PAL Dispute Worsens As Union Defies DOLE

The Manila Times

Saturday, November 2, 1996

By ARIES RUFO

Reporter

"BACK STABBED and betrayed."

This was how officials and counsels of the striking Philippine Airlines Employees' Association (PALEA) described the Department of Labor and Employment's (DOLE) issuance of a midnight return-to-work order to striking employees at 2 a.m. yesterday.

The union defied the order. As a result, policemen dispersed the picketlines last night at the international cargo terminal and the domestic airport.

As of 5:30 p.m. yesterday, PAL managed to operate only seven international flights out of Manila.

Domestic flight arrivals included those from Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro cities.

In a press conference, Arno Sanidad, PALEA legal counsel, sought the resignation of Executive Secretary Ruben Torres and labor officials for "backstabbing" the union after marathon conciliation talks that lasted till dawn of Friday.

'Tuloy ang welga'

Sanidad said he would not advise his clients "to respect and abide by the order which was prepared not to resolve the dispute but to spite another and [which was] prompted solely by petty squabbles."

"Tuloy ang welga (The strike continues),” he declared, as striking workers broke into loud applause.

Sanidad said that during the talks, the union agreed to a return-to-work order (RTWO) only on the following conditions: that management submit a counter-proposal to the union's demand and stop hiring contractuals.

PALEA has had no collective bargaining agreement for the last three years.

DOLE officials agreed to the conditions, and allowed the union leaders to leave the meeting to consult with other leaders, according to Sanidad.

PALEA leaders left the DOLE building optimistic that a compromise would be forged shortly after midnight, Sanidad said. To their surprise, however, DOLE issued the RTWO at about 2 a.m. Friday, even before union leaders could again sit down with management and labor conciliators to discuss the draft order.

Coup d' etat

Sanidad said the development was apparently caused by a power struggle within the labor department.

"To our mind, what transpired was an attempt at a coup d' etat within the department, where Secretary (Leonardo) Quisumbing's position was dependent on his being able to maintain industrial harmony at PAL—something which he was unable to achieve because (Labor Undersecretary) Jose Español was unable to release the order granting PALEA's contempt motion and which now left him (Quisumbing) vulnerable to an attempt to unseat him from officials allied with Secretary Torres, namely (Undersecretary Bienvenido) Magsalin and (Undersecretary Crecensiano) Trajano."

Thus, according to Sanidad, the PAL dispute has been "trivialized" into a power struggle between two factions at DOLE—one which is pro-Quisumbing and the other faction allied with Español.

"Everybody wanted to get credit for resolving the dispute and boost their political stock. What we only wanted was to settle the dispute. Nobody wants to go on with the strike," the former human rights lawyer, said.

Sanidad, joined by PALEA President Alex Barrientos, served notice that the striking workers will ignore the RTWO issued by Trajano, who is also Acting Labor Secretary in place of Quisumbing who is out of the country.

It was Trajano who "backstabbed" the workers, Sanidad said.

Trajano's denial

Trajano denied the allegation, retorting that Sanidad "is entitled to his own opinion...We were only doing our job."

He also retracted an earlier statement to reporters that a conciliatory meeting was scheduled to take place with PALEA and PAL management.

"There was no agreement to have a meeting today. What we agreed on was that department undersecretaries and conciliators will report and monitor the outcome of the RTWO if this is being complied with," he said.

Trajano ordered the striking workers to return to work and directed management to accept all the workers under "the same terms and conditions prevailing prior to the strike."

The company was also ordered to "cease and desist from imposing any disciplinary action in connection with the work stoppage."

For APEC

The PAL strike, Trajano said, has put the country in a "bad light" as preparations for the forthcoming APEC Summit are now in high gear.

But Sanidad said the order was made after "backroom deals" were initiated by Torres, who used to be Labor Secretary, Quisumbing, Trajano, Magsalin as well as conciliators Elliot Cojuangco, Sancho Almeda, Hesiquio Mallilin, Audie Melchor and Alejandro Jimenez.

Deploring the DOLE officials, Sanidad said: "It has become obvious to us that if the highest labor officials of the land can wheel and deal and horse-trade for their personal benefit [at the expense of] a labor union like PALEA, with so much more reason will they not hesitate to sell PALEA and other unions down the drain should more profitable opportunities for political and financial gain from employers present themselves."

Barrientos said ground personnel will not return to their posts since the order has not been served to them.

Another panel

Sanidad and Barrientos asked President Ramos to designate another panel of government officials other than those from the DOLE to solve the dispute.

Sanidad pointed out that the RTWO was illegal and cited the minutes of the conciliation talks.

He said no temporary or permanent injunction can be issued in a labor dispute until after hearing and examining the testimony of witnesses. In this case, the witness is the PALEA.

This is the third strike staged by PAL in two years. The first two were staged in 1994.

PALEA struck Wednesday to protest alleged union-busting activities by management which, they said, has been hiring contractuals in the catering and other units.