Philippine Airlines said on Monday its ground and flight operations remain unhampered despite the notice of strike filed by union Philippine Airlines Employees Association.
The airline, owned by tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan, said the signatories to the notice of strike were not PAL employees, adding that 90 percent of the 117 workers that were laid off accepted the separation package.
“A strike does not happen overnight. Parties will have to go through a legal process as required by the DoLE [Department of Labor and Employment]. This will enable PAL management to state its position on the issues raised and we welcome this opportunity to be heard,” PAL said.
Palea on Oct. 8 filed a notice of strike with DoLE in relation to the redundancy of positions affecting 117 employees.
The union cited alleged unfair labor practice as basis for the strike. Palea under the law has 15 days before it can actually hold a strike.
PAL on Sept. 2 sent notices of termination to 117 employees, almost all Palea members. The notice cited an alleged organizational restructuring which had rendered “several positions in the company redundant.”
The layoffs will take effect November 9 and involve the payment of a separation package of 125 percent of monthly basic salary per year of service and a gratuity pay of P100,000.
PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista earlier said the airline would turn over its ground handling activities in domestic stations to a third party service provider by next month.
Bautista said the company expects to incur savings with the manpower reduction as well as operational efficiency. He added no other employees would be laid off.
PAL’s parent firm, PAL Holdings Inc., recorded a consolidated total comprehensive income of P5.94 billion in the first half of the year, up 1,500 percent from just P362.4 million year-on-year.
Total revenues in the first half rose 14 percent to P55.95 billion from P48.95 billion a year earlier. Revenues in the second quarter reached P28.09 billion, up 2.9 percent from P27.23 billion.