PAL employees fear layoff

Thousands of Philippine Airlines (PAL) employees fear losing their jobs next year if the Arroyo administration won’t restudy the underlying provisions of the Philippine International Terminal Corp. (PIATCO) contract particularly the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) III project, a high-ranking PAL workers union yesterday said.

"Once the NAIA III project is completed by PIATCO and becomes operational, the contract will allow PIATCO to control the Philippine aviation industry and terminate all existing concessionaires and 10,000 air and ground employees at the NAIA," Ed Oredina said.

Oredina, PALEA mobilization committee chairman, said also incorporated in the PIATCO contract is a drastic increase of the terminal fee from $5 to $10 to overseas Filipino contract workers and $20 to general travelers.

The PALEA official also pointed out that another point of concern is an agreement the government allegedly entered into through the Department of Transportation and Communications with South Korea.

The agreement, Oredina explained, will allow South Korean airlines to enter the country, and vice versa without stating any seating capacity.