Philippine Daily Inquirer
Saturday, November 2, 1996
By ARMAND NOCUM AND ROCKY NAZARENO
THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment ordered Philippine Airlines ground workers to end a three-day strike by midnight last night, threatening to dismiss those who refuse to return to work.
But the airlines' ground employees, members of the PAL Employees' Association (Palea), defied the order to end a three-day strike that has stranded thousands of passengers.
Acting Labor Secretary Cresenciano Trajano, who was mediating the dispute, issued the return-to-work order late Thursday, after talks bogged down following nine hours of meetings.
He ordered PAL management to accept the return of striking workers without sanctions as a goodwill gesture.
Trajano also ordered the police and airport officials to stop workers from blocking the airports.
But Palea Vice President Gerry Rivera said workers will not return until they have received an official copy of Trajano's order.
"We have no plans to return to work," said Palea board member Abel Capili. "We will fight them to the bitter end."
Capili said the union had not received an official copy of the labor department's order and had only read about it in newspaper reports.
As midday passed, there were no signs of workers returning to their posts.
Airline pilots and flight attendants have not joined the strike.
Strikers alleged that airport police and plainclothes lawmen tried to break up their barricades yesterday afternoon.
Palea president Alexander Barrientos told reporters "the Philippine National Police is now moving in to break up our picket lines."
A check by the INQUIRER at the Manila Domestic Airport showed that the picket lines were intact. A group of airport policemen manned the airport gates.
"They only backed off when you (media members) came," a striker said. "We're worried that they'll strike tonight once you turn your backs."
At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, about 80 vehicles of Palea members and sympathizers staged a motorcade and noise barrage around the airport.
Workers barricaded entrances and exits at company premises, blocked the transfer of food for departing planes and cut off power at the cargo office.
Thousands of passengers were stranded at Naia and the domestic airport when Palea, the union of ground employees, mounted the strike to press for higher wages.
The union was also protesting a company policy of contracting out services like engine repair and catering, fearing mass lay-offs.
Demands dismissed
PAL President Jose Antonio Garcia described as "unrealistic" the P3.2-billion economic package that the union is demanding.
Management has also defended the refleeting and modernization program, saying they are crucial to turning around the loss-making national flag carrier.
Operations at both international and domestic airports remained hampered yesterday as only a skeleton workforce were on hand, airport officials said.
Sixteen international flights left Manila yesterday and nine flights arrived, said a duty officer at the airport ground operations center. Seven departing flights and nine arriving flights of PAL were cancelled.
Palea lawyer Theodore Te criticized management for refusing to talk to the union until workers lift the strike.
The union voted not to recognize future efforts of labor officials to broker negotiations between them and PAL management.
"That order is invalid, illegal," said another Palea lawyer, Arno Sanidad, referring to the return-to-worker ruling.
He accused Trajano of treachery for issuing the order while the negotiations were still being held.
Palea officials also denounced Executive Secretary Ruben Torres for meddling in the efforts of the labor department to patch things up between Palea and management.
Scrambling for credit
Sanidad said Torres' involvement resulted in a power struggle and in-fighting among top labor officials scrambling to get credit for resolving the strike issue.
"What started as a labor dispute has now assumed a more complex, intricate and sinister color," Sanidad said.
He said the opposing groups were those of Trajano and Labor Undersecretaries
Buenaventura Magsalin, Hesiquio Malilin who allegedly tried to block efforts to end the strike so as to deny Labor Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing the credit for resolving it.
The other group was said to be led by Undersecretary Jose Español and which tried hard to make the strikers go back to work in time for Quisumbing's arrival late last night.
"We are not spoiled brats," Palea Vice President Rivera told the INQUIRER. "Our demands are no different from those asked by other labor groups."
He said the collective bargaining agreement proposals that the union presented to PAL management last year were practical.
He admitted that among their demands is the granting of "menstrual leave" to female ground employees.
He said workers in Japan and Korea get menstrual leave. "Many of PAL's female ground crew are prone to make mistakes when they are in their menstrual cycle," he said. "They are usually irritable behind the counter."
He said all their other CBA requests are reasonable – such as an across-the-board increase of P5, 000 and other benefits granted by law.
He dismissed the impression that they are enjoying many benefits given to them when PAL used to monopolize air service in the country.
PAL has been beleaguered by large financial losses and labor unrest. It posted a net loss of P1.75 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, about 2 percent more than the previous year. With reports from AP, AFP
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