Lack of Pilots forces PAL to cancel flights

[shadow]

strike na!!!

[Ry_Tower]

Go go go, strike na!

Pero ilipat sana Mabuhay Miles sa AirPhil

Sana nga, sayang miles ko wahahaha!

[james00112233]

strike na!!!

oo nga. pinapatagal pa, dun din naman ang punta.

[shadow]

kaya pala yun galing akong Cebu, masyadong nagmamadali mga FAs dahil utol pala ng PALEA sa kanila na hinde na sila pwedeng lumagpas sa working hours kahit na 1 minute.

[vinkim]

Lucio is getting older, I think its his plan to sell PAL, it may also be a part of the agreement between the buyer and seller that all employees should be on a contactual basis na lang.
also, wala naman siyang close sa mga anak niya so no one would definitely continue his legacy as a chairman.

[chua_riwap]

mag-strike na sila! pangit naman serbisyo nila.......
kaya dito sa m.east kung pwede lang iiwasan itong PAL.

[Ry_Tower]

mag-strike na sila! pangit naman serbisyo nila.......
kaya dito sa m.east kung pwede lang iiwasan itong PAL.

AFAIK mahal nga daw ticket ng PAL in international flights.

[ptk675]

strike na!!!

teka muna pag natapos na yung trip ko sa Beijing hehe hirap ma stranded

pero personally i take PAL flights 95% of the time, if only because i like NAIA2 better than NAIA1 terminal and most of their schedules fit my schedule. sayang kung magsara. pero i agree from the looks of it, ang game plan talga is to either sell or shut it down, tutal may airphil na nga.

[Monseratto]

Hahaha...pati yung PALEA president mawawalan ng trabaho kung matuloy ang outsourcing. Precondition ng PAL management sa CBA involes only members not affected by the outsourcing. Union busted!

PAL union workers vow to bring outsourcing plan to SC
By Philip Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:56:00 03/31/2011

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) vowed to challenge before the Supreme Court Malacanang’s decision to uphold the outsourcing plan at the national flag carrier.

PALEA president Gerry Rivera made the statement on Wednesday as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) tried to patch up for the second straight day the labor row between union and management that could lead to a strike as early as Saturday.

“The ruling of the Office of the President (OP) is not yet final and executory. We can still appeal that before the courts. I think the last arbiter would be the Supreme Court,” Rivera said in an interview.

He said even PAL management—before Malacanang released its decision allowing the outsourcing of 2,600 jobs—said that it would go to the courts if the Palace ruled against them.

“We just received the OP decision this Monday and we are now studying it to prepare an appeal before the court of Appeals or the High Court,” Rivera said.

The union leader also insisted that management has been refusing to negotiate for a new collecting bargaining agreement (CBA) with PALEA—the reason why the union has threatened to go on strike as early as this weekend.

Rivera explained that while PAL submitted its CBA counter-proposal on Monday, it included the ‘precondition” that the CBA should cover only those who would not be affected by its outsourcing plan.

“So, who will be left? I myself will be affected by the outsourcing plan. So, they are still refusing to negotiate. Our position is the CBA negotiation should be treated independently from other issues,” Rivera said.

“The CBA is a right of workers and the obligation of management so there should be no preconditions except for those that we agreed to,” he said.

“But they’re imposing this precondition…What if it takes the courts five years to rule on the (outsourcing) issue, does that mean we won’t have a CBA for the next five years? That is unacceptable,” he added.

Rivera said the DoLE officials suggested during the first conciliation hearing on Tuesday at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) that this precondition of PAL be removed but the issue remained unresolved.

Another mediation hearing was held Wednesday afternoon at the NCMB but Rivera said PAL president Jaime Bautista was not present because he left for New Delhi on Tuesday night with PAL owner Lucio Tan.

“With the (PAL) president absent, I don’t know if those present on their side have the authority to negotiate and seal agreements,” said Rivera, who also did not attend Wednesday’s hearing and sent only PALEA representatives and lawyers to the hearing.

PALEA last week held a strike vote and majority of its members agreed to go on strike due to the “refusal” of PAL management to negotiate a new CBA.

