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At congressional inquiry yesterday: PALEA demands recall of mass layoff

Partido Manggagawa (PM)

Labor Party - Philippines

Thursday, November 5, 2015

At congressional inquiry yesterday: PALEA demands recall of mass layoff

At congressional inquiry yesterday: PALEA demands recall of mass layoff

At a congressional inquiry by the House of Representatives Labor Committee yesterday, the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) demanded that Philippine Airlines (PAL) recall the latest mass layoff and reinstatement the 117 fired employees. PAL responded by announcing that the termination of the affected workers is being delayed from November 9 to November 30, giving them three more weeks of work.

“Since PAL has not conceded to our demand for the recall of the illegal dismissals, PALEA’s notice of strike stays. So the work stoppage that will impact PAL flights and operations may happen later this month,” stated Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and a Partido Manggagawa bet for the party-list elections.

PALEA did not push through with the planned strike during the undas holidays in deference to conciliation proceedings called by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Another conciliation meeting is scheduled on November 10.

The congressional hearing was held in Davao City and presided by Rep. Karlo Nogrles. In response to queries on the status of the duly elected PALEA officers led by Rivera, DOLE Undersecretary Rebecca Chato testified in the hearing that pending final resolution of the intra-union cases, the status quo remains and thus current union officials are the legitimate representatives and bargaining agents of PAL ground employees.

“USec Chato’s clarification of labor law and jurisprudence should be a wakeup call to management to stop its unfair labor practice of disregarding PALEA and talking directly to union members, such as what happened in the termination of the 117 employees,” Rivera explained.

Representatives of factions that contested the leadership of PALEA also attended the hearing. Leaders of these factions lost in the PALEA union elections last February that was won by the slate of led by Rivera. Two petitions were filed at the DOLE by the losing candidates after the elections. Last month, some of the petitioners filed another case asking the DOLE to disregard the pending notice of strike by PALEA.

Rivera averred that “All these PAL employees who are noisily attacking PALEA’s fight against contractualization but who are suspiciously silent on the mass firings by PAL are being exposed as lackeys of management.”

“Since 1998, more than 8,000 PAL regular employees and union members have been fired and replaced by contractual workers who labor for longer hours but are paid less in wages and benefits, and work without a voice in the workplace. Thus even during times when PAL says that it is losing money, airline service providers owned by Lucio Tan and his family remain extremely profitable,” Rivera revealed.

Aside from the propriety of the latest round of retrenchments at the national flag carrier, the congressional inquiry also discussed PAL’s refusal to open collective bargaining negotiations for the last 17 years and to implement the terms of the settlement agreement to end the outsourcing dispute of 2011. PALEA had repeatedly asked PAL to start CBA talks and fulfill the re-employment provision of the settlement deal to no avail.

November 5, 2015

PALEA

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PALEA accuses PAL of dividing union

#BoycottPAL team leafleteering October 26, 2015 PALEA The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) accused the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) of splitting the union in a bid to weaken its fight against the latest mass layoff at the national flag carrier. PALEA issued this reaction to a story in some news outlets three days ago about six PAL employees opposing the notice of strike filed by PALEA. To resolve the notice of strike over the recent mass layoff of 117 employees, the Department of Labor and Employment is calling PAL and PALEA to another conciliation meeting today at the Quezon City central office of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board. With PALEA’s strike deadline nearing, the conciliation meeting is the fourth attempt to settle the labor dispute. In the conciliation today, PALEA will push for the recall of the mass layoff and the reinstatement of the 117 dismissed workers. “We know for a fact that PAL management is talking to the six employees who are publicly opposing the notice of strike. PAL’s coddling of scabs in the campaign to defend regular jobs is a classic case of divide and conquer,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM). Rivera insisted that the latest retrenchment of PAL personnel at domestic airport across the country is part of an “outsourcing spree” since 1998 that had resulted to the dismissal of a total of 5,500 employees and their replacement by contractual workers. “We are determined to stop the epidemic of contractualization in PAL and elsewhere, and to protect job security and decent wages for all Filipino workers,” he explained. No collective bargaining negotiations between PAL and PALEA has happened since 1998 when a 10-year CBA suspension was imposed. After a two-year fight, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute of 2011 yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement. Thus PALEA has asked PAL to open collective bargaining negotiations and fully implement the deal that ended the dispute over the last mass retrenchment in 2011. Rivera added that “The fact that these six scabs are publicly opposing PALEA’s strike while deafeningly silent on PAL’s layoffs exposes where they stand on the battle between the union and management over contractualization. They are acting as management spokespersons as their statements against PALEA is precisely the line and policy of the company.” “The six scabs are part of a faction that lost in the PALEA election early this year and are utterly without any mandate to speak on behalf of the union. Still it is to the benefit of management for these scabs to sow intrigue and dish disinformation against PALEA’s legitimate and duly elected  officers,” Rivera argued.

