PAL Upheld on Cabin Crew Retrenchment

Manila Standard

Saturday, December 12, 1998

Philippine Airlines (PAL) scored another legal victory when the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) upheld its decision in July terminating 1,400 flight attendants whose position had been rendered redundant by the financial crisis gripping the flag carrier.

In a ruling issued recently, the NLRC’s third division lifted the injunction imposed by labor arbiter Jovencio Mayor on July 23 preventing PAL from carrying out the retrenchment, declaring the restraining order “misplaced and uncalled for.”

The NLRC also upheld PAL management’s right to implement the retrenchment program, especially at a time when the airline’s very existence is at stake in the midst of a financial turmoil.

“Even as the law is solicitous of the welfare of employees, it must also protect the right of an employer to exercise what are clearly management prerogatives. The free will of management to conduct its own business affairs to achieve its purpose cannot be denied,” the NLRC said, quoting the Supreme Court.

In supporting the initial complaint of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP), labor arbiter Mayor had directed PAL to set aside its notice of retrenchment to the cabin crew members and restore them to their previous positions.

PAL appealed the order, arguing that the labor arbiter overstepped his bounds since the Labor Code does not empower him to issue preliminary injunctions—only the NLRC itself is authorized to issue such writs.