According to ABS-CBN's News Report, for the Jalbuna family, Christmas Eve won't be spent at home feasting on noche buena, but at the picket line in front of the Philippine Airlines In-flight Center in Pasay City.
"Wala pa kami pamasko, pero lagi ko sinasabi sa mga anak ko ang Pasko ay para kay Lord... Dito kami magpa-Pasko," Teng Jalbuna, whose husband worked at PAL's catering department for 20 years, told abs-cbnNEWS.com.
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| Image Credit: www.travelph.com |
It has been 3 months since Jalbuna's husband and some 2,600 PAL workers were laid off as a result of the flag carrier's outsourcing program. PAL implemented the outsourcing of its catering, call center reservation and ground crew operations on October 1.
PAL Employees Association (PALEA), the ground crew's union, opposed the plan and continued their fight, holding a wildcat strike that paralyzed its operations in late September. The members also set up a protest camp in front of the airline's In-flight Center in October and they remain there until now.
Many refused to get their separation pay and did not sign up to work for the outsourcing companies designated by PAL.
Nearly 3 months since they lost their jobs, PALEA members and their families are showing a united front by spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at their makeshift camp. An anticipated Christmas mass will be held at the camp on Saturday, with Bishop Broderick Pabillo, director of CBCP’s National Secretariat for Social Action, officiating.
"Ang sa akin, prinsipyo na lang. Apat ang anak ko, maliliit pa. Kung may ma-ospital sa amin, malaking bagay sa amin yun medical benefits. Eh ang separation pay napakaliit. Ang pera madali maubos, pero ang trabaho ang kailangan namin... Kung hanggang matapos ito, lalaban kami," Jalbuna said.
Farhana Sarip, a Muslim who worked as a PAL Arabic translator for 20 years, was one of those who did not accept the offer to become a contractual employee with the new service providers.
"Regular employee na ako, tapos biglang magiging contractual, di naman kami papayag," said Sarip, who used to earn P23,000 a month and was offered only P11,000 a month by the service provider.
Sarip said PAL continues to ask her to come back to work, but it was her husband who told her to remain strong and continue the protest.
PALEA president Gerry Rivera said 2011 was a "turbulent" year for PAL and its workers, but is confident the PAL workers will be vindicated in the courts.
PALEA has asked the Court of Appeals to set aside the resolutions issued by Malacanang and the Department of Labor and Employment that gave the go-signal for PAL to spin-off its catering, ground handling and call center reservation departments. The labor group wants the outsourcing and termination of the PAL employees be declared illegal.
Rivera hopes the court cases would be resolved soon, but noted PALEA will continue their fight for as long as they can.
"Ang laban na ito ay hindi lang sa PALEA, ngunit para sa mga Pilipinong manggagawa (Our fight is not just PALEA's but for all of the Filipino workers," he said.
Optimistic about the future
However, PAL maintained the outsourcing program was needed to stem the losses it has been incurring.
In 2008 and 2009, PAL lost $312 million. In 2010, PAL posted a $72.5 million comprehensive net income. However, in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, PAL posted a $10.6 million loss.
PAL president Jaime Bautista was earlier quoted by BusinessMirror as saying the protest arising from the implementation of its outsourcing program affected the entire operations of the airline. He noted its third quarter financial performance would be badly affected by the higher cost of jet fuel and the workers' protest.
"Because of the strike, our performance will be affected in terms of revenue and profit. It may also affect our entire fiscal year," said Bautista.
However, PAL seems to be optimistic about the future. The company said operations are now back to normal and passenger confidence has returned in time for the Chr istmas peak travel season.
PAL is trying to protect its international market, which account for up to 70% of its revenue. "We continue to protect our mature international market such as South Korea and Japan. Hopefully, load factor will hit the high 80 percent this December and a good growth in January and February of next year,"
Bautista said.
PAL said there has been a very good response to its biggest ticket sale promotion this month, a sign of renewed customer confidence. The airline offered low-priced fares to all its domestic and international destinations, as low as $30 to Hong Kong and $498 to the US.
PAL is hoping for a smooth ride next year, but the labor problems with PALEA continue to hover in the horizon and may cause some turbulence in the future.
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