PAL seeks dismissal of union's strike notice

By SAMUEL MEDENILLA
November 11, 2010, 8:04pm
The Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines — Flag-carrier Philippines Airlines (PAL) has filed motion at the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) for the dismissal of the notice of strike (NoS) by its ground-based labor union on Thursday.

PAL Spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said PAL management filed the motion after the PAL Employee’s Association (PALEA) filed a motion of strike at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board office in Intramuros, Manila last Oct. 29.

“PAL management contends that the issues raised are actually amplifications of the issues earlier raised in its first notice of strike,” Villaluna said.

PALEA filed a motion of strike after the PAL management’s alleged attempts to individually negotiate with its members and the mass dismissal of its union leaders.

“Management moved for the dismissal of the NoS on the grounds that issues raised by PALEA had already been ruled out by the DoLE in its earlier ruling,” Villaluna added.

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz had earlier approved the PAL management’s spin-off of its catering, call center, and airport service department as part of its restructuring program amid its alleged financial losses for the last two years.

Villaluna also assured the riding public that PAL operations will continue until DoLE has resolved PALEA’s notice of strike.

Meanwhile, PALEA plans to file a motion of reconsideration today at the Court of Appeals and ask President Benigno Aquino III to delay PAL’s implementation of its outsourcing program.
“We believe that the President has the powers to suspend the implementation of any executive decision including assailed decisions of his cabinet secretaries,” PALEA President Gerardo Rivera said in a statement.