Malaya ® Sunday
November 10, 1996
Reader's Form
I used to hear the derisive "Plane Always Late" in reference to the notoriety of PAL's service in many of my Manila-Cebu flights. Now, and thanks to competition, this notoriety is no more.
Nowadays, I really enjoy the complimentary snack at the new domestic airport lounge. I also enjoy clean-smelling comfort rooms and brand new air-conditioning system.
But why is it that PAL employees continue to agitate for more benefits as if they are the lowest paid workers in the world? Why do PAL employees behave like government bureaucrats - the kind of bureaucrats not found in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur which I happen to know too, having worked abroad up the early '90s as expatriate executive.
And it makes me wonder also why PAL's new management cannot transfer to ground service all of its old (aging) stewardesses. I have nothing against aging as sign of maturity but I feel great discomfort looking (close to) pot-belied stewardesses laboriously ambling abound the aisle heavy and seemingly and obviously uncomfortable also because they are already unfit to fly.
For the sake of national pride and most specially in order to attain global competitiveness, why can't the government decide once and for all to end this suffering at PAL and all its competitors in the air.
Why doesn't Congress enact an Omnibus Airline Transport Reform Program? This is the only safe route to be competitive in the 21st Century and allow Phili-pine tourism to raise its level on par with its regional counterparts.
This is not impossible dream.
Borrowing from the favorite quotations of President Fidel V. Ramos..."this is a doable (achievable) objective."
EDGARDO DE LA TORRE, 22 San Antonio, Inayawan, Pardo, Cebu City
Sunday, November 10, 1996
PALEA Lawyers Deny Working For Other Airlines
Today Sunday, November 10, 1996
Today's Mail
THIS concerns the news story filed by Mr. Richard Arboleda and headlined "PAL Normalizes Operations as Strike Ends" (back page, November 4) in which he wrote:
"A source at the labor department said that the personal interest of some Palea [PAL Employees Association] lawyers also became a problem. The source alleged that the lawyers also serve as counsel for another airline and that part of their agenda was to allow the rival airline to take advantage of grounded PAL planes to service displaced passengers. The source refused to identify the concerned union lawyers."
Our law firm acted as counsel for the striking workers of Palea throughout the entire strike: two senior partners and four associates no less were involved in the various legal matters relative to the strike. Mr. Arboleda himself was witness to the negotiations at the Office of the Secretary on October 31. He was also at the news conference of Palea on November 1 and met some of our lawyers there. Mr. Arboleda himself called up one of our associates on November 2 during the latter stages of the negotiations on the memorandum of agreement entered into by PAL and Palea, without the assistance of the labor department.
Despite the refusal of Mr. Arboleda's source to identify the "concerned union lawyers," we are certain that he/she/it is alluding to our firm and that Mr. Arboleda knew that he/she/it was referring to us.
Our law firm denies this canard by Mr. Arboleda's source who, conveniently and in typical cowardly fashion, refuses to identify himself. We do not lawyer for any other domestic or foreign airline, be it Grand Air Cebu Pacific, Asiana or what have you, and Mr. Arboleda and his source are free to drop in anytime to check our office records. Our office records will reveal that at no point during our firm's existence have we lawyered for any other airline. It is, therefore, malicious of Mr. Arboleda's source to drop this piece of disinformation and refuse to substantiate it.
Attributing the motivation behind the strike to alleged "personal interest" on our part not only trivializes the substantive issues and grievances of the striking workers of Palea but also maligns and defames our law firm based solely on the statements of an alleged source. Moreover, it defames our firm in the eyes of the public—as well as with Palea and all the other labor unions we serve—by painting us as irresponsible and reckless lawyers who would urge their clients to strike for our personal benefit.
It is, however, not difficult to understand the motivation behind Mr. Arboleda's source: it is vindictiveness and a measure of self-satisfaction on the part of some senior labor officials and a petty attempt to get back at us for exposing their self-interest and political posturing—which led to the strike being prolonged instead of being settled on October 31—during the news conference of November 1.
It is interesting to note that not one of those specifically named in the news conference has stepped forward to deny the events that happened on October 31, as well as the motivations behind such events. Instead, these officials have now asked an unnamed source to make a "deniable" statement to Mr. Arboleda.
In the interest of fair play, may we request Mr. Arboleda to drop by the office and confirm for himself whether we lawyer for any other airline and, after doing so, to please correct the malicious and misleading innuendo his alleged "source" fed him?
Or if Mr. Arboleda so pleases, he may identify his alleged "source" so that we may sue him/her/it for libel and do the Filipino people a favor by sending another misfit in government to jail.
ARNO V. SANIDAD
Sanchez Rozales Sanidad
& Abaya Law Firm
Today's Mail
THIS concerns the news story filed by Mr. Richard Arboleda and headlined "PAL Normalizes Operations as Strike Ends" (back page, November 4) in which he wrote:
"A source at the labor department said that the personal interest of some Palea [PAL Employees Association] lawyers also became a problem. The source alleged that the lawyers also serve as counsel for another airline and that part of their agenda was to allow the rival airline to take advantage of grounded PAL planes to service displaced passengers. The source refused to identify the concerned union lawyers."
Our law firm acted as counsel for the striking workers of Palea throughout the entire strike: two senior partners and four associates no less were involved in the various legal matters relative to the strike. Mr. Arboleda himself was witness to the negotiations at the Office of the Secretary on October 31. He was also at the news conference of Palea on November 1 and met some of our lawyers there. Mr. Arboleda himself called up one of our associates on November 2 during the latter stages of the negotiations on the memorandum of agreement entered into by PAL and Palea, without the assistance of the labor department.
Despite the refusal of Mr. Arboleda's source to identify the "concerned union lawyers," we are certain that he/she/it is alluding to our firm and that Mr. Arboleda knew that he/she/it was referring to us.
Our law firm denies this canard by Mr. Arboleda's source who, conveniently and in typical cowardly fashion, refuses to identify himself. We do not lawyer for any other domestic or foreign airline, be it Grand Air Cebu Pacific, Asiana or what have you, and Mr. Arboleda and his source are free to drop in anytime to check our office records. Our office records will reveal that at no point during our firm's existence have we lawyered for any other airline. It is, therefore, malicious of Mr. Arboleda's source to drop this piece of disinformation and refuse to substantiate it.
Attributing the motivation behind the strike to alleged "personal interest" on our part not only trivializes the substantive issues and grievances of the striking workers of Palea but also maligns and defames our law firm based solely on the statements of an alleged source. Moreover, it defames our firm in the eyes of the public—as well as with Palea and all the other labor unions we serve—by painting us as irresponsible and reckless lawyers who would urge their clients to strike for our personal benefit.
It is, however, not difficult to understand the motivation behind Mr. Arboleda's source: it is vindictiveness and a measure of self-satisfaction on the part of some senior labor officials and a petty attempt to get back at us for exposing their self-interest and political posturing—which led to the strike being prolonged instead of being settled on October 31—during the news conference of November 1.
It is interesting to note that not one of those specifically named in the news conference has stepped forward to deny the events that happened on October 31, as well as the motivations behind such events. Instead, these officials have now asked an unnamed source to make a "deniable" statement to Mr. Arboleda.
In the interest of fair play, may we request Mr. Arboleda to drop by the office and confirm for himself whether we lawyer for any other airline and, after doing so, to please correct the malicious and misleading innuendo his alleged "source" fed him?
Or if Mr. Arboleda so pleases, he may identify his alleged "source" so that we may sue him/her/it for libel and do the Filipino people a favor by sending another misfit in government to jail.
ARNO V. SANIDAD
Sanchez Rozales Sanidad
& Abaya Law Firm
PALEA Struggle Significant For All RP Workers
Sunday, November 10, 1996
The Philippine Star
Letters section
Recent news reports have cited that I and Sanlakas, the organization which I head, have instigated the ongoing PALEA strike. Moreover, that it is part of "calibrated mass actions" orchestrated by a leftist group sympathetic to Filemon "Popoy" Lagman which, according to intelligence sources, are designed to embarrass government. Unnamed sources have even gone so far as to say that a meeting was held last August 3 in a resort in Los Baños, Laguna attended by myself, Popoy Lagman and "Nilo de la Cruz alias Sergio Romero, chief of the Alex Boncayao Brigade." The following are my answers:
1) Was there really a meeting on August 3 and did l attend it? Yes. There actually was such a "meeting" last August 3 and 4. This "meeting," to be more exact, was held at the Batu-Bato Resort, in Calamba and not in Los Baños as reported. In fact, contrary to the assertion of the intelligence community of the military, l did not merely attend that "meeting." I presided over it. That "meeting" was the First National Congress of Sanlakas. And yes, Mr. Lagman was there as chairperson of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) which is one of the organizations affiliated with Sanlakas. So were Congressmen Wigberto Tañada, Edcel Lagman and Joaquin Chipeco together with more than 300 Congress delegates, government officials or their representatives, NGOs, people's organizations, media, guests and friends.
2) Did a "Nilo de la Cruz," aka Sergio Romero, attend that meeting? Our registration shows no such name nor was anyone by that name recognized as delegate, observer or guest. If indeed, as the military's intelligence sources insist the alleged ABB chief attended that "meeting," then these officers were terribly amiss in their duties. They should have right there and then arrested the man. Although a Romero was indeed involved, his name was not Sergio, it was Mike, as in Congressman Miguel Romero, through whom Lagman sent his message to General Abadia denying involvement in any plans to sabotage or terrorize the APEC summit.,
3) If we, the leftists, referred to by "intelligence sources," were out to embarrass government before the APEC community, would it not have been more "appropriate" for the PALEA strike to be called much closer to the APEC summit? Therefore, the linkage to leftist agendas is totally unfounded and only intended to further smear the just struggle of PALEA and taint the solidarity efforts of Sanlakas with the employees and workers of PAL.
4) While I support the right of Ramos Horta to speak and that of the Filipinos to listen, please note that I am not part of the Manila People's Forum. What I am part of is the Solidarity of labor Against APEC Conference.
5) Believe it or not, if you will read the statement of Attys. Arno Sanidad and Edgardo Abaya, counsels for PALEA, the PALEA workers did not intend to go on strike to inconvenience the hapless passengers, especially on November 1.
6) Furthermore, detractors credit me with far too much influence and in the process insult the members of PALEA and demean their efforts to stand up for their rights.
In the past, I found myself in sympathy with the plight of Lucio Tan in regard to the government's handling of the management issue of PAL when it seemed to be very clear the investor who had the largest stake had the least say over matters concerning his financial exposure.
Tan also deserves some grudging admiration for his commitment to the air transport industry by plunking in huge additional capital in the face of losses wrought by previous management and competition from smaller operations. But PAL is not just about Lucio Tan. PAL is also about its employees and workers. It is not just about giving Lucio Tan a chance to pull off his plans. It must also be about giving the employees and workers of PAL the assurance that they will be around to enjoy the rewards Tan hopes to reap.
The PALEA story is not yet over. We don't know how it will end. But this early, despite all public relations efforts to the contrary, the mere fact that the Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines (ALPAP) and the Flight Attendants' and Stewards' Association of the Philippines (FASAP), both PAL unions, are in complete solidarity with PALEA, and in fact are considering going on strike themselves, strongly indicates that there is more to PAL management's contentions and DOLE's shenanigans than meets the eye.
Indeed, the points that Senate President Maceda has brought out regarding reports that PAL management has put passengers and planes at risk by shortcutting international safety standards should be looked into. In fact, he declared, "Now, for the employees not to have pay adjustments for the past four years is really something that I think is not only unfair but un-Christian."
The PALEA struggle is important not only to the riding public, Lucio Tan or the employees and workers of PAL; the struggle that is being waged is significant for all the working people of the Philippines. Job security as it is affected by the trend of businesses to resort to contractualization, with the collusion of government, is at the heart of the matter.
