Defend Jobs Philippines solidarity statement to the workers and employees of Philippine Air Lines

AS THEY CONFRONT ANOTHER ROUND OF OUTSOURCING/SPIN OFF  AND MASSIVE RETRENCHMENT, WE FROM DIFFERENT UNIONS, ORGANIZATIONS AND  INDIVIDUALS UNDER THE BANNER OF DEFEND JOB PHILIPPINES  EXPRESS OUR HIGHEST SOLIDARITY TO THE EMPLOYEES OF  PHILIPPINE AIRLINES WHO WILL BE DIRECTLY AFFECTED AND  VICTIMIZED BY THE PHILIPPINE AIRLINES' PLAN OF  OUTSOURCING AND MASSIVE RETRENCHMENT.

Philippine Airlines statement on September 9 is  condemnable; that their company has been incurring  heavy losses brought about by factors beyond its  control and anticipation. And that to prevent further  massive losses and to preserve the remaining assets of  the company, Philippine Airlines is constrained to  outsource/spin-off Catering, Passenger Handling, Ramp  Handling and Cargo Handling operations on November 15,  2009. And that PAL management is also studying the  possibility to outsource other functions such as  Information Technology, Revenue Accounting,  Reservations and Call Centers, Medical and other Human  Resource Operations.

PAL Management is using the economic crisis to pass  the brunt of the crisis to the workers to cut labor  cost, to contractualize jobs and to ensure multi- million profits for the few but powerful bosses of the  Philippine Airlines.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES WORKERS HAVE SUFFERED AND  SACRIFICED MUCH.

a. On 1998, PAL retrenched more than 5000 workers out  of 14 000 workers.

b. PAL has spun off the Maintenance and Engineering  Department to a joint venture with the foreign owned  Lufthansa Technik Philippines and Macro Asia Airport  Services where many PAL employees were terminated and  rehired as contractual employees in Lufthansa Technik  and Macro Asia.

c. PAL used the 1997 financial crisis and has imposed  11 years of state mandated moratorium and no  negotiations in the Collective Bargaining Agreement  since 1998.

BARELY, THESE ARE BLATANT ATTACKS OF THE COMPANY  AGAINST THE WORKERS AND EMPLOYEES OF PHILIPPINE  AIRLINES. THIS IN INDEED A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF  INTENSIFICATION OF EXPLOITATION AGAINST THE WORKERS.

We believe that another round of outsourcing/spin-off  scheme of Philippine Airlines management is anti- worker, unjust and inhumane. This is definitely  systematic move of PAL management to extract more  profit and give way to the dictates of globalization  that only serves for the greedy and selfish interest  of the giant airline management headed by the  country?s number 2 richest person, Chairman and CEO  Mr. Lucio Tan and airline and transportation  industries. Lucio Tan?s income has increased from $1.5  billion to $ 1.7 billion this year according to Forbes  Asia Magazine.

PAL IS TRULY A FLAG CARRIER OF GLOBALIZATION.

This case is also another round of neglect of the  Philippine government to the workers and employees of  Philippine Airlines and of the Filipino people.

We firmly stand that Philippine Airlines as the  country?s Flag Carrier should be owned and controlled  by the government and serve for the interest of the  Filipino people and not of the few. But the government  has imposed globalization policies; privatization,  liberalization, deregulation, contractualization,  sub-contracting and other forms of labor  flexibilization that is destructive to the workers and  people.

We denounce any form of criminal neglect of  governments against workers and people. Hence, we must  organize ourselves to fight and attain meaningful  victories and pressure the government to act on behalf  and for the benefit of the Filipino workers and  people.

WE CRY AND DEMAND FOR JUSTICE.

Thus, we call on the workers and employees of  Philippine Airlines to stand firm, strengthen their  ranks, defend their jobs and fight against unjust  massive retrenchment and anti-worker labor  flexibilization policies.

The situation of the workers of Philippine Airlines is  not different from the situation of the workers of  Triumph International Philippines, Intel Philippines,  Amkor Anam, KFC and millions of workers of the world  who were inhumanely retrenched and displaced because  of the global economic crisis and are previously  devastated by globalization as a whole. The global  economic crisis and globalization is no less  destructive and dangerous to workers? lives, their  children and families.

We also call on our friends, fellow workers and people  inside and outside the Philippines to support the  fight of the PAL workers and employees. Together, we  shall oppose any attempts of many giant companies such  as PAL, Triumph International and the like and the  Philippine Government to pass the burden of the crisis  to the working people.

Hand in hand and without let up, let us defend job.  Let us fight for real and decent job and oppose  contractualization that deprives job security and  takes away dignity of work.

And finally, let us continue our struggle against  globalization and struggle for meaningful social  change and social justice that will truly give  prosperity, peace and freedom for the workers and  Filipino people. It is only in this path that our  livelihood will be ensured, our rights and welfare  will be safeguarded and our children?s and country?s  future be guaranteed. ###

PLEASE SEND YOUR SUPPORT STATEMENTS AND SHARE YOUR  SOLIDARITY ACTIONS TO defendjobphilippines@yahoo.com

AND CHECK

www.defendjobphilippines.webs.com

OR CONTACT US AT

+639236884792

mel.defendjob@yahoo.com

Melona R. Daclan

CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR

DEFEND JOBS PHILIPPINES