Retrenchment of 2,600 PAL employees could be put on hold

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 19:51:00 11/10/2010

MANILA, Philippines— The decision of the Department of Labor and Employment to retrench some 2,600 employees of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) can still be put on hold while the notice of strike filed by the employees is under conciliation, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Wednesday.

Interviewed after a hearing on the PAL labor dispute in the House of Representatives, Baldoz said that the decision she made on October 28 will lapse into finality 10 days after the employees’ union have received the decision.

But she said this could still change depending on the agreement that both the PAL management and the employees can come up with in the conciliation period.

“Right now, because of the notice of strike that have raised some issue on the implementation, even if the decision lapsed into finality since there is conciliation going on then anything can still be the subject of agreement by the parties on how this will be handled,” Baldoz said in an interview.

The PAL Employees Association (Palea) filed the notice of strike last week in a bid to stop the implementation of the order to put out of work some 2,600 employees.

At the hearing of the labor committee, several lawmakers demanded that PAL open its books for scrutiny to prove it is financially distressed, the reason used by the management to retrench the workers and outsource some of its operations.

Representatives Joseph Victor Ejercito (San Juan City), Philip Pichay (Surigao del Sur), Herminia Roman (Bataan) and Emmeline Aglipay (Diwa Partylist) asked PAL to submit its financial statements to show “convincing evidence” that the retrenchment has substantial basis.

PAL president and chief executive officer Jaime Bautista told the panel that the company has sustained big losses in 2008 and 2009, and that the spin-off of some of its services is part of a “survival plan” amid the huge losses.