No amount of innuendos and lies will substitute for the truth nor dissuade us from working for causes that we believe are just.
RENATO CONSTANTINO, JR. National Chairperson Sanlakas
The Philippine Star
Letters section
Recent news reports have cited that I and Sanlakas, the organization which I head, have instigated the ongoing PALEA strike. Moreover, that it is part of "calibrated mass actions" orchestrated by a leftist group sympathetic to Filemon "Popoy" Lagman which, according to intelligence sources, are designed to embarrass government. Unnamed sources have even gone so far as to say that a meeting was held last August 3 in a resort in Los Baños, Laguna attended by myself, Popoy Lagman and "Nilo de la Cruz alias Sergio Romero, chief of the Alex Boncayao Brigade." The following are my answers:
1) Was there really a meeting on August 3 and did l attend it? Yes. There actually was such a "meeting" last August 3 and 4. This "meeting," to be more exact, was held at the Batu-Bato Resort, in Calamba and not in Los Baños as reported. In fact, contrary to the assertion of the intelligence community of the military, l did not merely attend that "meeting." I presided over it. That "meeting" was the First National Congress of Sanlakas. And yes, Mr. Lagman was there as chairperson of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) which is one of the organizations affiliated with Sanlakas. So were Congressmen Wigberto Tañada, Edcel Lagman and Joaquin Chipeco together with more than 300 Congress delegates, government officials or their representatives, NGOs, people's organizations, media, guests and friends.
2) Did a "Nilo de la Cruz," aka Sergio Romero, attend that meeting? Our registration shows no such name nor was anyone by that name recognized as delegate, observer or guest. If indeed, as the military's intelligence sources insist the alleged ABB chief attended that "meeting," then these officers were terribly amiss in their duties. They should have right there and then arrested the man. Although a Romero was indeed involved, his name was not Sergio, it was Mike, as in Congressman Miguel Romero, through whom Lagman sent his message to General Abadia denying involvement in any plans to sabotage or terrorize the APEC summit.,
3) If we, the leftists, referred to by "intelligence sources," were out to embarrass government before the APEC community, would it not have been more "appropriate" for the PALEA strike to be called much closer to the APEC summit? Therefore, the linkage to leftist agendas is totally unfounded and only intended to further smear the just struggle of PALEA and taint the solidarity efforts of Sanlakas with the employees and workers of PAL.
4) While I support the right of Ramos Horta to speak and that of the Filipinos to listen, please note that I am not part of the Manila People's Forum. What I am part of is the Solidarity of labor Against APEC Conference.
5) Believe it or not, if you will read the statement of Attys. Arno Sanidad and Edgardo Abaya, counsels for PALEA, the PALEA workers did not intend to go on strike to inconvenience the hapless passengers, especially on November 1.
6) Furthermore, detractors credit me with far too much influence and in the process insult the members of PALEA and demean their efforts to stand up for their rights.
In the past, I found myself in sympathy with the plight of Lucio Tan in regard to the government's handling of the management issue of PAL when it seemed to be very clear the investor who had the largest stake had the least say over matters concerning his financial exposure.
Tan also deserves some grudging admiration for his commitment to the air transport industry by plunking in huge additional capital in the face of losses wrought by previous management and competition from smaller operations. But PAL is not just about Lucio Tan. PAL is also about its employees and workers. It is not just about giving Lucio Tan a chance to pull off his plans. It must also be about giving the employees and workers of PAL the assurance that they will be around to enjoy the rewards Tan hopes to reap.
The PALEA story is not yet over. We don't know how it will end. But this early, despite all public relations efforts to the contrary, the mere fact that the Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines (ALPAP) and the Flight Attendants' and Stewards' Association of the Philippines (FASAP), both PAL unions, are in complete solidarity with PALEA, and in fact are considering going on strike themselves, strongly indicates that there is more to PAL management's contentions and DOLE's shenanigans than meets the eye.
Indeed, the points that Senate President Maceda has brought out regarding reports that PAL management has put passengers and planes at risk by shortcutting international safety standards should be looked into. In fact, he declared, "Now, for the employees not to have pay adjustments for the past four years is really something that I think is not only unfair but un-Christian."
The PALEA struggle is important not only to the riding public, Lucio Tan or the employees and workers of PAL; the struggle that is being waged is significant for all the working people of the Philippines. Job security as it is affected by the trend of businesses to resort to contractualization, with the collusion of government, is at the heart of the matter.
No amount of innuendos and lies will substitute for the truth nor dissuade us from working for causes that we believe are just.
RENATO CONSTANTINO, JR. National Chairperson Sanlakas
Saturday, November 9, 1996
Advice to PAL Strikers
The Manila Times
November 9, 1996
We The People
IT ALWAYS irks me when employees of Philippine Airlines go on strike. Just like what they did a few days ago (an illegal one at that), PAL strikers again ruined the holidays of thousands of stranded passengers.
The nerve of these employees to ask for a raise. They already receive one of the highest pay in the country and the best benefits any company could ever give. But they are not satisfied.
It is no secret that PAL is losing money and overstaffed. Its employees ought to be thankful that they still have their jobs and are being paid very well. For most of these employees, especially the flight attendants, treat passengers shabbily.
New aircraft are needed for PAL to be able to compete in the cutthroat airline industry. So these PAL employees need not yak about how management sets aside money for upgrading airplanes.
PAL employees have no right to ask for a raise and inconvenience thousands of passengers just because their demands were not met by management. I hope management terminates them and blacklists them all in the airline industry just as what was done in the USA and Australia.
These obnoxious PAL employees could very well be called PAL (palaging angal ng angal lang). To them I give this advice: Be productive first before you complain and make sure you're worth what you're asking.
EVELYN CHAN
Kalookan City
November 9, 1996
We The People
IT ALWAYS irks me when employees of Philippine Airlines go on strike. Just like what they did a few days ago (an illegal one at that), PAL strikers again ruined the holidays of thousands of stranded passengers.
The nerve of these employees to ask for a raise. They already receive one of the highest pay in the country and the best benefits any company could ever give. But they are not satisfied.
It is no secret that PAL is losing money and overstaffed. Its employees ought to be thankful that they still have their jobs and are being paid very well. For most of these employees, especially the flight attendants, treat passengers shabbily.
New aircraft are needed for PAL to be able to compete in the cutthroat airline industry. So these PAL employees need not yak about how management sets aside money for upgrading airplanes.
PAL employees have no right to ask for a raise and inconvenience thousands of passengers just because their demands were not met by management. I hope management terminates them and blacklists them all in the airline industry just as what was done in the USA and Australia.
These obnoxious PAL employees could very well be called PAL (palaging angal ng angal lang). To them I give this advice: Be productive first before you complain and make sure you're worth what you're asking.
EVELYN CHAN
Kalookan City
Thursday, November 7, 1996
PAL Management Bares Counter-Offer To Union
Manila Standard
November 7, 1996
The Philippine Airlines (PAL) management has presented to the leaders of the 8,500-strong workers PAL Employees' Association (Palea) its proposal to the P3.2-billion collective bargaining agreement (CBA) package demanded by Palea.
But instead of the P5,000 individual economic package sought by Palea, the management is offering a two year P2,100 worth of stocks plus monthly pay increases for the three remaining years.
The management's offer was among the items agreed upon by both parties when the three-day strike was lifted Nov 2.
The management would provide employees some 200 shares of PAL stocks valued at P5 each during a two-year period.
But since Palea's last CBA already expired Sept. 30, 1995, the package, if accepted by the union, will be retroactive to last year.
Ground employees, it was gathered, will start receiving a P100 monthly increase in the base pay this year, P200 for next year, P300 for the third year and P400 for 1999.
Under the proposal, there will be no wage increase until year 2000 due to the current losses and allow the management to come up with enough funding for their P4-billion inflecting program. (Angie M. Rosales)
November 7, 1996
The Philippine Airlines (PAL) management has presented to the leaders of the 8,500-strong workers PAL Employees' Association (Palea) its proposal to the P3.2-billion collective bargaining agreement (CBA) package demanded by Palea.
But instead of the P5,000 individual economic package sought by Palea, the management is offering a two year P2,100 worth of stocks plus monthly pay increases for the three remaining years.
The management's offer was among the items agreed upon by both parties when the three-day strike was lifted Nov 2.
The management would provide employees some 200 shares of PAL stocks valued at P5 each during a two-year period.
But since Palea's last CBA already expired Sept. 30, 1995, the package, if accepted by the union, will be retroactive to last year.
Ground employees, it was gathered, will start receiving a P100 monthly increase in the base pay this year, P200 for next year, P300 for the third year and P400 for 1999.
Under the proposal, there will be no wage increase until year 2000 due to the current losses and allow the management to come up with enough funding for their P4-billion inflecting program. (Angie M. Rosales)
PAL Offers P1,000 Wage Hike
Today
November 7, 1996
By Richard Arboleda
Reporter
PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) offered a P1,000 increase in the monthly salaries of its 9,000 ground workers over the next four years and 200 shares of stock at P5 a share.
The management's offer on Tuesday night was a counter proposal to the demand by the PAL Employees' Association for a P5,000-pay increase for each ground worker from 1995 to 1997.
The negotiation was part of the agreement reached by both sides after the employees called a three-day strike to force the management to go to the bargaining table.
In its counterproposal, the management offered the ground workers a P100 increase in each worker's monthly salary this year, P200 next year, P300 in 1998 and P400 in 1999.
The salary increase was besides the 200 shares of stock worth P1,000 for each ground worker.
The workers went on strike last week when PAL officials refused to negotiate with the union after their collective bargaining agreement expired on September 30 last year.
The ground workers were joined by the flight stewards and stewardesses in last week's strike. The flight attendants' union has separate demands.
The management had refused to grant any salary raise until the year 2000, because it said the company had been losing and needed money to invest in a $4-billion refleeting program.
Besides its salary-increase proposal, the management also offered to study the workers' demand to revise its computation for overtime, holiday and premium payments.
In the 1989 collective bargaining agreement, the daily pay rates used to compute the overtime and holiday pays should be the yearly income of the worker divided by the number of working days in a year.
The management changed the computation by dividing a worker's yearly income by 365, the number of days in a year.
November 7, 1996
By Richard Arboleda
Reporter
PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) offered a P1,000 increase in the monthly salaries of its 9,000 ground workers over the next four years and 200 shares of stock at P5 a share.
The management's offer on Tuesday night was a counter proposal to the demand by the PAL Employees' Association for a P5,000-pay increase for each ground worker from 1995 to 1997.
The negotiation was part of the agreement reached by both sides after the employees called a three-day strike to force the management to go to the bargaining table.
In its counterproposal, the management offered the ground workers a P100 increase in each worker's monthly salary this year, P200 next year, P300 in 1998 and P400 in 1999.
The salary increase was besides the 200 shares of stock worth P1,000 for each ground worker.
The workers went on strike last week when PAL officials refused to negotiate with the union after their collective bargaining agreement expired on September 30 last year.
The ground workers were joined by the flight stewards and stewardesses in last week's strike. The flight attendants' union has separate demands.
The management had refused to grant any salary raise until the year 2000, because it said the company had been losing and needed money to invest in a $4-billion refleeting program.
Besides its salary-increase proposal, the management also offered to study the workers' demand to revise its computation for overtime, holiday and premium payments.
In the 1989 collective bargaining agreement, the daily pay rates used to compute the overtime and holiday pays should be the yearly income of the worker divided by the number of working days in a year.
The management changed the computation by dividing a worker's yearly income by 365, the number of days in a year.
PAL Submits Stock, Wage Offer To Union... But Union Finds It Still Far From Expected'
Business World
November 7, 1996
By Esther C. Tanquintic
Reporter
It seems the Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) labor problems are far from over.
The PAL management submitted last Tuesday a counterproposal to the PAL Employees' Association's (PALEA) P3.2-billion demand in its proposed new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
However, management's offer is "still far from the expected bargaining," the union said.
