PROMOTING LABOR RIGHTS. Palea Vice President Alnem Pretencio explains the implications of the contractualization of PAL's ground crew. Photo by ABRAM P. BARRAMEDA

THE PHILIPPINE Airlines Employees’ Association (Palea) engaged Ateneans on the issue of labor rights in a forum held on campus last May 11.

Palea Vice President Alnem Pretencio introduced the union and its ongoing struggle against the mass termination carried out last year by the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL), the country’s flag carrier.

“We want you to get involved. We want you to be informed of what [our] workers are [really] doing—what Palea is fighting for,” he told the audience.

Pretencio said that the labor forum was an educational campaign for students to be enlightened not just of the union, but also of every worker’s predicament.

Several members of the Labor’s Advocacy for Reform Movement (Laborem) were also present in the forum.

Students gathered at the Ching Tan Room for the event, which was organized by the Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (Crusada). It was the culminating activity of the student-led political party’s Labor Week celebrations.

Protection of labor rights

Laborem Finance Officer Dennis Velasco said that they are one with Palea in advancing basic workers’ rights.

“As a guiding principle, the main idea here is the assertion of basic universal rights. ‘Ang laban ng Palea ay laban ng lahat’ because our rights are interconnected,” he said.

He added, “When the rights of Palea are violated, so are yours. If this can be done to Palea, this can also be done to you when you are already working.”

He also stressed that the youth plays an important role in addressing the issue. “I hope that you [become responsible] in protecting your own rights as well as the rights of others.”

Plight of Palea

“Philippine Airlines has outsourced and terminated more than 2,600 employees since September 27, 2011. This is 70% of the membership of the union. Palea is the ground union of the Philippine Airlines,” Pretencio said.

He enumerated the union’s basic functions as the company’s ground staff. The departments most affected by the outsourcing plan are the airport services, in-flight catering and call center operations, he said.

Pretencio said that the PAL management had regarded the mentioned three departments as the less important jobs, thus leading to the mass termination.

“[The PAL management] says we are the non-core. We are not important in airline operations. So we should be outsourced and terminated. Their premise is to terminate and rehire us as contractual service providers with our salaries reduced to half or maybe one-third,” he continued in a mix of English and Filipino.

Standing with Palea

After the forum, a group of senior legal management majors shared their thoughts on whether the forum was an effective means to make students informed of the issue.

Ciarra King found the event a good way to educate students on the plight of the country’s workers. “This is especially true for SOM [School of Management] students because our biases tend to be very employee-inclined,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kevin Alcid explained, “The fact that they were contractualized is very much unfair, given that some of those employees have worked in the company for so long already and they should have deserved a regular employee status.”

Aloy Chua thought the same way. “Yes, I stand with Palea, and that they should be restored to their jobs as regular employees.”

Joss Pilapil said that the forum was educational but noted that it lacked the side of the PAL management.

“Although I am really for Palea, it would be best if we make the students come up with their own opinions basing from different talks coming from both sides,” he said.

Kurt Santiago, a senior management major, cited a problem in the legal aspect of the issue. “I am also against outsourcing and contractualization of employees—[although], the difficult thing with this issue is that, as far as I know, it’s a legal way for companies to cut down on costs,” he said.

While mixed thoughts on the issue arose from the forum, the organizers found it an effective avenue for engaging Ateneans in issues concerning the labor force of the country.