Palea rap of unfair labor vs PAL junked

The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) has dismissed charges of unfair labor practices raised by PAL Employees Association (Palea) of unfair labor practice of PAL management for its alleged refusal to commence collective bargaining negotiations with the union early this year.

The NLRC upheld PAL’s stand that the issue on spin-off and outsourcing should be resolved first before it proceeds to collective bargaining.

The NLRC’s Special Second Division ruled that the flag carrier was not guilty of unfair labor practice as the union workers failed to prove by substantial evidence its allegation that the airline violated its duty to bargain collectively.

PAL submitted to NLRC last March 28 its CBA (collective bargaining agreement) counter-proposal that only includes rank-and-file workers to be left behind after the outsourcing plan. Employees to be separated as a result of the airline’s restructuring program were excluded.

NLRC presiding commissioner Raul Aquino said the outsourcing issue must be resolved apart from the CBA dispute and may not, therefore, be considered a stumbling block to the continuation or completion of negotiations. The commission said said Palea’s insistence to include the outsourcing issue in the labor dispute and its “uncompromising attitude” caused the breakdown of negotiations.

“The submission of PAL’s counter-proposal was a positive indication of its intention to bargain collectively, and if there was any delay in the negotiation it was due to the union’s hardline position to include the issue on “outsourcing/spin-off” in the negotiation notwithstanding the favorable rulings of the DoLE and the Office of the President. At any rate, we find that the labor dispute on outsourcing is beyond the realm of CBA negotiations as it has its own legal course to take,” the NLRC ruling added.

Citing a provision of the Labor Code, the resolution added: “PAL’s non-acceptance and disagreement with Palea’s position did not amount to refusal to bargain as the duty to bargain does not compel any party to just agree on a proposal of the other party.”

On the 10-year CBA moratorium, NLRC said the same is inconsequential to the charge of refusal to bargain. The moratorium, it stressed, was mutually agreed upon by both PAL and the union and the issue was declared valid by the Supreme Court.

Negotiations for a new CBA were suspended for 10 years after PAL underwent rehabilitation due to the financial crisis that hit the region and the global aviation industry in 1998.

The case was certified for compulsory arbitration on April 1, 2011 by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz after PAL’s ground-crew union filed a notice of strike with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board on account of alleged unfair labor practice being committed by PAL for refusing to bargain.

Last Oct. 1, about 2,400 workers from PAL’s ground-handling, catering and call-center reservation units were separated from service after the Office of the President rejected the union’s motion of reconsideration over the airline’s outsourcing scheme. –Mina Diaz, Daily Tribune