PAL Wakes Up to Another Nightmare

The Sunday Chronicle

Sunday, November 3, 1996

Point of Origin

By BING JALECO

FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) once again finds itself in the midst of a controversy, this time over a strike called by the Philippine Airlines Employees' Association (PALEA), the biggest of the carrier's three labor unions.

The strike came a few days after PAL management offered company stacks to employees as part of its promise to make PAL employees part-owners of the company. Under the offer, PAL shares (unsubscribed) will be made available at P5 per share. It was also made in response to PALEA's demand for an additional P3.2 billion in salary hikes and benefits over a two-year period. Broken down, this translates into a P5,000 across the board wage increase, increase in leave entitlements and introduction of new benefits like free shuttle bus, vacation pay, day care center, etc.

Talk about bad timing. Just when everyone thought PAL's problems were over, a new issue crops up. And it's almost always tied to money. Now, PAL union members want more. They want more money, more benefits and more say. And when the issues with PALEA are resolved, FASAP will be waiting with their own set of demands.

I’ve already heard familiar issues being raised like flying time for flight crew and the number of hours granted to flight attendants for rest in between flights. I've even heard Senate President Ernesto Maceda say PAL may be compromising safety by not giving these FAs ample time to rest or that the flag carrier is allowing probationary employees to work some of the flights.

PAL has awakened to another nightmare and the prospects of an early settlement appear dim. As if working out an arrangement for the ownership issue was not enough, PAL now has to contend with its own employees.

The conventional wisdom is for everyone at the flag carrier to agree on the future of their company, something which obviously escapes the striking union members at the

moment. When they finally agree on the course they are to take, then that's the time to let the chips fall.