PALEA slams arrest of another member, sees impending arrest of 37 others

By: InterAksyon.com
November 8, 2012 4:02 PM

File photo of a PALEA protest-action, September 2011.Joseph Agcaoili/InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) on Friday condemned the arrest of another of its members as the group prepares for another protest-action at the airport area in Pasay City.

Esther Gonzaga was arrested Thursday noon in Makati City and was granted temporary freedom at 6:30 p.m. the same day after posting bail, PALEA said in a statement. 

Gonzaga, a community leader, was nabbed near her residence while attending a barangay meeting.

The arrest of Gonzaga followed the apprehension of Romeo Sayas, who was detained in Malvar, Batangas for several days before he was released on bail.

The arrests stemmed from the August 15, 2012 order by Judge Bibiano Colasito of the Pasay City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 44 to issue warrants against 39 PALEA members who were charged with grave coearcion by the PAL management.

The case is in connection with the September 2011 PALEA's blockade of the PAL Inflight Center along the city's MIA Road to protest the flag carrier's outsourcing program.

PALEA said it "believes that the warrants of arrest on the remaining 37 PALEA members may also be served in the coming days."

PALEA said that it was a "harrassment case," but the management claimed that it was the group that harassed airline staffers and service providers during the blockade.

The management also filed another case against 234 PALEA members, who were accused of violating Republic Act 9497 or the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Law.

The case was filed after PALEA members staged a protest at the Manila International Airport on September 27, 2011.

The management claimed that protesting PALEA members violated Section 81(b)(5) of the CAAP Law, which sanctions “any person who destroys or seriously damages the facilities of an airport or disrupts the services of an airport.”

According to Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chairperson of the Partido ng Manggagawa, "no criminal information can be filed against workers without the required clearance from the Department of Labor and Employment."

He said this prohibition is stated in the Department of Justice's Ministry Circular No. 15 (Series of 1982) and DOLE Order No. 40-G-03 (Series of 2010)

“Absent such clearance, the courts are mandated to dismiss the charges outright. Such a policy, started after the formal lifting of martial law, aims to resolve rather than aggravate labor disputes and regulate the proclivity of capitalists to engage in harassment suits against workers,” Rivera said in a statement.

PALEA also assailed Colasito and Pasay Assistant City Prosecutor Orlando Mariano for finding probable cause and ordering the issuance of arrest warrants against 39 PALEA members.

“These officers of the court not only defied labor statutes but infringed on our members right to due process, and thus deserve to face administrative charges,” Rivera said. 

source: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/47554/palea-slams-arrest-of-another-member-sees-impending-arrest-of-37-others

PALEA condemns arrest of member

Press Release

October 17, 2012

PALEA

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) condemned the arrest of one of its members as it staged an indignation rally today in front of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) In-Flight Center near the Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

PALEA member Romeo Sayas was arrested and jailed in Malvar, Batangas yesterday. PALEA supporters from the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) chapter in Batangas immediately visited Sayas and reported that he is in good condition. Another 38 PALEA members, two of whom are women, also face detention once served arrest warrants issued by Pasay City Municipal Trial Court (MTC) Branch 44.

Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and PM vice chair declared that “The harassment case of grave coercion was filed by the old management of PAL against the PALEA 39 whovaliantly defended the protest camp when it was attacked by hired goons on October 29, 2011.”

He also announced that PALEA is going to file a motion to quash or recall the warrant of arrest and is mobilizing its members for protests at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Aside from the case against the PALEA 39, there are two more criminal suits pending against union members due to the labor row. Rivera called on new PAL President Ramon Ang “to facilitate the resolution of the labor dispute by dropping the trumped up charges against our members which were filed under the old company management of Jaime Bautista.”

He explained that as enunciated in under DOJ Ministry Circular No. 15 (Series of 1982) and DOLE Order No. 40-G-03 (Series of 2010), no criminal information can be filed against workers without the required clearance from the DOLE. “Absent such clearance, the courts are mandated to dismiss the charges outright. Such a policy, started after the formal lifting of martial law, aims to resolve rather than aggravate labor disputes and regulate the proclivity of capitalists to engage in harassment suits against workers,” Rivera elaborated.

PALEA also lambasted Pasay Assistant City Prosecutor Orlando Mariano and Judge Bibiano Colasito of the Pasay MTC Branch 44 for finding probable cause and ordering the issuance of arrest warrants against 39 PALEA members. “These officers of the court not only defied labor statutes but infringed on our members right to due process, and thus deserve to face administrative charges,” Rivera insisted.