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PAL workers union files notice of strike

image credit:en.wikipedia.org

PAL workers union files notice of strike

October 9, 2015 9:11 pm

by Rosalie C. Periabras

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The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), the union of ground employees at Philippine Airlines (PAL), filed a notice of strike on Thursday citing unfair labor practices.

Under the law, PALEA has 15 days before it can actually stage a strike after filing a notice of strike.

Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chairman of Partido Manggagawa (PM), said, “We ask for the understanding of the public but a strike is necessary to defend the working conditions of PAL workers as the company is illegally interfering and coercing employees in the exercise of their constitutional right to self-organization.”

He added: “Also, the mass termination of more than 100 PALEA members constitute another element of unfair labor practice.”

On September 2, PAL 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.”

In a sign of renewed turbulence at PAL, last Wednesday several hundred members of PALEA, PM and labor center Sentro marched in Ayala, Makati under the banner of labor group coalition Nagkaisa to call for job security and a living wage in commemoration of World Decent Work Day.

A highlight of the protest was a noisy but peaceful picket at the PAL ticketing office at Allied BankBuilding in Ayala to call for a boycott of the airline until the various labor disputes between PALEA and PAL are resolved.

“Yet no redundancy will happen since the workers to be retrenched will be replaced by new employees from agencies. The new round of layoffs is another wave of contractualization, changing regular unionized workers with contractual employees using agencies who will be paid less in wages and benefits,” Rivera said.

He added that PAL is laying off workers “at a time when it is swimming in profits. PAL’s parent company, PAL Holdings, reported a net income of P5.8 billion ($126.20 million) for the first half of 2015, soaring nearly ten-fold from P560 million ($12.18 million) during the same period last year.”

Rivera continued, “While the notice states that the termination shall be effective on November 9, most of the employees who were notified were dismissed immediately upon being served. They were no longer allowed to work as soon as they had been given the notice. Contractual employees with security escorts were already on standby and immediately replaced the terminated employees.”

PALEA sent a letter on September 5 to PAL president and COO Jaime Bautista to ask for the recall of the mass layoff.

In the same letter, PALEA also repeated its request for the commencement of collective bargainingnegotiations, and the resumption of discussions for the implementation of the settlement agreement.

“To date, PAL has not replied to any of these letters. In the face of such intransigence, a strike becomes imperative,” Rivera said.

No collective bargaining negotiation between PAL and PALEA has happened since 1998 when a 10-year CBA suspension was imposed. After a two-year campaign, PALEA and PAL forged a deal to settle the labor dispute of 2011, yet some 600 retrenched members have not been re-employed as provided for in the agreement.

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SMUGGLED GOODS ARE IN 40-FT LONG CONTAINER VANS NOT IN 4-CUBIC FT BALIKBAYAN BOXES

Partido Manggagawa via Facebook.com

2 hrs · Edited ·

SMUGGLED GOODS ARE IN 40-FT LONG CONTAINER VANS NOT IN 4-CUBIC FT BALIKBAYAN BOXES

NEWS RELEASE
23 August 2015

PM to BOC: Balikbayan boxes contain labor and love; smuggled goods are in container vans

Labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) joined OFW groups and individuals around the world in denouncing the new policy of Bureau of Customs (BoC) to subject balikbayan boxes to inspection and to impose duties on their assessed values exceeding $500.

“The policy is anti-OFWs on two grounds. First, it begins with the sweeping assumption that OFWs are into technical smuggling. Second, it ends up with a new revenue scheme that can generate some P600 million/year from small articles being sent home by our OFWs,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

Partido Manggagawa is asking the BoC and Malacanang to scrap the twin policy altogether as they smack with a veiled intention of making money out of the small and non-business articles coming from our OFWs.

The BoC came up with the memorandum explaining the new policy based on the findings that balikbayan boxes are being used for technical smuggling. The bureau said some P50 million are lost every month from technical smuggling and one way to address this problem is to subject balikbayan boxes to inspection.

