GROUND workers of national carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) asked the Court of Appeals on Friday to declare the company’s massive retrenchment program illegal.
Under the Malacañang-backed spinoff plan, some 2,600 workers will lose their jobs as part of the airline’s move to restructure its operations.
PAL reportedly suffered P15 billion in financial losses at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, prompting it to cut manpower costs.
But the workers union PAL Employees Association (Palea) maintained that the management cannot prematurely implement the August 11 decision of the Office of the President since it is not yet final and executory.
Sun.Star tried to obtain a copy of the petition from the union but no response has been made as of this posting Friday.
Palea’s filing of a CA petition comes on the heels of an announcement on Thursday by PAL that it has sent termination notices to affected employees which will be effective on September 30.
Employees come from the 70-year-old airline’s non-core units, namely: call center reservations, ground passenger handling, and catering services will be laid off and are expected to be hired by the airline's third-party partners.
“If PAL management pushes through with the mass layoffs, we will construe that as defiance to judicial process and a direct challenge to the union. Palea will act to defend its members,” Palea president Gerry Rivera said.
For his part, Tex Bulambot, Cebu-Visayas Station board member of Palea, told Sun.Star that both parties should wait for the final ruling from the Supreme Court on the issue.
PAL went back in the red after recording $10.6 million losses for the first quarter (April to June) of its current fiscal year due to high fuel prices, natural calamities in Japan, and the lingering conflict in the Middle East and North Africa. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph
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