PALEA testifies vs Philippine gov’t

THE PHILIPPINE Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) testified against the national government at a hearing in Washington in a labor issue which could jeopardize the preferential tariff rates enjoyed by Filipino exporters through a US trade development scheme.

The testimony came as the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office performed on Tuesday a routine review of the Philippines’ status as a beneficiary of the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the labor group said in a statement yesterday.

Manila, for its part, sent a high-level delegation to Washington DC to respond to the labor rights case which was first filed against the Philippines in 2007.

“PALEA presents a significant case in reviewing whether or not the Philippines has taken or is taking steps to afford workers their internationally recognized rights. We submit that the Philippine government has abused its power to assume jurisdiction of strikes thereby curtailing workers’ rights to freely organize and bargain collectively,” PALEA president Gerry Rivera said at the overseas hearing, as quoted in the labor group’s statement yesterday.

“PALEA was not allowed to strike on two crucial occasions to protest the mass termination of some 2,600 workers and yet Philippine Airlines (PAL) was permitted to proceed with the layoff despite a pending case at the Court of Appeals,” he continued.

The GSP, which US President Barack Obama renewed in November, grants eligible developing and least developed economies affordable access to the American market in a bid to stimulate domestic productivity among America’s partner countries.

Over 4,800 products from 129 beneficiary countries can enter the US duty-free through the preferential scheme.

The trade assistance, however, requires such countries to take effective steps toward upgrading and implementing its labor standards. Otherwise, developing economies stand to lose preferential treatment for their products, as in the case of Belarus which was suspended in 2000 for failing to protect workers’ rights to association and collective bargaining. — Eliza J. Diaz, Businessworld