But Magtubo said, “Stricter rules must be imposed against illicit trade, including imported goods that are meant for business and not against compressed articles that contain hard labor and deep love coming from our OFWs.”

He pointed out that this reform is also aimed at the wrong target since smuggled business articles are usually found in 40 ft.-long container vans and not in 4-cubic foot balikbayan boxes.

On the planned imposition of duties against articles exceeding $500 in value, Magtubo said the policy can be used arbitrarily and indiscriminately against OFWs who are unaware of custom’s valuation as well as the procedures on how values are determined on a mix of articles that are compressed inside the balikbayan boxes.

The labor group lamented the fact that OFWs have already been paying $0.05 cents per dollar in their remittances thus the new policy will be an added burden to them.

He also agreed with the view that the new policy may only create new forms of corruption in the most corrupt agency at the expense of hardworking OFWs.

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Gallup Poll: ‘Americans Want Unions’

BY CLYDE WEISS  |  AUGUST 19, 2015

Americans are seeing the connection between unions and balancing the economy, allowing workers to come together to build a better life for their families.

Six out of every 10 Americans now supports labor unions – a phenomenal five-point jump over the previous year. That’s the latest from a Gallup poll released this week showing that during the past year, Americans’ approval of unions skyrocketed to its highest point in seven years.

Americans are seeing the connection between unions and balancing the economy, allowing workers to come together to build a better life for their families. Overall, Gallup found that support for labor unions is now at an impressive 58 percent, a rise of 5 percentage points since 2008. A Business Insider headline Tuesday put it simply: ‘Americans want unions.’

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Minnesota vs. Wisconsin: A Tale of Two States

BY DAVE PATTERSON  |  JULY 14, 2015

To determine just why Minnesota and Wisconsin, both deeply invested in manufacturing and agricultural economics, have fared so differently, one only has to look to who they elected governor in 2010.

For workers, economic fortunes follow elections of Dayton, Walker

For working people in Minnesota - recently named the "Top State For Business" - it is the best of times (at least in the last half decade). But in neighboring Wisconsin, it is the worst of times. To determine just why these Midwest states, both deeply invested in manufacturing and agricultural economics, have fared so differently, one only has to look to who they elected governor in 2010.

Facing a deep natural recession and a $6 billion budget deficit, Minnesotans voted in progressive Gov. Mark Dayton, who ran on a tax-the-rich platform that included investment in people and infrastructure.

Dayton pushed a sharp increase on taxes for the top 2 percent to pay for his plan. And soon he and legislators passed laws that expanded unionization, froze college tuition, increased the minimum wage, required equal pay for women, legalized same-sex marriage, eased voter restrictions, boosted primary education spending and established all-day kindergarten.

Wisconsinites went in a complete 180-degree direction. They elected Scott Walker, a firebrand conservative who announced this week that he is running for President.

Walker has repeatedly scapegoated public service workers while extolling the virtues of “trickle-down” economics and cutting his way to reducing the state’s $3 billion budget hole.

Walker also has cut taxes on the most wealthy, saying it would spur job creation and innovation. He and a Republican-controlled Legislature dismantled collective bargaining for public employees with Act 10. They also opposed a minimum-wage increase and equal-pay legislation, refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and, finally, passed the scam right-to-work law.

Five years later, only one governor has proven successful.

In Minnesota, Dayton turned that $6 billion budget deficit into a more than $2 billion surplus in just one term. Minnesota added 172,000 jobs and its 3.6 percent unemployment rate is among the lowest in the country.

Under Walker’s policies, Wisconsin still faces a $2 billion shortfall, has fallen to 44th in private-sector job creation and faces a 5.2 percent unemployment rate.

Minnesota has consistently been in the top tier of states for GDP growth since Dayton was elected and median incomes are $8,000 higher than the national average. In Wisconsin, median household income is thousands less than in Minnesota.

In 2015, Minnesota is considered one of the most business-friendly states in the country, withForbes ranking it the ninth-best state for business, seventh in economic climate and second in quality of life. Thanks to Walker’s anti-worker policies, the cost of doing business in Wisconsin is now higher than the national average.

“In Minnesota, we’re doing better than our neighbors in the Badger state because our governor understands that good government works for all people, not just the rich,” said Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Minnesota Council 5. “Under Governor Dayton, we know that everyone will get a fair shot, give their fair share, and play by the same rules. In Wisconsin, Governor Walker has only served the rich, so he hasn’t created an economy that works for working families.” 