PAL's two-page package proposal offers a total increase of P1,000 spread over five years on the monthly base salary of each PALEA worker.
Management also listed the offering of P2,000 worth of PAL shares valued at P5 per share for the first two years of the CBA.
PALEA president Alex Barrientos said the union "still has to study" management's offer. Mr. Barrientos is particularly wary on management's five-year offer.
The current batch of PALEA officers is expected to step down from office in October 1997 unless a certification of elections is conducted to oust Mr. Barrientos from the leadership.
However, industry sources told Business World PALEA may still opt to finalize the five-year package and forge a new CBA with management.
Sources explained whatever economic package stipulated under the new CBA would surely be negotiated since it is expected PAL's economic condition would already be stable by the time a new batch of officers steps in at PALEA.
But sources advised PALEA it should not accept management's stock offering because PAL stocks are "not actively traded in the market."
"It would be double jeopardy on their part once they acceded to the stock offer... what the members need are genuine money," sources said.
Specifically, PAL's counter-offer to PALEA are the following:
• for the 1st year — P1,000 worth of PAL shares of stock valued at P5 per share instead of PAL's acquisition cost of P14 per share or the equivalent of 200 shares of stock in PAL;
• 2nd year — P1,000 worth of PAL shares of stock value at P5 per share instead of PAL's acquisition cost of P14 per share or the equivalent of 200 shares of stock in PAL and a P100 increase on the monthly base pay of each covered employee;
• 3rd year — P200 increase on the monthly base pay of each covered employee;
• 4th year — P300 increase on the monthly base pay of each covered employee; and
• 5th year — P400 increase on the monthly base pay of each covered employee.
November 7, 1996
By Esther C. Tanquintic
Reporter
It seems the Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) labor problems are far from over.
The PAL management submitted last Tuesday a counterproposal to the PAL Employees' Association's (PALEA) P3.2-billion demand in its proposed new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
However, management's offer is "still far from the expected bargaining," the union said.
PAL's two-page package proposal offers a total increase of P1,000 spread over five years on the monthly base salary of each PALEA worker.
Management also listed the offering of P2,000 worth of PAL shares valued at P5 per share for the first two years of the CBA.
PALEA president Alex Barrientos said the union "still has to study" management's offer. Mr. Barrientos is particularly wary on management's five-year offer.
The current batch of PALEA officers is expected to step down from office in October 1997 unless a certification of elections is conducted to oust Mr. Barrientos from the leadership.
However, industry sources told Business World PALEA may still opt to finalize the five-year package and forge a new CBA with management.
Sources explained whatever economic package stipulated under the new CBA would surely be negotiated since it is expected PAL's economic condition would already be stable by the time a new batch of officers steps in at PALEA.
But sources advised PALEA it should not accept management's stock offering because PAL stocks are "not actively traded in the market."
"It would be double jeopardy on their part once they acceded to the stock offer... what the members need are genuine money," sources said.
Specifically, PAL's counter-offer to PALEA are the following:
• for the 1st year — P1,000 worth of PAL shares of stock valued at P5 per share instead of PAL's acquisition cost of P14 per share or the equivalent of 200 shares of stock in PAL;
• 2nd year — P1,000 worth of PAL shares of stock value at P5 per share instead of PAL's acquisition cost of P14 per share or the equivalent of 200 shares of stock in PAL and a P100 increase on the monthly base pay of each covered employee;
• 3rd year — P200 increase on the monthly base pay of each covered employee;
• 4th year — P300 increase on the monthly base pay of each covered employee; and
• 5th year — P400 increase on the monthly base pay of each covered employee.
'Preemptive Actions' Ordered vs Workers
The Manila Times
November 7, 1996
By Dana Batnag, Raffy S. Jimenez and Aries Rufo
Reporters
PRESIDENT Ramos yesterday ordered the labor department to promptly "take preemptive actions" against hotel workers planning to mount strikes and slowdowns during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings on Nov. 19-21.
At the same time, the President directed Task Force Lily, an inter-agency task force based in Malacañang to "monitor infiltration (by) certain elements into (parallel) APEC fora."
The President instructed Labor Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing to "take preemptive actions, with their (hotel workers') cooperation of course, well before the first drove of officials of APEC come around."
"Why don't we ask the officials, get some people there, even interview the union leaders, to find out what's going on," the President said.
A real threat
Ramos issued the directives during yesterday's Cabinet meeting in Iba, Zambales, after Quisumbing discussed the reported labor unrest rocking the hotels, Philippine Airlines, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., and the Manila Electric Co. Notices of strikes filed by workers of the three hotels Manila Hotel, Grand Boulevard Hotel Sofitel and Hyatt Regency had already lapsed.
"It's the hotel industry that is a real threat...a substantial threat," Quisumbing said, adding that the tripartite labor and management councils are already meeting "on a
day-to-day basis."
Workers in other hotels are reportedly inclined to go on a work slowdown to demonstrate support for their fellow workers. They include those from the Westin Philippine Plaza, Century Park Sheraton, Manila Peninsula, Manila Midtown Hotel and Dusit Nikko Manila Hotel.
The hotel workers are allied with the National Union of Workers in Hotels, Restaurants and Allied Industries or NUWHRAIN.
In related developments:
• The 9,000-strong PAL Employees Association (PALEA) rejected yesterday management's proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement.
The union has asked for a salary increase of P3,500 a month for the first year of the agreement and another P1,500 during the second year, said PALEA president Alexander Barrientos.
• Opposition to the APEC meetings snowballed yesterday as labor and church joined forces anew to denounce the forthcoming summit as an "evil" that would dislocate thousands of workers.
The newly organized coalition of church and labor groups called Solidarity of Labor Movement Against (SLAM) APEC announced that it will organize a "people's caravan" from Manila to Subic, where the APEC leaders' conference will be held.
SLAM APEC organizers said about 30,000 workers are expected to participate in the caravan representing labor unions nationwide.
• Senate President Ernesto Maceda, in a statement, said labor disputes were among problems that the government "failed to anticipate in its planning for the APEC summit."
"But the experience with the Philippine Airlines should have taught Malacañang that it cannot ignore the workers' concerns," he said.
"If we can prevent another strike similar to the PAL wildcat strike, then we should do something about it. Otherwise, all the security preparations and the cosmetic face-lifting of many parts of Metro Manila would prove meaningless," Maceda said.
Economic sabotage?
During the Cabinet meeting, Budget Secretary Salvador Enriquez Jr. suggested that government study how laws on economic sabotage may be used against the strikers.
"It is possible...that there are laws that they might be violating, economic sabotage for example...so this thing perhaps can be studied and applied to those," Enriquez said.
In response, Justice Secretary Teofisto Guingona said there were already "studies under way," and that the DOJ is set to "make the alternative proposal in due time, in a few days."
Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. pointed out during the Cabinet meeting that a sympathy strike by the PLDT union would mean no international press coverage for APEC, and that if the hotel workers go on strike, "we'll have no service in all major hotels."
During his press conference, the President said his directive to Task Force Lily meant nothing more than "monitoring, just listen, and submit reports."
Maximum tolerance
He said the government "will provide maximum tolerance so that the Filipinos can do their thing, whether it is for, against, parallel to or supportive of or in opposition to the main, official APEC summit meeting."
"The only reservation we put forth very strongly was that foreigners must not interfere in the internal affairs of the Philippines," he said, adding that he knows of at least two, "maybe...three or four" parallel APEC summits.
The President said he will also discuss the issue in next week's breakfast meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac).
"We are not trying to interfere, just trying to make sure that public utilities, public services, are not disturbed or interfered with," he said.
Management offer
The demand of the PAL union for a new CBA was not acted upon for more than a year until the union went on strike, forcing the airline last Saturday to promise a counter-offer, which it submitted to Barrientos Tuesday.
The management offered P1,000 worth of PAL stock in the first year, another P1,000 worth of shares plus a P100 a month salary increase in the second year, as well as additional increases in later years.
"That is not acceptable, but we are still open to negotiation," Barrientos said.
The privatization program for PAL launched three years ago provided for a stock sale to the employees equivalent to five percent of the firm's shares of stock.
The airline has been beleaguered by large financial losses and labor unrest. Unions representing its pilots and cabin crew also have threatened to walk out.
The airline posted a net loss of P1.75 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31, about two percent more than the previous year.
3,000 unions
Meanwhile, Sanlakas chair Renato Constantino, one of the SLAM-APEC convenors, said about 3,000 presidents of unions, organizations of agricultural workers, urban poor and student councils and more than 100 foreign trade unionists will participate in the anti-APEC conference scheduled on Nov. 22 to 23.
One of the convenors of SLAM¬APEC is Barrientos of PALEA, who is also president of the Kapatiran ng mga Pangulo ng Unyon sa Pilipinas (KPUP).
Constantino said that shortly before the anti-APEC meeting, a labor congress will be held to be attended by more than 2,000 union presidents from all over the country. The congress' venues will the Rubber-World Adidas plant complex in Novaliches, Quezon City, which had shut down.
Aside from KPUP and Sanlakas, other groups joining SLAM-APEC include the militant Buklurang Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), the church-based group KAIROS, the National Confederation of Labor, and Bukluran ng Progresibong Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.
The group said that APEC's push for globalization will legitimize "downsizing, contractualization, union-busting, sub-contracting" and other anti-labor practices.
`Immoral status quo'
"Like many other economic and trade arrangements in various parts of the world, APEC seeks to maintain and promote this immoral and criminal global status quo," it stated.
BMP secretary general Leody de Guzman said participants to the planned congress of labor unions will adopt a resolution amending the Labor Code. "The Labor Code is no longer effective at present. Malaki ang nagbago sa labor sector in the face of globalization and liberalization," he said.
November 7, 1996
By Dana Batnag, Raffy S. Jimenez and Aries Rufo
Reporters
PRESIDENT Ramos yesterday ordered the labor department to promptly "take preemptive actions" against hotel workers planning to mount strikes and slowdowns during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings on Nov. 19-21.
At the same time, the President directed Task Force Lily, an inter-agency task force based in Malacañang to "monitor infiltration (by) certain elements into (parallel) APEC fora."
The President instructed Labor Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing to "take preemptive actions, with their (hotel workers') cooperation of course, well before the first drove of officials of APEC come around."
"Why don't we ask the officials, get some people there, even interview the union leaders, to find out what's going on," the President said.
A real threat
Ramos issued the directives during yesterday's Cabinet meeting in Iba, Zambales, after Quisumbing discussed the reported labor unrest rocking the hotels, Philippine Airlines, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., and the Manila Electric Co. Notices of strikes filed by workers of the three hotels Manila Hotel, Grand Boulevard Hotel Sofitel and Hyatt Regency had already lapsed.
"It's the hotel industry that is a real threat...a substantial threat," Quisumbing said, adding that the tripartite labor and management councils are already meeting "on a
day-to-day basis."
Workers in other hotels are reportedly inclined to go on a work slowdown to demonstrate support for their fellow workers. They include those from the Westin Philippine Plaza, Century Park Sheraton, Manila Peninsula, Manila Midtown Hotel and Dusit Nikko Manila Hotel.
The hotel workers are allied with the National Union of Workers in Hotels, Restaurants and Allied Industries or NUWHRAIN.
In related developments:
• The 9,000-strong PAL Employees Association (PALEA) rejected yesterday management's proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement.
The union has asked for a salary increase of P3,500 a month for the first year of the agreement and another P1,500 during the second year, said PALEA president Alexander Barrientos.
• Opposition to the APEC meetings snowballed yesterday as labor and church joined forces anew to denounce the forthcoming summit as an "evil" that would dislocate thousands of workers.
The newly organized coalition of church and labor groups called Solidarity of Labor Movement Against (SLAM) APEC announced that it will organize a "people's caravan" from Manila to Subic, where the APEC leaders' conference will be held.