He also denounced PAL lawyer Atty. Santiago “Sonny” Quial for “legal machinations.” Quial is running for district representative in Pasay for the coming elections. “As many PALEA members are Pasay voters, we will make sure that a law breaker does not become a law maker,” Rivera claimed.

PAL vows to end dispute with workers

By Paolo G. Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

12:57 am | Monday, October 1st, 2012

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) long history of dealing with labor woes may finally end with the company’s new management making serious attempts to restore good relations with its workers.

PAL president Ramon S. Ang said the company’s top officials have returned to the negotiation table with its former workers—under the PAL Employees Association (Palea)—to explore various options, including the reinstatement of former workers.

“Both sides are being reasonable. Things are looking better and we are starting to understand each other,” Ang said, describing the new management’s first meeting with Palea officials last month. “We are serious about this.”

Ang, who also sits as president and chief operating officer of PAL’s new controlling shareholder San Miguel Corp., said the resolution of the labor dispute with Palea was one of the airline’s top priorities.

The dispute stemmed from the previous management’s decision to shut down three “non-core” departments, particularly the airline’s call center reservations, airport services and in-flight catering groups, after these activities were outsourced.

The legality of the outsourcing scheme was questioned by Palea before the Court of Appeals, which has yet to decide on the case.

About 2,400 workers were laid off as a result of the move but were promised jobs at the outsourcing companies that took over the PAL activities. The outsourcing was done as a way to cut costs and turn the airline around.

The flag carrier posted a net income of $11.4 million in April to May of 2012, the first quarter of the airline’s current fiscal year.

“We want to find a solution. What they are asking for, and what we can give, we will make the two meet,” Ang said. “What’s important is that we treat them humanely.”

Source: http://business.inquirer.net/84858/pal-vows-to-end-dispute-with-workers#.UGjqHJNoKX8.facebook

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The latest Asia Workers Organising newsletter on Airline industry disputes is now available through this link The Fight for the Sky.

PAL ditches second wave of retrenchments

By: Darwin G. Amojelar, InterAksyon.com
August 30, 2012 5:26 PM                      

MANILA - Philippine Airlines on Thursday said it was no longer necessary to retrench more workers to return the carrier to profitability.

"There is no need for PAL to cut more employees. In fact, we will hire additional pilots and 1,600 flight attendant for our re-fleeting program," Ramon S. Ang, president of PAL said.

PAL had entered a $7 billion deal with Airbus to purchase 54 aircrafts over the next three years. 

At end-March, PAL's workforce numbered 4,803, of which 463 were pilots; 1,626, cabin crew; and 2,714 ground employees.

Before the San Miguel group bought into PAL, the flag carrier's previous president, Jaime Bautista, said the airline would lay off 500 more people on top of the 2,400 employees retrenched after ground handling, ticket reservations and catering were outsourced.

The second round of layoffs was supposed to trim the number of employees in human resources, IT and logistics.

PAL had tapped SkyKitchen Philippines Inc. for its catering, SkyLogistics Philippines Inc. for ground handling, and SPi Global for call center reservations.

The airline had allocated about P2.5 billion in severance benefits for affected workers. 

Based on the October 29, 2010 order of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, affected workers will receive separation pay equivalent to 125 percent of their monthly salary for every year of service, a P50,000 gratuity pay, a 100 percent conversion of unused vacation and sick leaves, trip pass, and other non-cash benefits.

Malacanang also granted an additional P50,000 gratuity pay.

http://www.interaksyon.com/business/41890/pal-ditches-second-wave-of-retrenchments

PALEA holds protest as 234 members threatened with arrest

Press Release

July 27, 2012

PALEA

Some 100 members of the Philippine Airlines Employee Association (PALEA) picketed the Pasay Hall of Justice this morning as union lawyers filed a petition for the Municipal Trial Court to review the finding of “probable cause” by a fiscal. In a resolution dated June 20, 2012, the city prosecutor recommended the filing of information against 234 respondents to the case.

“Ex-President Gloria Arroyo is freed on bail by a Pasay fiscal despite arguably strong evidence of electoral sabotage while a colleague threatens 234 workers with arrest for alleged ‘economic sabotage’ on dubious grounds. PALEA’s protest at the airport last September 27, 2011 was an exercise of the constitutionally guaranteed right of workers to concerted action and thus not illegal nor criminal,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president.

