By Philip Tubeza
INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 10/05/2010
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) The management and union of the Philippine Airlines are seeking the arbitration of the Department of Labor and Employment after talks between the two parties reached an impasse on Tuesday.
Bob Anduiza, Flight Attendants' and Stewards' Association of the Philippines (Fasap), said that they were determined to go on strike either in the last week of October or the first week of November.
"We will hold the strike vote next week and have the strike in the last week of October or the first week of November," Anduiza said.
PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said the flag carrier has submitted the case for arbitration to the office of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. She said this could lead to Baldoz taking jurisdiction over the case to prevent a strike.
While insisting that they did not see any strike happening in the immediate future, Villaluna said that PAL was preparing contingency measures.
In a talk with reporters aired live on radio, Villaluna said the management remained firm in their position to grant a P105 million package to flight attendants up for retirement and to adjust the retirement age from 40-45 for those who were hired in 2000, among others.
The two parties were locked in negotiations Tuesday before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, according to an initial report on Radyo Inquirer.
The Fasap has threatened to go on strike if their demands to scrap management policy withholding mandated benefits against flight attendants who get pregnant and for higher retirement age, among others, won’t be met.
Present in the NCMB meeting were the Fasap officers and the management’s representatives and lawyers, the report said.
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