SLAM APEC organizers said about 30,000 workers are expected to participate in the caravan representing labor unions nationwide.
• Senate President Ernesto Maceda, in a statement, said labor disputes were among problems that the government "failed to anticipate in its planning for the APEC summit."
"But the experience with the Philippine Airlines should have taught Malacañang that it cannot ignore the workers' concerns," he said.
"If we can prevent another strike similar to the PAL wildcat strike, then we should do something about it. Otherwise, all the security preparations and the cosmetic face-lifting of many parts of Metro Manila would prove meaningless," Maceda said.
Economic sabotage?
During the Cabinet meeting, Budget Secretary Salvador Enriquez Jr. suggested that government study how laws on economic sabotage may be used against the strikers.
"It is possible...that there are laws that they might be violating, economic sabotage for example...so this thing perhaps can be studied and applied to those," Enriquez said.
In response, Justice Secretary Teofisto Guingona said there were already "studies under way," and that the DOJ is set to "make the alternative proposal in due time, in a few days."
Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. pointed out during the Cabinet meeting that a sympathy strike by the PLDT union would mean no international press coverage for APEC, and that if the hotel workers go on strike, "we'll have no service in all major hotels."
During his press conference, the President said his directive to Task Force Lily meant nothing more than "monitoring, just listen, and submit reports."
Maximum tolerance
He said the government "will provide maximum tolerance so that the Filipinos can do their thing, whether it is for, against, parallel to or supportive of or in opposition to the main, official APEC summit meeting."
"The only reservation we put forth very strongly was that foreigners must not interfere in the internal affairs of the Philippines," he said, adding that he knows of at least two, "maybe...three or four" parallel APEC summits.
The President said he will also discuss the issue in next week's breakfast meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac).
"We are not trying to interfere, just trying to make sure that public utilities, public services, are not disturbed or interfered with," he said.
Management offer
The demand of the PAL union for a new CBA was not acted upon for more than a year until the union went on strike, forcing the airline last Saturday to promise a counter-offer, which it submitted to Barrientos Tuesday.
The management offered P1,000 worth of PAL stock in the first year, another P1,000 worth of shares plus a P100 a month salary increase in the second year, as well as additional increases in later years.
"That is not acceptable, but we are still open to negotiation," Barrientos said.
The privatization program for PAL launched three years ago provided for a stock sale to the employees equivalent to five percent of the firm's shares of stock.
The airline has been beleaguered by large financial losses and labor unrest. Unions representing its pilots and cabin crew also have threatened to walk out.
The airline posted a net loss of P1.75 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31, about two percent more than the previous year.
3,000 unions
Meanwhile, Sanlakas chair Renato Constantino, one of the SLAM-APEC convenors, said about 3,000 presidents of unions, organizations of agricultural workers, urban poor and student councils and more than 100 foreign trade unionists will participate in the anti-APEC conference scheduled on Nov. 22 to 23.
One of the convenors of SLAM¬APEC is Barrientos of PALEA, who is also president of the Kapatiran ng mga Pangulo ng Unyon sa Pilipinas (KPUP).
Constantino said that shortly before the anti-APEC meeting, a labor congress will be held to be attended by more than 2,000 union presidents from all over the country. The congress' venues will the Rubber-World Adidas plant complex in Novaliches, Quezon City, which had shut down.
Aside from KPUP and Sanlakas, other groups joining SLAM-APEC include the militant Buklurang Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), the church-based group KAIROS, the National Confederation of Labor, and Bukluran ng Progresibong Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.
The group said that APEC's push for globalization will legitimize "downsizing, contractualization, union-busting, sub-contracting" and other anti-labor practices.
`Immoral status quo'
"Like many other economic and trade arrangements in various parts of the world, APEC seeks to maintain and promote this immoral and criminal global status quo," it stated.
BMP secretary general Leody de Guzman said participants to the planned congress of labor unions will adopt a resolution amending the Labor Code. "The Labor Code is no longer effective at present. Malaki ang nagbago sa labor sector in the face of globalization and liberalization," he said.
Wednesday, November 6, 1996
Our Sincerest Apologies
Pilipino Star Ngayon
November 6, 1996
We would like to express our heartfelt apologies to all our patrons and passengers for all the inconvenience caused by the recent PALEA strike. In pursuit of PAL's current vision to become Asia's best airline, we exert our utmost to avoid any flight disruption. That we incurred so many delays and cancellations on the occasion of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day is doubly unfortunate.
The PALEA strike has been called off and we will resume normal operations by Tuesday, November 5, 1996. We advise all our international and domestic flight passengers to call us for re-bookings or for any information about flight schedules or reservations.
RESERVATIONS - 8166691, 8191771, 8150054
FIRST CLASS/BUSINESS CLASS/MABUHAY CLUB MEMBERS - 8187615
24-HOUR FLIGHT INFO SERVICE- 8186757
Again, our heartfelt apologies. Thank you for bearing with us.
PHILIPPINE AIRLINES MANAGEMENT
Philippine Airlines
November 6, 1996
We would like to express our heartfelt apologies to all our patrons and passengers for all the inconvenience caused by the recent PALEA strike. In pursuit of PAL's current vision to become Asia's best airline, we exert our utmost to avoid any flight disruption. That we incurred so many delays and cancellations on the occasion of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day is doubly unfortunate.
The PALEA strike has been called off and we will resume normal operations by Tuesday, November 5, 1996. We advise all our international and domestic flight passengers to call us for re-bookings or for any information about flight schedules or reservations.
RESERVATIONS - 8166691, 8191771, 8150054
FIRST CLASS/BUSINESS CLASS/MABUHAY CLUB MEMBERS - 8187615
24-HOUR FLIGHT INFO SERVICE- 8186757
Again, our heartfelt apologies. Thank you for bearing with us.
PHILIPPINE AIRLINES MANAGEMENT
Philippine Airlines
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
Victimizing Passengers
Philippine Daily Inquirer
November 5, 1996
Letters
My wife, our little boy and I were scheduled to fly PAL early morning on Thursday to Naga for the weekend, but when we got to the Manila Domestic Airport, we were told that employees affiliated with PAL Employees' Association had gone on a wildcat strike. We were stranded.
I have not been following reports about the labor dispute at PAL. Nonetheless, I always assumed that the employees and their union had valid grievances and causes, they being the side with less leverage and clout. However, by sneakily timing their strike hours before the entire Filipino nation's trek to their ancestral homes for the time-honored tradition of visiting the graves of their departed beloved, Palea struck against the very heart of everyone of us.
This All Saints' Day meant a lot to me as I hoped to revisit the grave of my dear papa who passed away early this year.
Staging the wild-cat strike may have made tactical sense, but to us the riding public, it was like being told: "We have problems with management, so you are on your own, buddy!"
Do a reality check, Palea. You have just lost the sympathy we had in your cause. -- ED MALAYA, 3575 Saloysoy St., Sta. Mesa, Manila
November 5, 1996
Letters
My wife, our little boy and I were scheduled to fly PAL early morning on Thursday to Naga for the weekend, but when we got to the Manila Domestic Airport, we were told that employees affiliated with PAL Employees' Association had gone on a wildcat strike. We were stranded.
I have not been following reports about the labor dispute at PAL. Nonetheless, I always assumed that the employees and their union had valid grievances and causes, they being the side with less leverage and clout. However, by sneakily timing their strike hours before the entire Filipino nation's trek to their ancestral homes for the time-honored tradition of visiting the graves of their departed beloved, Palea struck against the very heart of everyone of us.
This All Saints' Day meant a lot to me as I hoped to revisit the grave of my dear papa who passed away early this year.
Staging the wild-cat strike may have made tactical sense, but to us the riding public, it was like being told: "We have problems with management, so you are on your own, buddy!"
Do a reality check, Palea. You have just lost the sympathy we had in your cause. -- ED MALAYA, 3575 Saloysoy St., Sta. Mesa, Manila
SANLAKAS did not Orchestrate PAL Workers' Strike
Today
November 5, 1996
Today's Mail
Recent news reports have cited that I and Sanlakas, the organization which I head, have instigated the ongoing PALEA strike. Moreover, that it is part of "calibrated mass actions" orchestrated by a leftist group sympathetic to Filemon "Popoy" Lagman which, according to intelligence sources, are designed to embarrass government. Unnamed sources have even gone so far as to say that a meeting was held last August 3 in a resort in Los Baños, Laguna attended by myself, Popoy Lagman and "Nilo de la Cruz alias Sergio Romero, chief of the Alex Boncayao Brigade." The following are my answers:
1) Was there really a meeting on August 3 and did l attend it? Yes. There actually was such a "meeting" last August 3 and 4. This "meeting," to be more exact, was held at the Batu-Bato Resort, in Calamba and not in Los Baños as reported. In fact, contrary to the assertion of the intelligence community of the military, l did not merely attend that "meeting." I presided over it. That "meeting" was the First National Congress of Sanlakas. And yes, Mr. Lagman was there as chairperson of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) which is one of the organizations affiliated with Sanlakas. So were Congressmen Wigberto Tañada, Edcel Lagman and Joaquin Chipeco together with more than 300 Congress delegates, government officials or their representatives, NGOs, people's organizations, media, guests and friends.
2) Did a "Nilo de la Cruz," aka Sergio Romero, attend that meeting? Our registration shows no such name nor was anyone by that name recognized as delegate, observer or guest. If indeed, as the military's intelligence sources insist the alleged ABB chief attended that "meeting," then these officers were terribly amiss in their duties. They should have right there and then arrested the man. Although a Romero was indeed involved, his name was not Sergio, it was Mike, as in Congressman Miguel Romero, through whom Lagman sent his message to General Abadia denying involvement in any plans to sabotage or terrorize the APEC summit.,
3) If we, the leftists, referred to by "intelligence sources," were out to embarrass government before the APEC community, would it not have been more "appropriate" for the PALEA strike to be called much closer to the APEC summit? Therefore, the linkage to leftist agendas is totally unfounded and only intended to further smear the just struggle of PALEA and taint the solidarity efforts of Sanlakas with the employees and workers of PAL.
4) While I support the right of Ramos Horta to speak and that of the Filipinos to listen, please note that I am not part of the Manila People's Forum. What I am part of is the Solidarity of labor Against APEC Conference.
5) Believe it or not, if you will read the statement of Attys. Arno Sanidad and Edgardo Abaya, counsels for PALEA, the PALEA workers did not intend to go on strike to inconvenience the hapless passengers, especially on November 1.
6) Furthermore, detractors credit me with far too much influence and in the process insult the members of PALEA and demean their efforts to stand up for their rights.
In the past, I found myself in sympathy with the plight of Lucio Tan in regard to the government's handling of the management issue of PAL when it seemed to be very clear the investor who had the largest stake had the least say over matters concerning his financial exposure.
Tan also deserves some grudging admiration for his commitment to the air transport industry by plunking in huge additional capital in the face of losses wrought by previous management and competition from smaller operations. But PAL is not just about Lucio Tan. PAL is also about its employees and workers. It is not just about giving Lucio Tan a chance to pull off his plans. It must also be about giving the employees and workers of PAL the assurance that they will be around to enjoy the rewards Tan hopes to reap.
The PALEA story is not yet over. We don't know how it will end. But this early, despite all public relations efforts to the contrary, the mere fact that the Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines (ALPAP) and the Flight Attendants' and Stewards' Association of the Philippines (FASAP), both PAL unions, are in complete solidarity with PALEA, and in fact are considering going on strike themselves, strongly indicates that there is more to PAL management's contentions and DOLE's shenanigans than meets the eye.
Indeed, the points that Senate President Maceda has brought out regarding reports that PAL management has put passengers and planes at risk by shortcutting international safety standards should be looked into. In fact, he declared, "Now, for the employees not to have pay adjustments for the past four years is really something that I think is not only unfair but un-Christian."
