Bulag, Pipi at Bingi

The Philippine Star

Sunday, September 20, 1998

Jaywalker

By ART A. BORJAL

It is easy to explain why the union leaders of the Philippine Airlines do not have public sympathy. They have blinders over their eyes, and they refuse to see the realities of today's society. They are captives, too, of their own old ideologies, and they refuse to adjust to the changing times.

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Take a look at the case of PAL. The company has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy for many, many years, long before Lucio Tan entered the picture. Yet, the union leaders of PAL refuse to accept the reality of a financially-distressed PAL. They look at PAL with rose-colored glasses. Which explains why they are so bullheaded in their demand for labor benefits. Yet. the reality of a global economic crisis is there staring everyone in the face. Under such a situation, how can PAL give in now to these demands when every peso coughed out brings PAL closer to the precipice?

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In offering to labor a stocks grant, three seats in the PAL board, and several other benefits in exchange for a suspension of the CBA, PAL management was obviously suing for time. Time to rehabilitate PAL and hail it out of its financial predicament. Time to enable PAL to make profits and eventually spread out more benefits both to PAL and its employee.

The leaders of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association though, are stubborn. They do not want to give PAL any breathing spell. They want a sword to hang over PAL’s head. And this is something that Lucio Tan, after already losing millions of pesos, can no longer swallow. Which explains why he decided to close down the country's oldest airline.

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What is tragic is that the PALEA brought down not only itself but all 9,000 employees of PAL. Plus the entire company. With PAL'S demise, the country will go through a long period of economic and social dislocation. Commerce and industry, the delivery of goods and services and the nation's day-to-day activities will be hampered. Yes. the nation will stand still. All this will come about because the PALEA played blind, deaf and dumb.