Clark airport transition smooth as workers take separation pay
CLARK FREEPORT—No protests greeted the private consortium that began handling the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the Clark International Airport (CRK) here on Friday (Aug. 16).
The first day of the Luzon International Premiere Airport Development Corp. (LIPAD) went smoothly as 215 employees at the state-owned Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) agreed to receive separation pay for positions that were abolished due to the O&M deal, according to Jaime Melo, CIAC president. It was confirmed by Dennis Lumanlan, president of the CIAC employees union.
LIPAD is a consortium composed of Changi Airports Philippines Pte. Ltd., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings, Inc. and the Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions, Inc., which will run CRK for 25 years.
Labor issues prompted LIPAD and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority to move the management turnover from July 21 to August 16.
Lumanlan said the union’s motion for reconsideration seeking regular employment for those absorbed by LIPAD is still pending at the Department of Labor and Employment.
Among the 215 employees, 178 accepted LIPAD job offers under terms and conditions that match what they used to receive in CIAC.
But they were all placed on probationary status, and their continued employment will rely on performance, according to Bi Yong Chungunco, LIPAD chief executive officer. “We have to get to know each other,” Chungunco told the INQUIRER.
CIAC is now left with 118 regular employees, after the Department of Transportation and BCDA turned over the O&M to LIPAD on Friday. Melo said CIAC, a BCDA subsidiary, will not be dissolved because it will manage other CRK properties. Tonette Orejas/TSB
