PAL shrugs off strike vote, normal operations assured

Philippine Airlines (PAL) today (25 March 2011) shrugged off its ground union’s claim that majority of its members voted in favor of a work stoppage, as it assured passengers of continuing flights.

PAL Vice President for Human Resources Jose S.L. Uybarreta asserted that government-brokered conciliation meetings are still ongoing. In fact, he said, PAL management informed the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) today that it will submit its Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) counter-proposal on Monday, 28 March, as earlier committed.

With the ongoing talks, he stressed that PAL sees “no rhyme nor reason” for the strike vote called by the union Wednesday. He described as “complete fabrication” accusations by the PAL Employees Association (PALEA) that PAL allegedly refuses to bargain with its union. He said PAL is willing to open negotiations, name its panel of negotiators and submit its counter-proposal.

While PAL believes that the union’s planned strike has no legal basis, Uybarreta said the flag carrier is not leaving everything to chance. “We are making the necessary preparations to prevent flight disruptions and passenger inconvenience,” he stressed.

“PAL respects and strictly adheres to the legal process. As we have repeatedly told PALEA and the NCMB, PAL is open to negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, but it cannot include the spin-off issue because the same is still pending before Malacanang,” Uybarreta added.

He lamented that PALEA has been repeatedly using threats of work stoppage to pressure management to enter into a new CBA negotiation even when their appeal against the airline’s planned spin off remains pending before Malacanang.

It doesn’t help that the strike threats are coming at a time when PAL is in the middle of delivering relief goods for Japan and bracing for possible repatriation of Filipino Overseas Workers, if and when full-scale conflicts erupt in North Africa and the Middle East.