DOLE calls for conciliation meeting between PAL management, employees

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has called for another conciliation meeting between the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) and its employees who are again threatening to go on strike.

DOLE’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) has set a meeting for tomorrow after the PAL Employees Association (PALEA) filed a new notice of strike. “We immediately set a conciliation meeting on Monday (Nov. 8) to negotiate and settle the issues raised by the employees against PAL. The case is now back with the DOLE,” said Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

PALEA filed last Friday a notice of strike against the flag carrier for allegedly committing unfair labor practice, including mass termination of workers and union busting. Union members can go on strike if they can prove that the issues they raised are grounds for work stoppage.

Baldoz said among labor issues considered grounds for strike are deadlock in collective bargaining and unfair labor practices.

“NCMB will thoroughly look into the issues raised by PALEA to determine whether they are strikeable, but of course DOLE would also be there to try to settle the dispute before it could turn into a full blown strike,” she said.

Baldoz said the labor department also has the option to issue an assumption of jurisdiction to prevent the employees from holding a strike, PAL being the country’s flag carrier. “DOLE would always have to take into consideration issues of national interest since PAL is the country’s flag carrier,” she said.

Last Oct. 29, the labor department affirmed a previous ruling allowing PAL to lay off of at least 2,600 employees.

PALEA initially announced that it would file a motion for reconsideration before the Court of Appeals (CA), but eventually opted to file a second notice of strike before the concilation board.

In a statement, PALEA said the airline is forcing the employees to accept the mass termination.

“We decided to file the notice of strike because of widespread and persistent attempts by management to convince union members which, by law, is individual bargaining and constitute interference in the right to self-organization,” said PALEA president Gerry Rivera.

Rivera said the planned mass layoff would lead to the dismissal of 62 percent of the present union leadership.

“The 1,000 union members who will remain will be the subject of the next round of outsourcing which is already in management’s drawing board and will be perfectly legal using the Baldoz decision as a precedent,” he said.

Rivera said the union members would attend the scheduled conciliation meeting, but they would also hold a series of protest actions to stress their opposition to the mass layoff.

Employees to be included in the mass termination have been inquiring at the airline’s Human Resources Department about the computation of their separation pay.

In a press briefing, PAL president Jaime Bautista announced that PALEA members to be let go may get an average of P1 million as part of their severance package.

“We wish to assure our workers that our department is rushing to meet their requests for computation and that everyone will be accommodated,” he said.

“I was told by my staff that even some PALEA officers have been discretely inquiring about their separation benefits.” –-Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star) with Sandy Araneta, Rudy Santos