The PALEA struggle is important not only to the riding public, Lucio Tan or the employees and workers of PAL; the struggle that is being waged is significant for all the working people of the Philippines. Job security as it is affected by the trend of businesses to resort to contractualization, with the collusion of government, is at the heart of the matter.
No amount of innuendos and lies will substitute for the truth nor dissuade us from working for causes that we believe are just.
RENATO CONSTANTINO, JR. National Chairperson Sanlakas
November 5, 1996
Today's Mail
Recent news reports have cited that I and Sanlakas, the organization which I head, have instigated the ongoing PALEA strike. Moreover, that it is part of "calibrated mass actions" orchestrated by a leftist group sympathetic to Filemon "Popoy" Lagman which, according to intelligence sources, are designed to embarrass government. Unnamed sources have even gone so far as to say that a meeting was held last August 3 in a resort in Los Baños, Laguna attended by myself, Popoy Lagman and "Nilo de la Cruz alias Sergio Romero, chief of the Alex Boncayao Brigade." The following are my answers:
1) Was there really a meeting on August 3 and did l attend it? Yes. There actually was such a "meeting" last August 3 and 4. This "meeting," to be more exact, was held at the Batu-Bato Resort, in Calamba and not in Los Baños as reported. In fact, contrary to the assertion of the intelligence community of the military, l did not merely attend that "meeting." I presided over it. That "meeting" was the First National Congress of Sanlakas. And yes, Mr. Lagman was there as chairperson of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) which is one of the organizations affiliated with Sanlakas. So were Congressmen Wigberto Tañada, Edcel Lagman and Joaquin Chipeco together with more than 300 Congress delegates, government officials or their representatives, NGOs, people's organizations, media, guests and friends.
2) Did a "Nilo de la Cruz," aka Sergio Romero, attend that meeting? Our registration shows no such name nor was anyone by that name recognized as delegate, observer or guest. If indeed, as the military's intelligence sources insist the alleged ABB chief attended that "meeting," then these officers were terribly amiss in their duties. They should have right there and then arrested the man. Although a Romero was indeed involved, his name was not Sergio, it was Mike, as in Congressman Miguel Romero, through whom Lagman sent his message to General Abadia denying involvement in any plans to sabotage or terrorize the APEC summit.,
3) If we, the leftists, referred to by "intelligence sources," were out to embarrass government before the APEC community, would it not have been more "appropriate" for the PALEA strike to be called much closer to the APEC summit? Therefore, the linkage to leftist agendas is totally unfounded and only intended to further smear the just struggle of PALEA and taint the solidarity efforts of Sanlakas with the employees and workers of PAL.
4) While I support the right of Ramos Horta to speak and that of the Filipinos to listen, please note that I am not part of the Manila People's Forum. What I am part of is the Solidarity of labor Against APEC Conference.
5) Believe it or not, if you will read the statement of Attys. Arno Sanidad and Edgardo Abaya, counsels for PALEA, the PALEA workers did not intend to go on strike to inconvenience the hapless passengers, especially on November 1.
6) Furthermore, detractors credit me with far too much influence and in the process insult the members of PALEA and demean their efforts to stand up for their rights.
In the past, I found myself in sympathy with the plight of Lucio Tan in regard to the government's handling of the management issue of PAL when it seemed to be very clear the investor who had the largest stake had the least say over matters concerning his financial exposure.
Tan also deserves some grudging admiration for his commitment to the air transport industry by plunking in huge additional capital in the face of losses wrought by previous management and competition from smaller operations. But PAL is not just about Lucio Tan. PAL is also about its employees and workers. It is not just about giving Lucio Tan a chance to pull off his plans. It must also be about giving the employees and workers of PAL the assurance that they will be around to enjoy the rewards Tan hopes to reap.
The PALEA story is not yet over. We don't know how it will end. But this early, despite all public relations efforts to the contrary, the mere fact that the Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines (ALPAP) and the Flight Attendants' and Stewards' Association of the Philippines (FASAP), both PAL unions, are in complete solidarity with PALEA, and in fact are considering going on strike themselves, strongly indicates that there is more to PAL management's contentions and DOLE's shenanigans than meets the eye.
Indeed, the points that Senate President Maceda has brought out regarding reports that PAL management has put passengers and planes at risk by shortcutting international safety standards should be looked into. In fact, he declared, "Now, for the employees not to have pay adjustments for the past four years is really something that I think is not only unfair but un-Christian."
The PALEA struggle is important not only to the riding public, Lucio Tan or the employees and workers of PAL; the struggle that is being waged is significant for all the working people of the Philippines. Job security as it is affected by the trend of businesses to resort to contractualization, with the collusion of government, is at the heart of the matter.
No amount of innuendos and lies will substitute for the truth nor dissuade us from working for causes that we believe are just.
RENATO CONSTANTINO, JR. National Chairperson Sanlakas
Our Sincere Apologies
The Philippine Star
Manila Bulletin
Money Asia
The Manila Chronicle
Malaya
The Philippine Journal
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
We would like to express our heartfelt apologies to all our patrons and passengers for all the inconvenience caused by the recent PALEA strike. In pursuit of PAL's current vision to become Asia's best airline, we exert our utmost to avoid any flight disruption. That we incurred so many delays and cancellations on the occasion of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day is doubly unfortunate.
The PALEA strike has been called off and we will resume normal operations by Tuesday, November 5, 1996. We advise all our international and domestic flight passengers to call us for re-bookings or for any information about flight schedules or reservations.
RESERVATIONS - 8166691, 8191771, 8150054
FIRST CLASS/BUSINESS CLASS/MABUHAY CLUB MEMBERS - 8187615
24-HOUR FLIGHT INFO SERVICE- 8186757
FIRST CLASS/BUSINESS CLASS/MABUHAY CLUB MEMBERS - 8187615
24-HOUR FLIGHT INFO SERVICE- 8186757
Again, our heartfelt apologies. Thank you for bearing with us.
PHILIPPINES AIRLINE MANAGEMENT
PALEA's Game
Malaya
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
By J. A. DELA CRUZ
IF ALL that PALEA, the PAL union which staged the wild cat strike at the height of the Todos los Santos celebrations last week, wanted was undivided national attention to its misguided ways, it certainly got it and how.
For two and a half days the union held the national carrier, thousands of ordinary commuters and even the government hostage to its brattish behavior. Unmindful, probably even scornful, of the plight of the riding public, PALEA went ahead with its strike despite two orders of the Secretary of Labor and Employment. In so doing, it also disregarded pleas to consider the greater public interest.
But if PALEA bosses think they were able to generate sympathy for their cause they have another thing coming. Those polled at the height of the disturbance had nothing but scorn for the callousness and insensitivity of the strikers. Others took the occasion to question the PALEA leadership's sense of civic duty and responsibility.
Here is a case of a leadership representing some of the best paid employees in the country goading its members to go on strike for reasons which are not only non- strikable but quite simply unthinkable given the state of the national carrier. PALEA's wish list borders on the irrational that even such highly successful and healthy regional carriers such as Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines would have a hard time meeting, if at all. The union wants a P3.2 billion economic package which includes, among others, an across the board wage increase of P5,000 in addition to all mandated adjustments; Christmas bonus of 150 percent of basic salary; an additional one month mid-year bonus plus another commuted month pay on top of existing 13th and 14th month bonuses; increase in overtime rates; increase in vacation leave and sick leave days from 20 to 30 days; increase in emergency leave days from five to 10; other leaves such as one-day menstrual leave, seven days matrimonial leave, three-day family leave, seven-day parental leave; commutable free hospitalization benefit; a generous retirement plan, and additional non-cash benefits.
These are on top of existing benefits which already provides a typical newly hired rank and file employee an annual salary of P88,000 or roughly P7, 000 per month. That is approximately one and half times the full take home pay of an ordinary worker who, by the way, is not entitled to other benefits such as free and reduced air travel for himself and his dependents which costs PAL close to P77 million a year. These are just PALEA's demands. We are not yet talking here about those of the pilots and flight attendants whose own packages would certainly reach billions of pesos as well, amounts that PAL, which has lost Pl0 billion over the past 12 years and continues losing P3 million a day, can ill afford. There is just no way that the carrier, even if government stops harassing its majority owner, can accommodate such a package at this point.
This is precisely why, in a last ditch effort to stave off the mass action, PAL offered a generous employee stock option plan as a companion piece of its proposed economic package. The stock option plan which has proved to be successful and definitely more advantageous to the workers as shown in such resurgent carriers as United Airlines would have made management and labor responsible stewards of the airline's future. It would have also steered the airline to a more competitive future.
But the PALEA leaderships would have none of it. As it soon became apparent, the intransigence was a cruel play not only on the riding public but on the union membership as well. First, it was meant to pressure management and ultimately the government including the courts to relent on the case of the 40 PALEA members who were dismissed as a result of the 1994 illegal strike which is now under reconsideration at the High Tribunal. Second and perhaps more importantly, had management acceded to the strikers' demands the PALEA leadership and their lawyers would have made close to P320 million or 10 percent of the total package outright as fees and bonuses on top of continuing opportunities to dip into the union's funds during the life of the con-tract.
So there. PALEA's game, it should be clear by now, was precisely meant to inflict maximum damage even to the point of sacrificing the rank and file to satisfy the thirst, pecuniary or otherwise, of its leadership. What a way...
PAL's Low Pay Not A Reason to Strike
Malaya
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
Business Insight
By JAKE MACASAET
IT could very well be true that employees and even officials of Philippine Airlines have the lowest pay among airline companies in the Southeast Asian region. It is just as true that among airlines of similar size, PAL has the largest work force of about 14,000 people. It is precisely the bloated payroll cost and the small and inefficient fleet of aircraft that have been draining the coffers of the national flag carrier. As a wholly-owned government corporation, PAL never really had a chance to be competitive. Not until it was privatized in early 1992. But even the transfer of 67 percent control to the private sector did not have an immediate impact on the finances of PAL. A feud among the stockholders of PR Holdings which bought 67 percent control delayed the reflecting program for almost four years.
It was only after President Ramos, realizing that allowing the feud to drag on would completely run the airline to the ground by the time he bows out of office in 1998, allowed the group of Lucio Tan to acquire 56 percent control that an expensive $3-billion refleeting program was finally put in place. The President facilitated the transfer of control by not allowing the state and three of its financial institutions to subscribe to the P5 billion new capital that the Tan group had always demanded as the only way to put the airline back on its feet. After all, the Tan group earlier acquired 50.03 percent of PR Holdings which earlier bought 67 percent of the airline. The tenuous control of the holding company brought about suits and counter-suits related to the dissolution of PR Holdings and the opposition of other stockholders to the capital increase. A presidential order put all that trouble on ice. PAL is supposed to be on the way to full rehabilitation. And it is.
Now come the members of the PALEA (PAL Employees' Association) calling a strike in violation of the assumption of jurisdiction over the dispute by the Department of Labor as early as Oct. 4, 1996. Among the unreasonable demands are a P5,000 monthly pay increase and a 150 percent Christmas bonus. Even more unreasonable, if not downright silly, is the demand for a one-day leave with pay for women on their first day of menstrual cycle. That means women who still go through the cycle are given the class privilege of getting 12 extra days a year with pay. Women on menopause are denied the privilege.
The strike at Philippine Airlines demonstrates once again the lack of discipline of Philippine organized labor and its inability or refusal to understand company financial problems.
There should be a law that prohibits a company from giving to its employees under threat of a strike what it does not have. PAL is saddled with maturing and long-term debts. As earlier stated, it continues to suffer losses at the rate of P2 billion a year for the past two years. It would take at least three more years and $3 billion to put PAL on its feet with a massive refleeting program that requires the purchase of 37 new and bigger aircraft. What reason would there be for the owners or management of PAL to borrow money for additional benefits of the employees? And they want the pay increase to retroact to 1991. As it is, PAL is able to borrow money from foreign and domestic banks not on its financial strength which it does not have, but on the word of Lucio Tan and nothing else. The man, it must be reiterated, has guaranteed the obligations of PAL through his Fortune Tobacco and Asia Brewery. If PAL does not make the profits it expects from modernization program, its creditors could very well drain the finances of Fortune and Asia Brewery as guarantors.
