Wildcat Strike Hits PAL

Today

Thursday, October 31, 1996

By RICHARD ARBOLEDA

Reporter

GROUND employees of Philippine Airlines launched a nationwide strike early last night, paralyzing the airlines' operations in various airports all over the country, as well as canceling several international flights.

In an announcement, PAL said it canceled eight international flights as well as six domestic flights as of 7 p.m. yesterday.

PAL said it would reduce the number of domestic flights in routes where it has competitors and "redirect existing resources to points where PAL is the sole carrier."

The airlines' management also said it was saddened by the PAL Employees' Association's decision "to defy the law by staging an illegal strike."

The 9,000-strong PAL Employees' Association (Palea) pushed through with its highly anticipated plan to go on strike at 6:00 p.m. last night as commuters were busy preparing for their trips abroad or to the provinces due to the extended weekend.

Palea staged the strike hours after President Ramos turned down its request to step into the dispute between the union and PAL management.

Ramos, who over a year ago intervened in a PAL labor dispute, said he had left the problem in the hands of the Department of Labor and Employment "because I should not be a labor arbiter.”

"We have been pushed against the wall," said Palea Vice President Jerry Rivera.

"This is our last resort to defend ourselves from management's onslaught to our members."

The ground employees simultaneously walked out of their work shifts at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila Domestic Airport and the airports in Mactan and Davao.

Rivera said the union is still awaiting word from its chapters in Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga but assured that workers there will also participate in the strike.

Palea apologized to the passengers who were inconvenienced by the strike, saying the management did not give the workers any choice.

Rivera said the union was forced to push through with the strike because of "management's contemptuous disregard" of the assumption orders issued by Labor Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing, enjoining both the workers and management not to make any move that would exacerbate the tense labor situation.

The union accused management of undermining Palea's right to collectively bargain for the workers' benefits when it issued a memorandum to employees urging them to avail of a financial package that would allow them to own shares of stocks of PAL.

Rivera added that the management did not even bother to submit the offer to the union and instead chose to ignore the union's call for a dialogue to discuss the proposals for a long-delayed collective bargaining agreement. With M. Gonzales