Rivera said that they submitted the results to DoLE last Friday, which meant that upon the end of the seven-day “strike ban” this Friday, PALEA would legally be able to on strike.

However, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz could assume jurisdiction over the labor case since a labor strike at the flag carrier could affect national interests. Such a move would ban any strike from breaking out at PAL.

“We’ll cross the bridge when we get there,” Rivera said, when asked what PALEA would do if Baldoz made such a move.

[wowiesy]

Hahaha...pati yung PALEA president mawawalan ng trabaho kung matuloy ang outsourcing. Precondition ng PAL management sa CBA involes only members not affected by the outsourcing. Union busted!

in a way, yung argument ng PALEA is also practical ... since natalo na ang PALEA sa Malacanang.. they can buy time by appealing sa CA, or sa SC... mas gustuhin nila malamang mag file sa CA.. para mas matagal... sa CA na.. pag nanalo sila.. mag appeal uli sa SC... pag natalo sila sa CA, sila naman mag appeal sa SC... pag umabot sa SC.. kahit sino manalo, mag MR pa yan... so.. patagalin na lang talaga...

in the meantime habang wala pang finality, pano nga naman ang CBA.. habang wala pang finality, nag iintay pa rin sila lahat.. therefore, PALEA would insist na new CBA na (which may have an effect of making some points of the outsourcing plan moot and academic) so syempre di rin basta papayag ang PAL..

hmm... hopefully, the court can find an extra legal (but still legal way)... kung ipatupad agad yung outsourcing plan.. maglalabas ng pera ang PAL... then kapag sa kahuli hulihan natalo PAL sa SC.. mag refund ba sila? pano yung outsourcing? gulo... pag di naman ipatupad.. upto what parts and portions ng CBA ang puwede pa i nego without prejudice dun sa rights ng both parties under the outsourcing plan?

madugo dugo nga to...

[Zeus]

Ano na ang nangyari sa strike?...

[Ry_Tower]

^baka nagkakabayaran na?

[Monseratto]

Yung strike moratorium ended past midnight... unless DOLE gets involve and declares an extension in the "national" interest.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/...holding-strike

Labor chief bars PALEA from holding strike
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 04/02/2011 2:55 AM | Updated as of 04/02/2011 11:05 AM


MANILA, Philippines - Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said ground crew employees of local carrier Philippine Airlines cannot proceed with the planned nationwide strike since there was no deadlock in the talks on collective bargaining agreement yet.

“It was not a deadlock. This concerns unfair labor practice so it’s an NLRC case. But the effect is the same, they cannot hold a strike while the case is being heard,” The Philippine Star quoted her as saying.

The Labor chief was expected to assume “jurisdiction” of the case but she said that she could not exercise this option since the CBA dispute did not end in deadlock.

“I transferred the case to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). It’s for the commission now to decide,” Baldoz said in a telephone interview with The Star.

The nationwide strike is meant to paralyze the operations of the Lucio Tan-owned carrier amid a dispute on CBA issues which are intertwined with the controversial outsourcing plan.

In a chicken-and-egg situation, the ground crew employees who are members of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) want to demand the start of the negotiations for a new CBA agreement with management.

However, management wants to proceed with the outsourcing plan first before starting new CBA negotiations.

The labor department and the Office of the Executive Secretary have separately approved the outsourcing plan. Both said outsourcing is "management prerogative" as PAL reportedly suffers from stiff competition in the aviation industry.

Since the outsourcing plan will result in the transfer of about 2,600 regular jobs with PAL into contractual employment with third party service providers, PALEA said this will significantly reduce the number of their members, effectively weakening them during the CBA negotiations.

The strike would have been the union's first since 1998. Rivera has said the CBA has been put on hold for 12 years after PAL was hit by the financial crisis in 1998.

“PALEA is 100% ready for a strike that will paralyze the operations of Philippine Airlines (PAL) that, in cahoots with the Aquino government, wants to deny workers the right to regular jobs and a CBA,” said PALEA president Gerry Rivera.

Rivera earlier said the “only thing that can prevent a strike is for PAL to heed the demand to stop outsourcing and open CBA negotiations without preconditions.”

