PAL employees pull out of mediation, threaten to go on strike

MANILA, Philippines - Flight attendants and stewards of Philippine Airlines (PAL) threatened to go on strike within a month after pulling out of mediation with management at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday.

Robert Anduiza, Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) president, said they have asked the DOLE to allow them to go on strike and air their grievances.

Before going on strike, they would announce the work stoppage so as not to inconvenience the public, he added.    

Anduiza said FASAP withdrew from the mediation after representatives of PAL management failed to show up.

“We are left with no choice but to resort to our last option to go on strike,” he said.

“PAL management have not come out with any new proposals to settle the collective bargaining deadlock, and they did not even attend the conciliation meeting.”

Anduiza said FASAP officials will immediately schedule a meeting with all their 1,600 members and set a date for the holding of a strike vote.

PAL’s hardline stance on the retirement age clearly showed “bad faith,” he added.

Anduiza said a majority or 90 percent of FASAP members have already backed a strike.

“We will file a notice of strike then wait for the 30-day cooling off period, and after that we could go on strike probably after a month,” he said.

Anduiza said PAL’s lawyers set aside the issue on the retirement age of flight attendants and reiterated their previous offer of P80 million lump sum for the remaining three years of the CBA.

“FASAP is constrained to withdraw from the talks because PAL adamantly refused to address the retirement and gender discrimination (issues) which are of utmost importance to us,” he said.

FASAP would only return to the negotiating table once PAL management agree on a “reasonable and fair” conduct of conciliation meeting, Anduiza said.

The National Conciliation and Mediation Board said the PAL-FASAP mediation petition was considered withdrawn after FASAP pulled out from the proceedings.

Some PAL flight attendants are worried about FASAP’s threat to go on strike following a breakdown of talks with management.

“Just don’t name us, but not all of the workers agree to go on strike,” a PAL flight attendant said in Filipino.

The unnamed flight attendant said that they represent a large but silent majority who want PAL’s labor problems to be resolved peacefully. – With Rudy Santos