"The present problems of PAL are due to the fact that airline's management does not know the meaning of justice - that is, giving what is due to the PAL workers from the pilots, to the stewardesses, to the maintenance and service crews," said Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza (Party-list, TUCP).
This developed as Rep. Rafael Mariano (Party-list, Anakpawis) filed House Resolution 111 seeking an inquiry into the PAL's threat to retrench more than PAL 2,600 employees claiming that their actions are valid exercise of a management prerogative.
"It is but proper and necessary to ensure that workers be protected from illegal retrenchments which are based merely on highly questionable claims of bankruptcy," Mariano said.
Rep. Susan Yap (2nd District, Tarlac) said Congress must do its share and conduct hearings to get to the bottom of the problem.
"Our country has yet to recover from the losses experienced last year due to natural disasters. The country cannot afford this man-made disaster at this time," Yap said.
"We must find a quick solution to this dispute so as to address more losses that our economy may suffer. We must also look into possible measure that would help avoid these kinds of scenarios in the future," Yap said.
Yap said talks between PAL management and its employees must be pushed. "The government must step into the dispute because it already incurred, and continuous to incur a negative impact in our tourism and national economy," Yap said.
In a related development, Reps. Rufus Rodriguez (Lone District, Cagayan de Oro City) and Maximo Rodriguez, Jr. (Party-list, Abante Mindanao) have filed a bill protecting the security of tenure of employees.
The bill will expand the definition of regular employees to include those who have rendered at least one year of service, whether continuous or broken and whether or not the service is usually necessary or desirable in the usual trade/business of the employer.
"The PAL problem is based on the fact that usual and necessary positions in PAL are now being contractualized. We should protect our workers from being dismissed because they are given or made them contractual workers," Rodriguez said.
"You cannot prolong the contractualization if the position is usual and necessary in the course of business. But contractualization has been done in so many companies to save money for the employers," Rodriguez said.
"Under the law, you become regular after you have rendered six months of duty and become entitled to the privileges of regular employees. But then it's been circumvented," Rodriguez said. - Jasmin S. Camero, MRS-PRIB
