PAL flight attendants bring discrimination case to CHR

By Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 09/21/2010

MANILA, Philippines—For Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Loretta Rosales, Philippine Airlines (PAL) may be liable for violation of its flight attendants’ human rights, particularly rights against discrimination based on gender and age.

The Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) has turned to Rosales for help in its labor dispute with the country’s flag carrier over its practice of imposing a mandatory pregnancy leave without pay and a mandatory retirement age of 40.

Rosales said the CHR would issue a resolution soon containing its position on the issue. But she made no bones about where she stands.

She said the issues being raised reminded her of an earlier era “when the world was less enlightened about the rights of women.”

But now, laws have been passed prohibiting gender discrimination, she pointed out. For one, the Philippines already has a Magna Carta of Women, which articulates the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

“The gender discrimination issues they raised sound Jurassic,” Rosales said in a press conference with the FASAP, adding that the practices the group mentioned reeked of a “fossilized mentality.”
“It’s obvious there are violations,” she later added.

In a statement sent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, PAL said FASAP’s complaint before the CHR “smacks of forum-shopping” and “shows disrespect and a disturbing lack of confidence in the on-going mediation hearings at the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).”

“Remember, it was FASAP who filed a notice of strike before DoLE alleging violations of workers’ rights...Since DoLE has primary jurisdiction over these labor issues, Philippine Airlines believes that the labor department is the proper venue to discuss and resolve them,” it said.

The FASAP has branded as discriminatory the imposition of mandatory pregnancy leave without pay for female flight attendants.

FASAP president Roberto Anduiza, in a letter to Rosales, said PAL’s treatment of pregnant attendants was no different from its treatment of workers who are suspended for violating company policy.

“The provision in effect penalizes women for being pregnant and suspends them for seven months without pay,” he said.

In contrast, the attendance records of male attendants who go on paternity leave are not affected.
Flight attendant Carol Henson said that after an attendant gives birth, PAL checks her weight and appearance before she is allowed to go back to work. If she fails to make the grade, she is prevented from returning to work until her condition improves, she said.

FASAP said the 40-year-old retirement age imposed on flight attendants was likewise outmoded and sexist.

Anduiza said other airlines follow the labor law, which prescribes a retirement age of 65.

“The forced retirement of flight attendants actually finds its root in sexism—likening flight attendants to cocktail or bar waitresses,” he said.

Rosales said she, too, objects to such practices, saying what is important in the airline industry is the safety of the flight, and the provision of proper services to passengers.

“They don’t need to be sexy or young. What is important is if they can provide the services needed,” she said.