PAL talks collapse; flight crew, ground staff to strike

by Jeremiah F. de Guzman and Eric Apolonio
August 18, 2010
ManilaStandardToday

PHILIPPINE Airlines’ cabin crew said they would strike in two weeks after talks with the management collapsed Tuesday.

“We withdrew from the negotiations because, in the past 10 months, nothing was happening,” said Andy Ortega, vice president of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines.
“We will go on strike to get what we deserve.”


His group, representing about 1,600 flight attendants and stewards, would no longer sign a collective bargaining agreement or agree to any more meetings unless their demand to raise the mandatory retirement age of 40 was taken up, and a “reasonable” salary increase was offered, Ortega said in a telephone interview.

The union says the retirement age is discriminatory, since ground crew can work until age 65.
Ortega said his group would file a notice of strike this week.

Another union, the PAL Employees Association, comprising the carrier’s ground employees, has already filed a notice of strike with the Labor Department over the company’s plan to spin off its non-core units and retire 2,600 employees.

Before the talks collapsed, the management had offered a one-time, P80-million package to the cabin crew to settle their collective bargaining agreement for 2005 to 2010. The union rejected the offer.
The management said the talks on the retirement age should be taken up in negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement, which covered the years 2010 to 2015.

“It’s not until 2018, or eight years from now, that the early-retirement provision will affect any cabin crew,” the management said in a statement.

Earlier, the Lucio Tan-owned airline said it would deploy administrative staff to fill the posts vacated by any striking workers. Passengers may also be transferred to PAL’s 134 partner airlines in case of any flight disruptions.

Earlier this month, Philippine Airlines canceled at least 11 flights after 25 pilots quit to join other carriers.

Labor officials on Tuesday called on the cabin crew to consider the inconvenience that PAL customers would suffer if they struck.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda

Baldoz said there was more than enough time to discuss the retirement age.
PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista failed to attend Tuesday’s talks because he was ill. The airline was represented by lawyers and executives from its personnel department.
Some union members who spoke on condition of anonymity said they were worried about striking.
“Just don’t name us, but not all of the workers agree to go on strike for economic and financial reasons,” one told the Manila Standard.

“I respect our union leaders, but I’m sure a lot of my co-workers are afraid of what could happen if they made good their threat to strike. What if PAL closes?

Another employee said the management and the different unions should settle their differences like family members instead of quarreling.

“When we fight among ourselves, we make the competition very happy,” he said. With Vito Barcelo