Wednesday, 06 October 2010 00:00
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter
THE MANILA TIMES
TALKS to settle a dispute between Philippine Airlines (PAL) and its cabin crew union bogged down again on Tuesday, forcing the airline’s management to submit the case for arbitration to the Department of Labor and Employment.
In a statement, Cielo Villaluna, PAL spokesman, said that the Flights Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (Fasap) “flatly rejected
PAL’s proposal to increase salaries and rice allowances by P105million, expanded pregnancy-related benefits and increased retirement age to 45 years old.”
With no agreement reached during Tuesday’s conciliation meeting, Villaluna added that PAL manifested willingness to submit the case for arbitration before the Labor department.
“This will enable parties to submit their respective positions to the Labor secretary who will then decide the case on the merits,” she explained.
Villaluna said that Fasap posed no objections to PAL’s manifestation but both parties agreed that any intervention by the Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz would be “through an assumption of jurisdiction.”
“We believe that a strike is unlikely. Any strike outside of the parameters of law, there are dire penalties for that,” she warned.
With an assumption order, the warring parties are enjoined from performing any act that will exacerbate the situation such as a strike or lockout.
Issues for arbitration include the economic package, retirement age (anchored on mixed-crew complement) and pregnancy-related issues.
When sought for comment, Robert Anduiza, Fasap president, said that the last-ditch conciliation meeting ended in a deadlock after PAL maintained its hardline stance, refusing to address the discrimination issues against flight attendants.
“While PAL is trying to make itself look reasonable by supposedly offering a financial package, the truth is it is being made contingent on discriminatory policies on retirement,” Anduiza added.
He said that the Fasap strike might take place by the end of October or the first week of November.
“The union will now prepare for the holding of its strike, as mandated by law,” Anduiza added.
Impact on economy, tourism
Villaluna said that any work stoppage aimed at paralyzing PAL’s operations will have negative effects not just on the airline’s finances but also on the country’s domestic and international trade and tourism image.
PAL has been preparing contingency measures to cope with adverse effects of any possible labor strike.
“Fasap’s insistence on its original demands and continued refusal to present any counter-offer to PAL’s proposals prevented the talks from proceeding,” Villaluna said.
“It’s give-and-take in any negotiation. It’s very difficult to negotiate if the other party only wants things to go their way,” she added.
Villaluna said that PAL’s P105-million offer should be viewed in the context of the company’s huge financial losses in the last two years.
PAL, she added, even agreed to increase the retirement age for attendants to 45 in exchange for allowing junior cabin crew to fly international together with their senior counterparts.
“Management has bent backward to give part of Fasap’s demands but they want nothing short of their original demands,” Villaluna said.
Earlier, Baldoz declared that she would step in to avert Fasap’s work stoppage.
The Labor secretary stressed that PAL’s operations are imbued with national interest, hence the need to intervene in the dispute.
In August, 25 pilots and first officers on PAL’s short-haul aircraft suddenly quit for higher paying jobs abroad, forcing the abrupt cancellation of several flights.
with report from Jomar Canlas
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