If the present management group did not have the welfare of the employees at heart, it could have reduced their number by at least 50 percent on the simple and valid argument that many of them have become redundant. With the $3-billion refleeting program, all of them will have work to do. When the airline starts making money, it would be time to demand bigger salaries and benefits. But not before then. The striking union knows only too well that Singapore Airlines has only around 9,000 people in its payroll but they produce three times more revenues than PAL. Their pay is naturally higher.
In the 55-year history of the national flag carrier, no stockholder, not even the national government, has taken the risks that Lucio Tan has. As a controlling stockholder, Tan is now running PAL as a private enterprise. Many of the employees abhor the idea. They are so used to working for PAL as a government corporation. Like the rest of government corporations, the national flag carrier has a bloated work force of 14,000. The private controlling stockholders are not furloughing any of them. They will stay and get more benefits when the full effects of the refleeting program begin to tell on the bottom line. That's going to take at least two to three years. Not too long a time to wait considering that many of them has been with the airline for 10 to 20 years. And their lot did not improve.
Political Tidbits
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
By BELINDA OLIVARES-CUNANAN
The strike of the PAL employees' union ended the other day with both union and management agreeing to work out a new collective bargaining agreement by Nov. 21. This date is too close to the start of the Apec conference. What if the negotiations break down? Will Palea go on strike again during the Apec summit? Somehow, there's a nagging feeling Palea would try something again, and I'm glad President Ramos has assured the citizens that the government is prepared to handle such contingencies. There are also disturbing reports that leftist elements are out to disrupt the summit by staging strikes in public utilities such as PLDT and the MWSS as well as major hotels where foreign delegates will be billeted. We pray that the more sober elements in these unions will not let themselves be manipulated by some groups that are out to disrupt the summit.
These reports are obviously being seriously studied and monitored, and contingency plans are being drawn up. Cabinet Cluster E, which deals with national security issues, has been meeting frantically these days. It should prepare for any and all contingencies. Let's pray that everything goes well for Apec. It's the country's commitment, and our economic and political well-being is at stake here.
The PAL strikers sure got the public's ire, and the Chronicle editorial yesterday said it all for the citizenry when it demanded a public apology. Said the editorial: "The officers and men of Palea should issue a statement apologizing to the nation and pledging to give a little more respect to the national flag carrier. That should atone for its leaders' misjudgment and callousness.
"In the first place, the timing was really cruel. In trying to improve its leverage against management, the union officers backed up by people with vested interests, declared a wild-cat strike when citizens were about to leave to visit their departed ones in the provinces. If the union thought it was hitting businessman Lucio Tan, they were wrong. It was traveler Juan de la Cruz who was harmed by their act. "
* * *
The trouble is that not only does the public realize that Palea was willing to violate sacred Filipino traditions, but also that the striking employees are enjoying salaries and perks far higher than those given by many other companies. Thus it's difficult for the people to sympathize with Palea's demand for a P3.2-billion additional salary package when the airline has been losing money and is trying to modernize its fleet to make it more competitive. The people realize that there's such a thing as tightening belts and sacrificing a little. The example of the United Airlines is always cited when sacrifices are mentioned. But the public perception is that Palea members only think of their own demand for higher wages, even at the cost of holding the country hostage.
Quote Unquote
The Philippine Journal
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
By NATI NUGUID
"You can't move the clock either forward or backwards. The PALEA strike, maliciously timed to create maximum havoc on the declared "enemy" namely the airline management, and strike fear into the hearts of no less than the President himself and his Cabinet. boomeranged on its cynical organizers. Truly, as the saying goes. those whom the gods would destroy they first make mad" (Max V. Soliven. By the Way.
Phil. Star, Nov. 3 ).
**********
It is not clear whether the PAL management has acceded to the demand of the PAL employees' union to include a "First-Day menstrual paid leave" but if it hasn't, here's advice from Dahli Aspillera (Malaya, Nov. 2) to the girls on what to do when the day comes: "A hot-water bag on the lower belly; low-heeled comfortable shoes; bending and loosening/strengthening exercises as the day approaches; Midol every four hours.”
**********
The now generation may not know what Midol is – the magic pill of the '60s, explains Dahli. "Surely, today the pharmacists must have better medicines that make First-Day more a myth than reality. And if all else fails,” hints Dahli, "it is true that menstrual pain goes with the first baby or first pregnancy." Now the PALEA has alternatives.
PAL's Predicament
Money Asia
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
From the Trading Floor
By LAZARO E. MEDINA JR.
PHILIPPINE Airlines probably holds the unenviable distinction of being the only Asian airline that has been losing money for more than 10 years. PAL officials estimate that the national flag-carrier has piled up losses of P10.7 billion from 1984 to 1995.To date, the financial hemorrhaging has not abated much as the airline continues to cough up an estimated P3 million in daily losses.
The reasons for all the red ink are manifold, but the major ones include PAL's inefficiency and a bloated workforce compared with other airlines of its size. With its current personnel complement of some 14,000, PAL is, by international standards, grossly overstaffed. According to aviation executives, foreign airlines comparable with PAL in size of fleet and routes have workforce of less than half or even a third that of the country's flag-carrier.
The presence of strong unions in PAL makes it difficult for the new management under Chinese-Filipino taipan Lucio Tan, which incidentally took control only about 18 months ago, to institute the desired changes in PAL.
What happened during the four-day strike in the national flag-carrier perhaps demonstrate the kind of labor problems management is up against. The 9,000 strong Philippine Airlines Employees' Association (PALEA) may have exacted its pound of flesh for the financially bleeding airline, but at what cost? At the great inconvenience of the air-traveling public at a time when most passengers wanted to be home to pay respects to their dead for Todos los Santos and All Souls Day, two very important holidays in the country.
In other unprofitable airline companies — including major American carriers Northwest, Trans World Airlines and Continental Airlines — the employees have voluntarily taken cutbacks in salary and in some of their benefits to help their employers stay afloat. At PAL, according to PAL president Jose "Pepeton" Garcia, management is not asking for a similar sacrifice; it just wants the employees to be "more patient" as the company struggles to regain profitability.
By striking at such a crucial time, the ground personnel and mechanics belonging to PALEA succeeded not only in embarrassing PAL management. They embarrassed themselves even more for their class materialism and gross disregard for the interest of travelers whose patronage is their source of income and livelihood.
PALEA Strike
Manila's Daily Magazine
Tuesday, November 5 1996
The Other Side
By RC CONSTANTINO
THE labor strife at Philippine Airlines (PAL) has attracted a lot of comment and analysis. Some were well-intentioned, others were maliciously one-sided.
The picture became muddled due to lack of information as well as disinformation. We said in our previous column that there's more to the strike staged by the PAL Employees' Association (Palea) than meets the eye. The P.R. machine of PAL is decidedly efficient and, to a point, effective. But this does not make for the whole story.
To give the other side of the Palea strike, we feel Arno Sanidad and Edgardo Abaya, Palea's lawyers, are best situated. What follows is their story behind the unfolding saga.
Procedural break
WHAT started out as a labor dispute involving union-busting by PAL against Palea has assumed a more complex, intricate, and sinister color.
Unknown to the general public, the October 31, 1996 assumption order issued by Undersecretary Cresenciano Trajano—and, in an unprecedented break from the procedure, concurred in by all the other undersecretaries of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)—represented the culmination of what appears to be a long and deep-seated power struggle between two separate factions within the DOLE, each with its own private agenda rooted in self-interest and gain.
To place these matters in perspective, a brief chronology of the events leading to the issuance of the assumption order is necessary.
On October 4, 1996 Palea filed a notice of strike to protest PAL'S refusal to bargain in good faith, citing PAL's refusal to submit their counter-proposals for over a year to date. The notice of strike was assumed by Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing on October 18, 1996, thereby enjoining a strike by Palea.
On October 24, 1996 Quisumbing unilaterally assumed jurisdiction again over the same notice of strike previously assumed on the speculative ground that Palea was about to strike at midnight of October 25, 1996; the second assumption order expressly prohibited both PAL and Palea from acting provocatively against each other. The information Quisumbing relied upon proved to be false because Palea was not intending to strike and did not strike on October 25, 1996.
On October 25, 1996 PAL president and chief operating officer Jose Antonio Garcia issued a memorandum to all PAL employees—disregarding all of PAL'S three employee unions Palea, Fasap and Alpap and offered a financial package for the first time in over one year.
On October 28, 1996 Palea protested Garcia's memorandum and moved that the labor secretary cite Garcia in contempt of the second assumption order on the ground that his memorandum constituted illegal "individual bargaining" and the provocation which was expressly prohibited by the DOLE secretary.
On October 28, 1996 also, after obtaining solid documentary evidence of PAL's illegal contractualization scheme, which amounted to union-busting, Palea filed a second strike notice to protest PAL'S contractualization.
On October 30, 1996 Palea went on strike, paralyzing almost completely PAL's Metro Manila domestic operations as well as those in other provinces and crippling its international operations.
On October 31, 1996 Undersecretary Buenaventura Magsalin, Jr. summoned the parties to a conciliation conference at 10:30 a.m. at the Office of the Secretary; both parties appeared through their respective representatives. A series of conferences took place between representatives of PAL and Palea, with representatives from DOLE and NCMB present.
All this time the principal DOLE officials involved in the conciliation efforts were: Magsalin, Undersecretary Jose Espaňol, Director Reynaldo Ubaldo, Conciliator Elliot Cojuangco, Conciliator Mario Santos and Attorney Hesiquio Malilin.
Return to work
AT an early stage of the conciliation, Magsalin proposed to Palea a "return to work agreement' to be signed under the auspices of the Executive Secretary Ruben Torres, widely known to be Magsalin's benefactor and political sponsor. Magsalin even assured that Torres would arrive, if Palea would agree. Palea rejected this proposal.
Sometime in the afternoon, during a lull in one of the conferences, Espaňol called to his side Alexander Barrientos, Palea president, and showed him what appeared to be an order already prepared and ready to be signed by Quisumbing. The order essentially granted Palea's motion to cite Garcia in contempt and would call for a hearing on November 7, 1996 on the various issues Palea presented.
Barrientos was later informed that the draft order was prepared and to be released upon Quisumbing's express instructions before he left for Japan but which, for one reason or another, was not issued, thereby directly resulting in provocation and Palea's defensive strike.
At about 5:30 p.m., while Magsalin and Cojuangco were conferring separately with PAL representatives, Malilin approached Sanidad, and asked if he would agree to meet with Espaňol privately. Sanidad turned to his principal, Barrientos, to ask for permission. Barrientos agreed for so long as he would also be part of the private meeting. Thus, Sanidad and Barrientos left with Malilin.
The Breakfast Table
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
By ADRIAN CRISTOBAL
PAL STRIKE. It was a cheap shot from the military intelligence (if it is the real source) to try to link Palea officers with local communists. People who would go on strike for a P5,000 monthly increase retroactive to 1991 and a Christmas bonus of 150 percent (among other demands) cannot possibly be inspired by a desire to overthrow the existing order, although, conceivably, it could bring Lucio Tan's PAL to the ground. As Crane Brinton observed in his "Anatomy of Revolution," people do not make revolution over a standard of living.
However, it's just as well that PAL operations are going back to normal today, after a deal between management and labor. Whatever the merits of Palea's demands (which incidentally revealed the comparatively higher income of members), their strike didn't get much sympathy from the public.