Warrants of arrest may be issued against the accused even as the resolution provides for bail of Php 6,000 each or a total of Php 1,404,000. Philippine Airlines (PAL) filed the case for alleged violation of RA 9497 or the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Law, specifically Section 81 (b) (5) which sanctions “any person who destroys or seriously damages the facilities of an airport or disrupts the services of an airport”. PAL initially announced that some 300 PALEA members joined the protest action thus the respondents have been called the PALEA 300.

Rivera added that the decision has a chilling effect on labor relations and is a clear and present danger to workers rights. “Labor protests will then be banned in the aviation industry with workers penalized by both imprisonment and fine in violation of constitutionally guaranteed rights. This will be a grave precedent and new special laws can then be enacted to deny workers the freedoms of assembly, expression, self-organization and strike. But PALEA will not be cowed as our fight enters it 10^th month,” he explained.

“Early next week, we will also file a similar petition to the Department of Justice, which has jurisdiction over prosecutors, for a review of the resolution. We expect that these motions would stay the issuance of warrants of arrest,” Rivera added.

He explained that “The decision is void of any legal basis as no damages were committed to airport facilities. Moreover the case is a labor issue and thus prior authority from the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Justice should have been secured prior to the filing of the complaint. The CAAP Law is also explicit in providing that ‘only the Director General’ can file the appropriate charges and not the PAL Vice-President of the Airport Services as in this case.”

Rivera further asserted that PAL services deteriorated sharply after September not because of damaged equipments but due to lack of skilled and experienced manpower after PALEA members, in opposition to outsourcing, refused to transfer to assigned service providers. PALEA insists that PAL can only “fly the flag proud” by getting its regular workers back. Supporters of PALEA are calling for a boycott of PAL and its sister company Air Philippines until the laid off workers are reinstated to their regular jobs.

http://partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com/2012/07/palea-holds-protest-as-234-members.html

PNoy’s SONA: Long in duration, short on its claim

Press Statement

July 24, 2012

President Benigno Aquino III’s SONA speech may have been the longest in history but it falls short on its claim of historic changes under his administration. The changes instituted are merely superficial not thoroughgoing. No social and economic reform has been implemented in the last two years and none forthcoming. PNoy even lacks the commitment to push for the Freedom of Information bill which should be a plank of his good governance advocacy.

PNoy asserts that good governance is leading to palpable improvements but only social justice will bring concrete change to ordinary peoples’ lives. Glaringly absent from the tons of numbers and data mentioned in PNoy’s SONA are statistics on poverty and hunger. It is no wonder since despite a decade of so-called GNP growth, the number of poor and hungry have remained intractable.

GNP growth only means increasing numbers of ‘Gutom Na Pilipino’ for workers and the poor.From 2003-2009 the economy grew by an average of 4.8% but the number of poor Filipinos increased from 19.8 million to 23.1 million. Poverty will not be dented no matter how many cases are filed against former president Gloria Arroyo and how many of her minions are jailed together with ex-Comelec chief Benjamin Abalos.

Regular jobs and living wages are needed not the conditional cash transfer which is a band-aid solution at best. Among the ASEAN nations, the Philippines has the most persistent incidence of poverty (defined as living on less than US$1.25 a day). We have the highest percentage of slum residents as a percent of its urban population among six Asian countries.

While the employment rate went up, as PNoy insisted, the number of underemployed—those who have work but are still seeking work—has increased from 7.6 million in April 2011 to 7.8 million in April 2012. Even as PNoy remains hardline in the struggle to bring Arroyo to justice, he is nonetheless is soft on the fight for social justice against entrenched vested interests. He was challenged and found wanting on the issue of outsourcing at Philippine Airlines which is the biggest labor dispute in the country. PNoy may have garnered the confidence of investors for the privatization projects under the Public-Private Partnerhip program, but he has earned the ire of workers for his approval of contractualization at the flag carrier.

Truly the real state of the nation is reflected in the lack of jobs, food, housing and justice for the Filipino masses. To tackle the challenges of destitution and joblessness, the anti-corruption campaign of President Aquino will not suffice. The answer lies in taking a new path of development away from the Aquinomics of privatization, contractualization and globalization.