PAL workers accuse management of ‘busting’

The ground crew union of Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Monday accused the flag carrier’s management of “union busting” after the airline’s outsourcing program threw more than 60 percent of the union leadership out of work.

The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) said that PAL president Jaime Bautista’s announcement that management no longer acknowledged Palea president Gerry Rivera and union secretary Bong Palad as union officers “exposes union busting as the real aim of outsourcing.”

“Truly, a fish is caught by its mouth. Actually, PAL is not just (not) recognizing me and Palad as union officers but 62 percent of Palea’s leadership and 70 percent of its membership who have been illegally locked out and terminated,” said Rivera in a statement.

“Outsourcing thus is tantamount to union busting,” he said.

Rivera said they would not have minded if Bautista did not recognize them “as a matter of a personal grudge against the union.”

“But the law recognizes us as the sole representative of PAL workers pending the resolution of the case filed before the courts on the legality of the outsourcing scheme,” Rivera said.

“We remain Palea officers and we will officially represent our members in whatever forum, including with the management,” he said.