(Picture) Philippine Airlines or PAL
PALEA filed the 10:30 a.m. before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, an agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Picture of PALEA Banner
The PALEA President Gerry Rivera said the reporters, "It has been six months since Palea submitted its CBA proposal to PAL. Moreover, it has been 12 years since the CBA moratorium that should have lasted only 10 years. PAL’s workers have suffered all through that time as we have not been able to improve our wages, benefits and working conditions. Management is engaging in unfair labor practices for refusing to bargain with Palea as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent”
On October 8, 2010, the CBA proposal was submitted by the PALEA to the Philippine Airlines (PAL) president Jaime Bautista.
President Gerry Rivera explained that in 1998, PALEA and PAL agreed not to hold collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations for 10 years as a condition for the reopening of the airline and as a requirement for its rehabilitation.
PAL management had yet to comment on the strike notice at press time.
On 2010, DOLE approved PAL’s plan to outsource about 3,000 jobs held by Palea members. The union filed a notice of strike then, but it was stayed after Malacañang intervened and conducted an arbitration.
On January 27, 2011, Bautista asked the union to submit its list of negotiators for the CBA talks, and Palea did so on Jan. 31.
Rivera said, "But then PAL made an abrupt turnaround and in a Feb. 16 letter to Palea announced that it would only start CBA negotiations after it had implemented the outsourcing plan which remains suspended as per the assumption of jurisdiction by the Office of the President”
Rivera added "The CBA negotiations and the assailed outsourcing plan are two separate issues. PAL has a duty to bargain as provided for in the Labor Code and it is illegal to refuse to do so because of an impending plan to lay off union officers and members. The right to collective bargaining is moreover enshrined in the Constitution and protected by the International Labor Organization’s Convention 98”
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