Workers Didn't Vote for Closure of PAL

The Philippine Star

Thursday, September 24, 1998

Opinion

Postscript

By Federico D. Pascual

UNION members of Philippine Airlines didn't vote for the closure of the airline, as some quarters erroneously concluded after "No" won in a two-day referendum of the rank and file.

By a majority vote, the employees merely rejected a proposal of PAL Chairman Lucio Tan to (1) suspend their collective bargaining agreement for 10 years in exchange for (2) his giving 20 percent of PAL shares to the workers.

With the Tan package rejected, the airline may just fold up, yes, but that is not what the 9,000 or so employees want. In fact, until now they are praying hard for a miracle that would save PAL and their jobs.

The more visible rescue vehicle rushing to the scene looks like a jeep, with President Estrada at the wheel, loaded with P2 billion as bridge financing for three months.

The money, which breaks down to P666 million ($15 million) a month, looks like loose change against the gargantuan requirements of an international airline in extremis. But it gives everybody three months to work out something.

AS I was saying before I got sidetracked by newspaper circulation, PAL workers also showed in that referendum that they support their union leaders who have been vehemently against the Tan proposal.

Actually, union leaders asked members to boycott the referendum and almost half of the members stayed away. Hence the low turnout in the labor department-supervised referendum.

It is safe to assume that 99 percent of those who boycotted the polls on the prodding of their leaders were also for rejecting the suspension of the CBA for 10 years. Add their number to those who actually cast a No vote and you have an idea of how widespread is the rejection.

The emerging picture is that of a dying airline being pumped back to life by the Estrada administration, with prospective investors looking for an opening, and with either Tan or the union leaders (after all that recrimination, they cannot seem to work with each other anymore) receding in the background.