (CLC) said the government should ensure a just and equitable resolution to the dispute.

The CLC said the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) should not have prematurely implemented the legally contested outsourcing program.

The CLC also criticized Malacañang for allowing the mass termination and contractualization of more than 2,600 employees of the flag carrier.

“The Aquino government should have played the role of a knight protecting the rights of workers,” the CLC said.

CLC expressed the belief that PAL has no valid reason to terminate the employees, considering that its financial statement showed that the airline company is earning well.

“To retrench employees and outsource regular posts at a healthy financial condition of PAL is smacks of deceit and an outright disregard of the prevailing laws of the land,” the CLC said in a statement.

Terminated employees of PAL, meanwhile, urged the Tourism Congress to probe the possible impact of outsourcing on passengers’ safety.

“We ask the Tourism Congress to take up the cudgels for the riding public by inquiring about safety and service concerns at PAL, given that overworked and untrained replacement workers are now servicing passengers,” Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) president Gerry Rivera said.

“If the Tourism Congress is anxious about the impact of the labor dispute on the influx of tourists, then it should also be worried about any possible accidents due to unsafe work practices by contractual workers,” he said.

Rivera said there were reports that some tourists are now choosing other airlines due to safety concerns on PAL operations at this time.

PALEA also welcomed the call by members of the Labor Group of the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (TIPC) for government to push for a settlement of the labor row.

“A reasonable compromise to the dispute is for both parties, PAL and PALEA, to extend judicial courtesy and wait for the final decision of the courts on the legality of the outsourcing plan. In the meantime, the lockout employees must be allowed to return to their regular jobs in order to normalize flights and operations,” Rivera said. –Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)