PAL assures passengers flights will remain normal during strike
Philippine Airlines assured (10-Dec-2010) passengers that all flights are normal and continue to operate according to published schedules. The comments came after PAL Employees Association (PALEA) stated they will hold strike action during the Christmas period. The carrier stated it has the following contingency measures in place:
- engage professional service providers, including inflight catering companies, to augment workers not joining the strike;
- deploy all available manpower, including supervisors and managers to man frontline posts;
- endorse affected passengers to sister airline, AirPhil Express, as well as 134 international airline partners.
The PAL-PALEA labour dispute is currently being reviewed by the Philippines Presidential Office, Malacanang. PAL hopes the union will heed Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa's appeal to exercise restraint by deferring any mass action at this time and allow the Palace to decide on the case. PAL said legal avenues can still be exhausted in resolving the management-labour differences. The carrier added it is awaiting PALEA's formal document on its strike ballot, to be submitted to the Labour Department (GMANews.TV, 11-Dec-2010). The document will allow PAL's lawyers to officially respond to the proposed industrial action. [more]
Department of Transportation and Communications stated it is continuing its back-channel efforts to avert the strike action. DOTC added it is confident PAL can effectively execute its contingency plans if the strike occurs.
PALEA stated 86% of members voted in favour of the strike. President Gerry Rivera appealed to the public for understanding.
PALEA: "We understand that a strike at Philippine Airlines (PAL) may inconvenience the public. But we also believe that the vast majority of the public are workers and their families who will benefit from PALEA's fight for job security and labor rights," Gerry Rivera, President. Source: GMANews.TV, 11-Dec-2010.