PALEA members pushed for the revival of CBA negotiations and the scrapping of the planned spin-off since it stressed that the airline already posted a financial turnaround in 2010, and that it expects to earn as much as $1.6 billion in fiscal year 2011.

Contingency measures

PAL earlier said it has contingency measures in place to minimize flight disruptions in case PALEA undertook a strike.

The airline management maintained that the work stoppage had no legal basis, and would be "dealt with severely."

PAL said negotiations are still ongoing before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), where it filed its CBA counter-proposal last March 28.

PAL and its ground crew union have been in a labor row since last year.

[chua_riwap]

parang narinig ko sa ANC......postponed daw yung strike?

[Monseratto]

I think the Church should look at themsleves before commenting on how businesses are run. All profit and no taxes... Wag kayo makisawsaw sa problema na wala kayong pakialam.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=255048029838

http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/13611

Bishop ‘disappointed’ as gov’t allows mass layoff

MANILA, Nov. 4, 2010—Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said he is “disappointed” by the government’s decision to allow the Philippine Airlines’ planned mass layoff of some 3,000 employees.

Pabillo said the recent decision of the Department of Labor and Employment will deprive the workers the just share of the fruits of their labor.

“This clearly shows that the policy of the present administration is to favor the capitalists than the ordinary workers,” he said.

Pabillo chairs the National Secretariat for Social Action- Justice and Peace (Nassa), the social action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

According to him, it also means that it is a policy of the Aquino administration to continue the labor-only contracting arrangements and casualization of labor in the country.

The prelate said that the dignity of work comes from the laborers themselves and not from the capital which is controlled by capitalists.

In line with the thoughts of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines, Pabillo stressed the “priority of labor over capital.”

“The capital is needed but labor should have the primacy. Let’s give more importance to the workers,” said Pabillo.

“But in the case of the PAL Employees’ Association (Palea), it seems that profit is more important for the government than the dignity of people,” he lamented.

Last week, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, in a written directive, has allowed PAL’s planned retrenchment and contractualization.

With the decision, Baldoz also affirmed the previous order of then acting labor secretary Romeo Lagman giving the green light on PAL’s plan to outsource 3 non-core operations and lay off workers.

Like Lagman, Baldoz said that it is PAL’s “management prerogative” to reorganize its corporate structure for the viability of its operations.

The decision, however, earned the ire of the Palea members. On Monday, workers who will be affected by the mass lay off staged a protest rally in front of DOLE’s main office in Intramuros, Manila.

The demonstrators also vowed of more protests to come if the government will not withdraw its decision in favor of the PAL management. (CBCPNews)

[CVT]

Medyo tag-hirap nga ngayon sa mga airlines, lalo na sa bandang middle east kung saan may kaguluhan at kung saan din lumipat ang dating mga piloto ng PAL... Baka nga raw magkaroon sila ng "mahabang bakasyon" dahil kakaunti lang ang flights sa mga panahon na ito....

12.7K:fart1:

[uls]

and high fuel cost

[Ry_Tower]

I think the Church should look at themsleves before commenting on how businesses are run. All profit and no taxes... Wag kayo makisawsaw sa problema na wala kayong pakialam.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=255048029838

http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/13611

Oo nga, malay ba nila sa financial statement ng company. Mabuti pa kung independent auditor ang tumingin sa libro nila at nagsabing hindi nalulugi or maliit lang kita pero puwede pa.

[Horsepower]

Ano ba ang option or severance package na binibigay ng PAL? Honestly, naaawa ako sa mga tao na ito.

Just put yourselves in their position. You're middle-aged, too young to retire and too old to start anew. Kahit siguro sino, ipaglalaban ang karapatan nila.

It's easy for most to just say na mag-strike sila para magsara or matanggal. Perhaps because you're leading comfortable lives courtesy of your parents but these fellows are just workers. They need a job to feed a family, send their children to school, pay bills, and the most gruesome: debt with interest.

If you're in your mid-40s, and you have no one to count on, much less ask money from, I'd bet you'll feel frustration and get desperate too after giving your youth to a company that's now giving you the boot when you're unemployable.

[eld]

Pilots earn way more than the average Pinoy worker. Besides, if they desire first world income, they should've worked for a first world airline.