An Outrage Against All

Malaya

Monday, November 4, 1996

By RODOLFO DULA

DALE Carnegie, the late renowned guru of how to win friends and influence people, must have been turning in his grave All Saints, but he certainly wasn't alone. A host of our dearly departed must have been too, on account of the wildcat strike called the day prior by Palea, the union to which most rank and file employees of the national flag carrier belong. Not even a third of Palea's membership joined the mass action, with which moreover PAL's pilots and flight crews didn't care to sympathize. And the airline somehow still managed to operate 120 of its 243 international and domestic schedules during the 69-hour period. But it was an outrage many will long neither forget nor for-give, both exasperating the living and disrespecting the dead as it did.

For weeks it had been rumored that Palea was about to throw reason and the public good to the winds. Frankly however I thought PAL VP for Corporate Communications Rolly Estabillo was just pressing the panic button when he himself called the other Sunday to invite me to a presscon the following morning.

Regardless of their grievances I couldn't bring myself to believe its members capable of the unconscionable. And I became even more incredulous something so dastardly was in the offing after being apprised at the presscon of not only one but two strike bans issued by the labor secretary, as well as of the various concessions PAL had offered them.

Obviously I was wrong. I realize now that some people's gall knows no bounds. The strike was an act as unjust as it was capricious, as malicious and malevolent as it was heedless.

It sought to serve or further no interest but that of the strikers themselves, and this even though already they are among the most equitably compensated of the nation's workforce, enjoying a payscale and benefits package that is the envy of most.

And it was staged in total disregard of two incontrovertible facts: that the company continues to be hobbled by huge debts incurred in the past and current operating losses of up to P3 million a day, and that a bloated payroll is in no small part to blame for the latter. Indeed, if as decency dictates the members of Palea merely took into account how their bread is buttered, and were anywhere near as sensible and loyal as the employees of other similarly distressed airlines, they would long ago have volunteered for substantial pay cuts just to help keep PAL afloat. But terminally parasitic it seems, they indubitably see in new owner Lucio Tan an even more juicy and hapless host than government has been all these years.

They would have us believe that they've bent over backward for "Kapitan," postponing any hostile moves until he had consolidated control over the carrier. Come on. It looks to me like these Palea vultures just wanted him up to the neck in the bog first, so they could begin fleecing him in earnest afterwards. In exchange for not rocking the boat at a critical juncture, they'd like a limitless free ride on what the Fortune Tobacco, Asia Brewery, Allied Bank, and the rest of Tan's business empire make.

Blackmail has always been their stock in trade, and they've been at it again, apparently hoping for two things: that the government will use the strike as an excuse to renew its campaign to cut the taipan down to size; and that to spare himself more woes and worries on such account, the tobacco king would let them have even the camiseta on his back. To the credit of the Ramos administration, the October 18 order of Secretary Quisumbing reiterated and that of October 24 left Palea out in the cold on the first score thus:

"The national government has substantial equity at (sic) PAL. Moreover, Petitioner is our country's flag carrier and a great deal of commercial and industrial trade, domestic and international, is dependent upon its continued and unhampered operation—Any work stoppage will also adversely effect economically other business entities whose activities are closely intertwined with Petitioner's. On top of these, disruption of the operations of PAL will unduly deprive the government of the much needed revenues to fund critical development projects."

But despite defying these others and inflicting an estimated P100 million in losses on the air-line, the strikers have reportedly gotten Mr. Tan's nod on three points: a new collective bargaining agreement before the end of the month; no contractual hire for jobs held by regular employees, and no retaliation against union members. On top of which the strikers were given until noon yesterday to report, so they could make up for lost sleep. Really now, the scalawags deserve so much after the rotten time they've put everybody through? What the hell, not even just a slap on the wrist for the crimes of wholesale economic sabotage and embarrassing the nation abroad?

Only if Mr. Tan and the government are now offering to place a wreath and light candles before the tombs of the dead whose loved ones weren't able to because of flight cancellations, besides of course reimbursing thousands of businessmen for tons of spoiled or delayed cargo and for millions of pesos worth of missed opportunities.

But not for any temporary truce, which is all DOLE, PAL, and Palea forged yesterday, can such huge material and emotional losses simply be written off. And if you ask me, not only the strikers, but the union as a whole, should be made to pay. Otherwise it will feel free to hold not just the government and Lucio Tan, but every Filipino who must take a plane hostage.

In fact they've given us fair warning as to when they're likely to do so again, in the deadline set for the new CBA: November 21, the very eve of APEC. Perish the thought or be gone, the lot should now be told in no uncertain terms.