Govt stops planned PAL strike

LABOR Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Friday she would ban a strike at Philippine Airlines if the company and its flight attendants’ union failed to reach an agreement next week.

“Once I assume jurisdiction, nobody can stage work stoppages,” she said, adding the case involved “a company imbued with national interest.”

Baldoz ordered the airline and its cabin crew union to resume talks on Oct. 5, and after the union said it would strike as early as the end of the month.

Philippine Airlines spokeswoman Cielo Villaluna and Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines vice president Andy Ortega confirmed the resumption of talks.

“President [Benigno] Aquino [III] can intervene or Labor Secretary Baldoz can take jurisdiction of the case to avert the planned work stoppages at the end of this month or the first week of November,” Ortega said.

“These are the two options we are open to.”

But Ortega said that if Baldoz assumed jurisdiction over the case, the union expected her to decide speedily on the dispute based on the merits of the case.

“If the [Labor] secretary decides to take over the dispute and prevent [the stewards’ union] from exercising its right to strike, then we expect her to immediately address the discrimination issues of the female flight attendants,” Ortega told the Manila Standard.

Baldoz on Friday said a breakthrough was possible once the two sides met again next week before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.

Sources said back-channel talks between management and the union could help hammer out an agreement.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda on Friday repeated the government’s plan to distribute Philippine Airlines’ routes to other carriers if the airline’s operations were disrupted.

President Aquino “will not sacrifice” air traffic, Lacierda told reporters.

While Mr. Aquino wanted the carrier and the union to come to an agreement amicably, a strike would hasten the implementation of an open-skies policy, he said. –Eric B. Apolonio with Bloomberg