In this regard, Labor Secretary Quisumbing merits two cheers for having returned home in time to work out an agreement between PAL and the ground crews. In the apparent "aloofness" of the President towards the labor-management controversy, he gave Quisumbing a chance to prove himself in his first baptism of fire.
The question is how long the truce, if it's not industrial peace, will last in a public utility vital to the national economy.
What if a Massive 'Strike' Blacks Out Electricity, Kills Telephones, and Paralyzes Air Travel to Devastate the APEC
The Philippine Star
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
By The Way
By MAX V. SOLIVEN
Just because the Philippine Airlines "strike" is temporarily over, the President and his APEC planners mustn't relax. The wildcat strike staged by the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), under the coordination of "former" communist rebel Filemon "Popoy" Lagman and his leftist phalanx of lawyers and strategists, may have only been the dress rehearsal for a more widespread "industry" walkout to come — on the very eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
The PAL management negotiators were very tight-lipped about the details of the negotiations which brought the PALEA strikers back "to work" — for the moment. None of them would talk to this writer or to the rest of the media about the intimate details of the last-ditch discussions.
They even refused to reveal the venue of the "talks' which began at 9 p.m. Friday, in an undisclosed place in Metro Manila and went on until agreement was reached 5 p.m. Saturday. Their fear: "Baka ma-ABB kami." That's what one of the panelists admitted to a friend, who passed the information on to me.
What did the nervous PAL management official mean by that cryptic remark? He was afraid that the New People's Army liquidation unit, the dreaded “Alex Boncayao Brigade," might assassinate him!
And why not? When the management group, headed by PAL Vice-President for Legal Affairs Antonio Ocampo sat down with the so-called PALEA group, the negotiator (to their amazement), wasn't PALEA President Alexander Barrientos, but former ABB “chief” Popoy Lagman. Now, what business had the former NPA rebel to do with the "demands" of the PALEA union members since he isn't an employee of PAL, nor is he their lawyer. The only “connection,” perhaps, was that the PALEA belonged to the federation he has been organizing among strategic labor unions all over the place.
Can you beat that? Lagman, who headed the butchers of the ABB (until he "allegedly" fell out with them) was “forgiven” by the government and is now permitted to openly go about "mobilizing" labor unions! He claims to have hung up his "Mao cap," but the mischief he's been up to suggests that the class struggle is far from over.
***
The trouble with the radical leftists is that they were too publicity-hungry to miss a photo opportunity. And so, they showed up to openly consort with the PALEA strike leaders, who were led by Barrientos. The fellow has obviously been trying to grow a Stalin-type moustache, but let's face it: outside of the Japanese and a few hirsute northern Chinese, we Asians are not impressive, by racial characteristic, in the bigote department.
Among the modern-day revolutionaries who even posed for the photographers side by side with Barrientos and the PALEA wildcatters was Renato Constantino, Jr. of Sanlakas, the leading light of the so-called Manila People's Forum, who has been trying to get the Ramos government to allow East Timor rebel spokesman Jose Ramos- Horta into the country before and during APEC, so that Indonesia's Suharto would be discomfited.
When FVR and his Cabinet Cluster "E" slammed the door on Ramos-Horta, the Constantino group attempted to entice his fellow Nobel Peace Prize awardee. East Timor Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo to come to Manila as their main speaker instead. As they expected, his Political Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin and the Catholic bishops joined the outcry to permit Bishop Belo to come during APEC — but the noisy bunch were dumbfounded when it was Bishop Belo himself who calmly
announced that he was "too busy" to come.
Why the leftists and communists are so eager to derail the APEC summit is quite clear. They want to show to the world that Ramos and the present government are weaklings, too wishy-washy to restrain protests and demonstrations during even a major international event.
I like the final defiant touch of the PALEA legal counsel, Atty. Arno Sanidad, long- known as a champion of leftwing causes. He cheekily wore a red T-shirt when telling the reporters and media-persons at a PALEA press conference (before they caved in) that the PALEA strikers would stand firm and refuse to return to work.
Don't be deceived, however, that all is now quiet on the labor front. They're mobilizing for the Big Push on November 22. Mark that date on your calendar. It's coming.
***
What we've learned is that, in yielding to the "return to work" order — at last — of Labor Secretary Leo Quisumbing, the PALEA exacted a promise from the PAL management that they would meet again in ten days, with a final session to be held on November 21. Why, that's when the countdown to the APEC gathering of November 24 comes light down to the wire. What if (when?) those talks break down? The PALEA, perhaps joined by the two other unions, FASAP and ALPAP (the pilots), will walk out again, this time involving all 9,000 personnel and workers of the rank-and-file.
Possibly even the entire roster of 14,000.
They may be joined by the two other leftist-led unions of our most strategic industries — the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLOT). This would mean no airplanes, no electricity and no telephones!
And what if the other leftwing unions which dominate land transportation, maritime travel, and other vital industries, were to join the fray? We would give the world the picture of a society in total meltdown.
As for the APEC, do you think those presidents, prime ministers and the sultan of Brunei are crazy? They would tell Mr. Ramos: "Sorry, friend, but your country is in convulsions. We're not coming to your party until you get matters under control." The APEC summit would be cancelled. Imagine the international humiliation we'll suffer. Is this scenario "fiction" — or fact? you judge.
***
In the meantime, the PALEA strike leaders are fulminating that Taipan Lucio Tan, a convenient "hate figure" (disliked by even Ramos and company), plans to squeeze them dry and fire them all anyway. They must all be mind readers. Didn't the management panel already agree to discuss a salary increase at their next preliminary session nine or ten days from now? -
Poor Tan. The new comprehensive tax measures now in the last stages of approval in Congress will hit his cigarette company, Fortune, with P5 billion in hiked taxes and his beer company, Asia Brewery, with P1 billion in taxes—and then there's what he's spending on PAL salaries and a $4-billion aircraft reflecting program. Everbody, from Malacaňang to workers, apparently think he's made of money.
What's disquieting is the strong-arm tactics that were used in the PAL "illegal" strike which disrupted the homecoming plans of scores of thousands of our people on the eve of Todos los Santos and All Souls' Day. Friends of mine who went to the airport last Wednesday night say their vehicles were "boarded" by burly men, who told them to turn back because PAL was on strike. There were actually only 350 PAL employees on the picket line, but observers counted 850 demonstrators. Where had those "extras" come from? Surely from hakot.
Moreover the presence of "former" NPA rebels at the forefront of the confrontation invests the entire affair with an added chill factor. Remember those violent strikes conducted by unions affiliated with the leftist Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), such as the bitter strikes staged at the Nestlé corporation despite the fact that the firm's employees and workers were among the highest-paid in the country — with a janitor drawing a salary equivalent to that of a brigadier-general? A Nestlé vice-president was murdered right in the locker room, and other officers attacked and harassed. Subsequently, a surrendered “Sparrow," an "Amazon" hit-woman, confessed to having directed the `"kill" in support of the strikers' struggle with the company management. When I met this ex- Sparrow liquidator at Camp Crame, she was briefing the PNP and the military on how the NPA and the ABB supported strike action with their muscle, which included threat, intimidation, and, as a last result, murder.
Have such forces been let loose again to disrupt the coming APEC conference? The government's "policy of reconciliation" and "amnesty" for "former" rebels, with the release of thousands of them from prison, has permitted the anti-government cadres to reassemble and resume the fight. In our cock-eyed democracy, we're the financiers of our own destruction.
Why, one former fire-breathing rebel I know, a brilliant former journalist, is now teaching in the Mass Communications department of the University of the Philippines. Brainwashing and recruiting the next generation of revolutionaries — on a government salary? Sus. Only in the Philippines!
But Lenin was right when he quipped that the capitalists will even sell them (the communists) the rope with which to hang them. Sell them the rope? We're giving them the rope, gratis et amore. We call it free speech, human rights, civil liberties and freedom of assembly.
People in Distress
Philippine Star
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
JaywalkerBy ART D. BORJAL
For thousands of passengers of the Philippine Airlines last Wednesday, time also stood still. I was among about a thousand people who spent almost five hours in the Manila Domestic Airport's terminal building as we waited for the PAL flights that never took off. Five hours doing nothing — what a way to waste time and money.
I was flabbergasted over the mind-set of the PAL strikers. Since a strike is almost always aimed at winning public sympathy, why did the PALmen declare a strike aimed at making life miserable for the passengers? Note that the PALmen walked out of their jobs at six o'clock in the evening, before five scheduled domestic flights could take off. Couldn't the strikers have allowed the flights to take off first before declaring their wildcat strike? Apparently, they wanted to inconvenience the riding public.
It would be hard to quantify the time and money lost by the stranded passengers. They must have gone through a lot of hassle returning to their homes, rescheduling their aborted or connecting flights, looking for a temporary place to stay in, rearranging their schedules with the parties in their respective destinations. What a cruel way to disrupt the lives of countless human beings.
Nakakahiya
Isyu
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
Editorial
WHAT constitutes a "national embarrassment?"
The phrase cropped up in the course of the debate over the strike staged by the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (Palea) last week. True, this paper chided the "PAL-amunin" for pushing the struggling airline to the brink of financial ruin. That, however, is just about as far as we're willing to go.
We can never object to the right of workers to press for what they think is a better deal for themselves from their employers. A strike is the only way employees can gain leverage over their bosses.
That the rights of workers to organize themselves freely and conduct industrial action to defend and improve their livelihood are honored in this country should be regarded as a matter of pride, not shame.
Palea's wildcat strike, for the entire rancor it raked up, embarrassed no one save those who would misrepresent "industrial peace" as the silence of a graveyard. That it was staged on All Saints weekend and on the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit merely indicated that the unionists knew how to exploit an opportunity when it presented itself.
We didn't—and won't—buy the theory that the Palea strike was part of a leftist conspiracy to discredit the government in the eyes of its Apec guests. The panderers of this notion have begun to leak to the media so-called intelligence reports that other unions in key industries are also planning to stage strikes to coincide with the Apec summit. Hotel workers as well as those in the MWSS and PLDT have been mentioned as "potential troublemakers."
What should instead cause worry is the all too obvious attempt by certain officials to turn the Apec meeting into an excuse to crack down on trade unionists in the belief that it would please the government's Apec guests. Now that will truly be a national embarrassment—just like the frenzy of slum demolitions and the ban on East Timorese freedom fighters.
PAL Strikers Defy Government
Business World
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
Travel Trade East
By E.P. PATANÑE
The three-day-long strike by members of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA), resulting in some cancellations of domestic and international flights, as of this writing appears to have gone beyond the bounds of a labor dispute. PALEA strikers have defied government by refusing to lift their pickets in spite of a Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) order.
The DoLE has taken over jurisdiction of the case following PALEA's threat to strike, its National Conciliation and Mediation Board saying that the issues raised by PALEA can be solved under the grievance machinery of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
PALEA's Notice of Strike of October 4 appears to have strayed beyond the CBA and shifted instead to the positioning of 40 union officers dismissed by management for leading a wildcat strike in 1994.
Now, PALEA has called for the resignation of Executive Secretary Ruben Torres and Labor Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing, saying these two officials were siding with management. It also stated that it would return to work if President Ramos interceded.
Apparently, the PALEA demands for more benefits are not at the heart of the current issues. The strike appears to be orchestrated from outside the PALEA membership, given one report which affiliates striking PAL employees with some leftist group, part of a clandestine movement aimed at spoiling the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting here.
The strike has acquired an ideological dimension; it is not aimed at the airline company but at the Ramos government. The issue is something else other than more pay and more benefits. The strikers are pleased with themselves, having cramped PAL's operations. The public lost out.
The strike came to end Saturday. The 9,000-strong PALEA agreed to talk things over with PAL management which has long been amenable to resolving labor issues.
It was an all-timed, ill-advised strike. Everybody lost. Union and management merely agreed to go back to square one — hammering out a new CBA.
