Employees Press for Government Takeover

People's Journal

Tuesday, September 22, 1998

PHILIPPINE Airlines employees yesterday reiterated their appeal to government to take over operations of the beleaguered airline company as they turned down anew calls for secret balloting among them to determine whether to ratify or not the agreement earlier forged by some officials of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association.

The employees, who have banded together under the "Save PAL Movement", said they have launched a referendum and signature campaign to rally support to a petition for government to takeover management of PAL and avert its impending closure.

The referendum, set yesterday and today, was conducted at the initiative of the Labor department as its last-ditch effort to convince management to reconsider its decision in shutting down PAL's operations.

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the exercise, conducted under existing labor laws, would finally resolve the dispute on the agreement signed last September 11 by PAL management and some PALEA union leaders led by its president Alexander Barrientos.

Laguesma added that union members are obligated by law to submit their position on the signed agreement for policy reconsideration as there have been no formal ratification since the agreement was forged.

National Conciliation and Mediation Board Executive Director Buenaventura Magsalin expressed the hope that the result of the referendum, which started at 2:01 p.m. yesterday covering PAL offices within Metro Manila, would somehow convince management to reconsider its planned closure by midnight tomorrow.

Laguesma said the questionnaire contained in the ballot was based on the intended PALEA ratification process.

Management, union, and the DOLE, however, decided to wrap the provision empowering management to call for the closure of the company should it yield negative results.

The DOLE is expected to present to President Estrada the results of the referendum today or a day before the scheduled closure.

A number of dismissed pilots, however, claimed that whatever would be ratified, should it mean abrogation of the CBA, is considered void ab initia this since this is contrary to law.

The pilots said they cannot participate in the referendum even if they wanted to because management does not recognize than as legitimate employees. JEFFREY TIANGCO