PAL Strike on 2nd Day

The Philippine Journal

Friday, November 1, 1996

A strike by ground crews of Philippine Airlines continued for a second day yesterday, forcing the cancellation of 34 more domestic and international flights and stranding thousands of passengers.

The airline management called the strike illegal and warned that strikers would be "deemed terminated" for abandoning their jobs if they do not return to work at noon today.

Members of the PAL Employees' Association went on strike late Wednesday over alleged union-busting activities by the management and a deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations.

PAL canceled seven international flights and 27 domestic flights early Thursday. Eight international and 13 domestic flights were canceled late Wednesday.

Two PAL flights arriving from San Francisco and Los Angeles and six other international flights were unaffected, PAL officials said.

Noel Navarrosa, Terminal Operations Assistant at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, said other foreign airlines suffered delays in departures and arrivals because most use PAL ground crews who went on strike.

A Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong had to wait about 30 minutes on a taxiway before it could be parked at the terminal, Navarrosa said.

He said PAL managers, supervisors and other non-striking staff were handling ground operations for PAL and other airlines, some of them operating airplane tow trucks.

PAL said in a statement that thousands of arriving passengers were stranded at airline terminals because workers refused to unload baggage.

It said workers barricaded entrances and exits at company premises, blocked the transfer of food for departing planes and cut off power at the cargo office.

The union, one of three at the airline represents 9,000 ground service crew and mechanics.

The strike began as Filipinos prepared to travel to the provinces for a three-day holiday beginning on All Saints' Day today.

On Oct. 4, PALEA filed a strike notice with the Labor department. Two other PAL unions representing pilots and flight attendants earlier filed strike notices.

Labor Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing assumed jurisdiction over PALEA's strike notice on Oct. 18 and issued an order banning the workers from striking and management from locking out workers.

Quisumbing cited national interest as reason for the strike ban, which could disrupt preparations for next month's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the Philippines.

Union leaders, however, said the law allows an immediate strike over a separate charge of union-busting against management.