PAL questions legality of union's planned 'strike vote'

In a statement, the flag carrier said PALEA's notice of strike vote that it filed with the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) "is without basis." It stressed that the conditions that justify the holding of a referendum calling for a work stoppage are not present. PAL said Malacanang has yet to decide on the union's pending appeal for presidential intervention in the PAL-PALEA labor dispute.

As this developed, PAL assured its passengers that flights remain normal and continue to operate as scheduled. "A work stoppage does not happen overnight. PAL will exhaust all legal means to prevent any disruption that could hurt the economy and cause inconvenience to the riding public," PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said.

While PAL management has received assurances from various PAL employee groups that they will not join any strike, Villaluna said PAL has contingency measures in place. "PAL has made arrangements with sister airline Airphilexpress and other local carriers to help carry domestic passengers, while PAL's 134 interline partners are also ready to lend a hand in our international routes. To ensure the steady supply of food and other amenities, PAL also made arrangements with several catering firms to supply meals," she said.

"Conciliation talks before the NCMB remain pending and have not bogged down. In fact, it was upon mutual agreement by PAL and PALEA to suspend conciliation meetings to allow the Office of the President to act on PALEA's appeal to reverse an earlier ruling of the Department of Labor and Employment," Villaluna explained.

She stressed that it was PALEA itself who sought presidential intervention after losing its bid to reverse the DOLE decision recognizing PAL management's prerogative to spin off its airport services, catering and call center reservations units. Thus, she said, the holding of a strike vote, despite of its own pending appeal, displays the arrogance and lack of respect for legal processes by PALEA's leaders.

"Our lawyers will contest PALEA's call for a strike vote, including their planned work stoppage. We believe PALEA's objective is to pressure Malacanang to rule in their favor and at the same time hold hostage thousands of Filipinos whose travel plans for the forthcoming holidays are already firmed up," Villaluna said.

She added that any work stoppage at national flag carrier would not only hurt PAL's finances but would also cause damage to the Philippine economy, not to mention untold inconvenience to millions of Filipino travelers.