Bedlam at Bacolod Airport
The Philippine Star
Tuesday, November 5, 1996
The Southern Beat
By ROLLY ESPINA
The daily spectacle at the Bacolod Philippine Air Lines Airport terminal – crowds of anxious and anguished passengers waiting for the latest word on whether they could fly out to their respective destinations.
The most agitated were Balik-Bacolod participants who had extended their Masskara Festival visit to join their families during the All Saints' Day commemoration. They confronted two problems — whether they could get out of Bacolod and when they could fly out of the country back to the United States.
Some of the visiting Negrenses from abroad kept going to and from the terminal trying to find out if they could get accommodated since several had their flights cancelled by the wild cat strike. Many kept wondering aloud if they could fly back via PAL which had offered them major discounts in flying in from abroad.
Masskara Foundation chairman John Orola Jr. booked several cabins aboard the Manila-bound Princess of Negros from Cagayan de Oro Saturday. He offered the boat ride as the alternative for stranded Balik-Bacolod participants. “Yes, please accommodate us. I'm already dog-tired rushing back and forth trying to find out if I and my family could get a ride out," whispered the harassed Tito Icasiano.
Several Balik-Bacolod members joyfully joined Orola. They rushed from the Bacolod Airport Saturday afternoon to the Banago wharf of Negros Navigation Company just on time to board the outbound ship.
Other outbound commuters sensibly asked friends and relatives in Iloilo to book them aboard other passenger airlines servicing the city. There were no such alternatives for Bacolodnons since only PAL services the Negros Occidental capital city. Cebu Pacific Air will start servicing Bacolod on December 1, yet.
The Cebu Air Pacific terminal was blessed recently, but flights from Manila and Bacolod will commence Dec. 1, according to the CPA chief advisor for marketing and operations.
The strikers alienated airline commuters. Most had tried to beat the holiday rush by flying down before Nov. 1. The spotty schedules thereafter created havoc with those who had gone home to join their families during the Nov. 1 traditional observance. Normally, passengers hammer at PAL management when delays occur or flights are cancelled. This time majority of the stranded passengers blamed the strikers for having deliberately planned to hit them the hardest instead of the airline firm.
For Negrenses, however, the bottom line is the imperative need for the services of other airline firms. They had already suffered much with the prolonged close-down of the Bacolod Airport. And they witnessed the same nightmarish ordeal the past few days.
Monday, November 4, 1996
Stormy Weather
Manila Standard
Monday, November 4, 1996
Nelson Navarro
Not too long ago, one of America's largest airlines was headed for the congested graveyard of failed air carriers. Business was so bad it was actually losing more money every time one of its planes took off from some airport. Armies of creditors were knocking at the door. The dreadful choice was to find some magic formula to stave off imminent bankruptcy or to end all miseries by simply closing shop.
As luck would have it, the distressed airline survived the worst trial of its long history as America's and the world's largest airline (second only to the Soviet era Aeroflot). Extreme measures were resorted to, but none as unexpected or as miraculous as its employees in their tens of thousands opting to save their own airline.
When push came to shove, so it was said, the rank-and-file people decided overwhelmingly to cast aside their grievances, if only to save the airline and their jobs from the far-harsher, nay unappeasable fate of bankruptcy. Sure, they could have thrashed the dirty capitalists for good, but that would have amounted to a pyrrhic victory, a hollow triumph that would have led them straight into the nation's unemployment lines.
The majority of the employees actually voted to have their salaries slashed and some of their perks and privileges curtailed or held in abeyance. Nothing short of these sacrifices would have sufficed to save the company from certain collapse.
Exactly what the rescue package entailed isn't quite clear to the layman, but the company essentially granted stocks plus participation in management to the employees in exchange for their concessions. The new management was given a free hand to rationalize operations to make the company competitive once again in the most cut-throat industry of all in the world. In the first months of this historic compromise, airline employees went around with buttons saying they were the airline's "new owners." This instantly translated to better service in-flight and on the ground.
Since that unheard of moment a few years ago, the airline has regained much its old spunk and added more bounce to its operations, even venturing to become the first truly global carrier many years after the collapse of Pan American Airways in the 1970s.
Give or take a few details, this is roughly the dream scenario that some hardboiled crisis managers are trying to push on the warring parties of Philippine Airlines. For starters, the management has offered to sell P477 million in stocks at a minimal price to the employees so that they can become part-owners of the company they work for.
Perhaps it may be case of too little, too late. The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), the biggest of PAL's three unions (9,000 of 14,000 total employees), was already too far into its wildcat plans to cripple the airline on the eve of the All Saints' Day holidays and less than a month before the opening of the APEC summit when the stock-sharing proposal was announced last Monday.
By Wednesday, the airline was swamped by flight delays and cancellations left and right. Thursday and Friday were pure hell. Even foreign airlines serving Manila were not spared, largely because much of their ground services, especially baggage handling, are in the hands of PAL and therefore vulnerable to PALEA's whims and caprices.
Also, the stock-sharing came in a package that would have hardly appealed neither to PALEA nor to the two other unions, ALPAP, the pilot's group, and FASAP, the flight attendants' group. For instance, P477 million in stocks doesn't give the unions much leverage in an airline which is soon raising its capital base to P10 billion and which will fall into the even tighter control of Lucio Tan’s group (56 percent) under the terms of the recent compromise agreement with the government. Still, it's a step in the right direction.
Mercifully ended last Saturday, the wildcat strike was of course held in direct defiance of a Department of Labor order banning any strike or mass action that would prejudice PAL's operation during the APEC summit period. It was a matter of national interest, said DOLE Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing, that PAL remain flying, if only to show the national colors and convince the world that the Ramos administration is in firm control of a stable economy that's on the march as Asia's newest tiger.
Well, PALEA didn't seem to care a hoot. Although the pilots and flight attendants were technically not on strike, many of their members openly declared "sympathy" for the strikers and refused to cross picket lines. Repeated orders to return to work on pain of summary dismissal were ignored.
It was as if PALEA was begging for "martyrdom" (police brutality, summary dismissals, etc.) all the better to make up for the public relations disaster of stranding thousands of irate passengers on the way to visit the graves of their loved ones. The PAL management, on the other hand, came across as shrewdly absorbing the blows to give the strikers more rope with which to hang themselves. Labor and intelligence officials, for their part, added massive doses of intrigue by speculating that the wildcat action may, in fact, be part of a leftist plot to sabotage the administration during the APEC summit.
Fortunately, the proverbial cooler heads got the warring parties together and they inked that Saturday for truce but everybody, of course, expects to be temporary at best. The real battle has just begun, with action shifting to hard bargaining across the board. A new collective bargaining agreement is supposed to be signed by Nov. 21 or just three days before the 17 heads of state are scheduled to arrive in Manila.
Will there be another strike just in time to really screw up FVR's international "coming-out party?" We would hope not. But going by the advance publicity, so to speak, it's difficult not to predict lots of stormy weather ahead. The only question is whether Malacañang has enough chips to cash in or powers of coercion to prevail upon the PAL players to please not pee on the President's, nay the nation's big parade.
To begin with, PALEA is said to be asking for the moon in terms of salary increases and other perks, to the tune of P3.2 billion for the next two years.
How this demand can be satisfied, even partially, by an airline that has lost at least P10.7 billion over the past 10 years is difficult to figure out. As it stands, PAL bleeds at the rate of P3 million a day or P1 billion a year. Last week's strike alone cost P100 million in lost revenues and losses, according to company spokesmen.
Something's got to give. No longer has a government-run airline, PAL had to operate under the iron rules of business. It can no longer throw good money after bad, expecting Juan de la Cruz to pick up the tab each and every time. First, it must raise more capital (it's doing so). Second, it must improve its fleet and services (Tan has pledged P10.4 billion). It must catch up with the competition in the brutal world out there. Only then can it become a truly viable airline, hopefully after five more years of red ink.
But to pull off his turnaround, PAL has to be blessed with a good measure of industrial peace. Management and labor must meet halfway or there will be continued paralysis, itself synonymous with eventual shutdown. The sooner the battle lines are drawn and the hard options sorted out, the better to save PAL from oblivion.
A Strike vs. PALEA
The Visayan Daily Star
Monday, November 4, 1996
Editorial
All's well that ends well?
Not in the case of the strike at Philippine Airlines last week. While the PAL Employees' Association, which had launched the crippling strike, has already come to terms with management, we are afraid it has dented its image badly in the public mind.
How could they have done it at a time when thousands of people were supposed to take PAL flights to observe a time-honored Filipino tradition? PALEA can be sure that the thousands who had been stranded by its ill-timed strike can be multiplied several times over with their families who had waited in vain for their arrival.
Striking workers usually have public sympathy on their side — but not in this case when they needlessly threw a monkey wrench on such an important occasion that only underscored their selfishness and opportunism. And certainly not when, as everybody knows, the company they work for is hobbling from financial problems and the imminent threat of competition. If the PAL employees can not accept their present working conditions, why don't they transfer to the other airlines? On second thought, perhaps they should stay where they are; they might infect the new airlines with the hot air many of them are notorious for.
Of course we must congratulate the local PAL office for continuing with their work and not joining the strike. They must have seen the bad timing, and the fact that it was a strike that could only blow up in their faces, as it already has.
PAL operations are expected to return to normal by now. We hope that the relations between management and the union have also been threshed out and we do not get another strike that will punish their clients as thoughtlessly and as cruelly as the one they staged last week.
PAL Cancels More Flights; Operations Normalized Today
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Monday, November 4, 1996
PHILIPPINE Airlines yesterday was forced to cancel more flights despite the end of a crippling four-day strike, but expected to fully normalize services today.
Fourteen international flights bound for Asian, American and Australian destinations and 18 domestic flights were scheduled to depart yesterday, but 10 Asian and Middle East-bound and 31 domestic flights were cancelled, PAL said.
The airline said it cancelled some of the flights to maximize the use of its fleet in heavy traffic routes, both international and domestic, not serviced by the other local carriers.
"As more employees begin to report for work, additional flights could be operated later in the day. Full normalization is expected by noon," a PAL statement said.
PAL ground and cargo employees, who went on strike starting Wednesday, started to return to work yesterday noon.
Improvements were noted at the baggage and cargo handling section of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport since PAL is the dominant ground handing agent of almost all international airlines at the NAIA.
Arrivals at the Manila Domestic Airport were brisk as passengers returned from the provinces after All Saints' Day.
"The lifting of picket lines (Saturday afternoon), followed by the gradual return of union members to their work stations, has resulted in a substantial increase in the number of international and domestic flights the airline will be mounting today," the statement said.
An agreement signed Saturday in the presence of Labor Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing set negotiations this month for a new collective bargaining agreement between management and the 8,500-strong PAL Employees' Association (Palea).
The agreement also stipulated that there would be no retaliation against ground crew who began the strike Oct. 30.
Mechanics, cargo handlers, maintenance crew and ticket counter workers demanded wage increases amounting to P3.2 billion over a two-year period.
PAL management, headed by Lucio Tan, had offered P477 million worth of stock to its employees, but an airline statement said it would now come up with a "counter proposal" to the union's demand.
The strike forced the cancellation of at least 30 international flights and more than 100 domestic flights costing the beleaguered airline P100 million in cancellations, rebookings, lodging and food for displaced passengers, PAL officials said.
While few passengers asked for a refund at the NAIA, domestic passengers were left with no choice but to ask for a refund since most of them booked flights for the long All Saints' Day break.
PAL officials said losses were also incurred when passengers asked for refunds.
"Many of these passengers got their tickets from agents whom we give discounts to," a PAL official said. "So while we are paid at a discounted cost, we have to refund passengers for the whole amount of the ticket."
PAL farmed out its passengers to other airlines with the same routes to address the backlog in international flights.
Other airlines, like Cathay Pacific, doubled the volume of catered food and, brought in additional personnel from their respective head offices because of the increase in passenger volume.
Reports from Rocky Nazareno, AFP
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