NOYNOY ORDERS OCHOA TO BROKER TALKS BETWEEN PAL, UNION
MANILA, DECEMBER 9, 2010 (MALAYA) President Aquino ordered Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa (photo) to step into the row between Philippine Airlines and PAL Employees Association to help ensure clear and unhampered communications between the two.
Aquino, in an ambush interview at the Core Shelter program inspection in Bani in Pangasinan, said Ochoa was set to talk with PAL management and PALEA representatives yesterday.
"I tasked (Ochoa) to talk with both PALEA and PAL management. My understanding about a few weeks ago was that they were closer to resolving the issues. (It) seems that there has been miscommunication, things that should have been transmitted to the other party were not done so the ES is taking care of that," he said.
PALEA filed last month a petition before the Office of the President seeking the reversal of the decision of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz allowing the retrenchment of 2,600 employees of the Philippine Airlines.
But PALEA, in a turnaround, held a strike vote yesterday.
PAL said it welcomes the decision of Aquino to designate Ochoa as broker.
PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said the flag carrier wants to resolve the issue of whether or not PALEA has legal grounds to conduct a strike vote, much less engage in a work stoppage.
"PAL appreciates President Aquino's concern and desire to put closure to the PAL-PALEA dispute. Like the President, PAL believes that the public deserves a quick resolution to this issue so as not to further cause anxiety to thousands of passengers who have already firmed up their holiday travel plans," she said.
Villaluna said PAL lawyers are questioning the legality and propriety of the strike vote. "It's not a question of how many 'yes' or 'no' votes were cast by PALEA members; the issue is whether or not there is a legal justification for such referendum. PAL believes there is none," she said
"Philippine Airlines apologizes for the inconvenience and anxiety caused by recent news reports about the planned strike of its ground workers. Please be assured that PAL is exhausting all legal avenues to avert a work stoppage. There are no winners in a strike: the economy, the airline, its workers and most importantly, the riding public, are all losers in a labor strike," she said.
Villaluna said it's business as usual at PAL.
"All flights continue to operate normally according to published schedules," PAL she said.
She assured PAL passengers, especially those flying in and out of the country during the coming holidays, that PAL is exerting all efforts to ensure that there will be no flight disruptions.
Villaluna urged PAL passengers to come to the airport early – at least two hours before the intended departure time – to avoid long queues and other inconveniences.
"With heavy traffic, huge volume of passengers and tighter security checks as the holiday season nears, we would like to request our passengers to devote enough lead time when going to the airport. Please ensure that tickets and all travel documents are in order prior to approaching the check in counters," she said.
FROM GMANEWS TV
PAL union leader hopeful for Yes win in strike vote GMANews.TV - Wednesday, December 8, 2010
On the eve of releasing the complete results of its strike vote, which was expected to reach a final tally by morning of Wednesday, the rank-and-file workers union of national carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it is hopeful that its members will vote to go on strike.
Alnem Pretencio, Vice-President of the Philippine Airlines Employees' Association (PALEA), said in a phone interview with GMANews.TV that while the union still did not yet have a full count of the votes of all its 3,700 members, it was "hopeful" that more than the majority of members will vote for a strike.
"Historically, 70 percent or above ang kadalasang resulta ng mga strike votes ng PALEA [was the usual result of strike votes by PALEA]," Pretencio said. As of 1 a.m., Wednesday, PALEA's election team was able to count most of the votes from its members in PAL offices in Metro Manila. Some of the votes from members in the airports of Cebu and Davao were still coming in, while those from the outlying PAL stations in 14 other cities nationwide had just begun to trickle in, the union official said. When asked if he could predict the results, the union official refused to air his speculations, but still exuded a hopeful note.
"Ayaw naming pangunahin yung aming Committee on Elections, pero maari kong sabihin na malaki ang pangarap namin na boboto ang mga miyembro namin ng yes," he said. (We don't want to preempt our Committee on Elections, but I can say that our hopes are high that our members will vote yes.) Nonetheless, even if the strike vote turns out positive, PALEA will not immediately go on strike — at least for the next seven days. "We will be complying with the cooling off period," Pretencio said. Under the Philippine Labor Code, the cooling-off period between a strike vote and the actual strike is 20 days. But for strikes declared over unfair labor practices and union busting, the period is seven days, he said.
Should its members vote not to hold a strike, Pretencio said that the union leadership will comply. "Siyempre, naniniwala kami sa [Naturally, we believe in] democratic processes," he said. PALEA also said that it was hopeful that things could change within the next few days, as Malacañang is also mediating the talks. In mid-November, PALEA sought presidential intervention after losing its bid to reverse the DOLE decision recognizing PAL management's prerogative to spin off its airport services, catering and call center reservations units.
"Mas mabuti na may [It's better that there's] room for both parties to come to an agreement," the union leader said.—Dani Molintas/JV, GMANews.TV
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