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Gov. Mark Dayton’s Minnesota has been named the “Top State for Business” - and they got there doing the exact opposite of Scott Walker. Read more on our blog here: http://afsc.me/1IY7sTU

AFSCME Gov. Mark Dayton’s Minnesota has been named the “Top State for Business” - and they got there doing the exact opposite of Scott Walker. Read more on our blog here:http://afsc.me/1IY7sTU
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#State of Negros: The rise of ‘new sacadas’ belies SONA claim of PNoy on labor

State of Negros: The rise of ‘new sacadas’ belies SONA claim of PNoy on labor shared from NEWS RELEASE Partido Manggagawa-Negros 28 July 2015 The rise of ‘new sacadas’ in Negros belie the claim of President Aquino during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) yesterday that the country is now moving from cheap labor to high-tech producer. Fresh from the joint consultation-workshop on the state of sugar workers held in Bacolod City last Sunday, the Negros chapter of Partido Manggagawa (PM-Negros) and the Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa (Sentro) described as ‘first world falsehood’ the assertion of the President that high-tech production is taking over cheap labor that for a long time characterized the Philippine labor force. “What country are you talking about, Mr. President?  Negros is now home to BPOs yet the island remains a country of sacadas,” said the two groups in a statement. It is clear, according to PNoy, “The Filipino can now compete.  Previously our only selling point was cheap labor.  Now factories for high-tech equipment are coming here, from airplane parts, electrical tricycles, printers, and other digital media products to high-quality medical devices.” During their Sunday consultation, PM-Negros presented a study that pointed to the rise of ‘new sacadas’ in Negros resulting from the dismal failure of agrarian reform in the island as well as the massive contractualization of farm works in the Sugarlandia. “The old dumaans (regular workers) were replaced by tens of thousands and contractual workers. And the migrant sacadas that mainly came from Panay and other neighboring provinces before are now replaced by inland sacadas -- a phenomenon that suggests a downside shift in labor relations in the island,” explained the group. According to PM-Negros, the ‘new sacadas’ of Negros is represented now by tens of thousands of contractual farm workers who comprise at least 80% of the total workforce in sugar plantations in the island.  They receive not more than P150 per day working as planters, weeders, fertilizer applicators, harvesters and haulers. “Until the late 90s, Negros sourced its shortage of sacadas from outside of the island but now the internal labor market is heavily populated with contractual, seasonal and mobile workers who perform work previously done by regular workers or the dumaans,” said the two groups. For PM and Sentro, the combination of failed agrarian reform and the onslaught of contractualization schemes created this phenomenon as workers who were displaced due to massive retrenchments lost their employee-employer relationship (EER) and eventually their right to become land reform beneficiaries.  “This condition left at least 100,000 hectares with no more agrarian reform beneficiaries to claim the lands, creating in effect an army of sacadas that hop from one hacienda to another around the island to find work,” explained the group. This state of sugar workers in Negros, added the groups, is further threatened by the expected adverse impact of Asean integration on Philippine agriculture once the zero tariff regime begins to be implemented this year. “We expect massive job loss once the country’s sugar industry fails to survive the intense competition with Thai and Vietnamese sugar,” said PM. The saddest point, said PM and Sentro, is to hear the SONAs of the past and present Presidents, without any mention of the pressing problems in Negros, specifically the life of sugar workers. “Ang problema namon, amon lang gid problema. Isa kami sa halimbawa sang SONA nga indi matalupangdan,” concluded the group.

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Closing tax loopholes

Closing tax loopholes FRIEND,  Last year, the top 25 hedge fund managers in the United States earned more than every kindergarten teacher in America combined. Despite their huge paychecks, they pay a lower effective tax rate than most middle-class families. And thanks to a tax loophole that lets them pretend to run offshore reinsurance firms, they’re dodging even more taxes. The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are considering a proposal to close the reinsurance loophole. Sign our petition to the IRS and Treasury urging them to close this loophole! Reinsurance firms offer insurance to insurance companies. But more often than not, the companies that hedge fund managers set up are just a way to wash their money and avoid capital gains taxes. This enables hedge fund managers to pay minimal amounts in taxes on their huge earnings. Hedge fund managers don’t need the additional benefit of funneling their earnings through an offshore reinsurance company so that they can further reduce their taxes. The IRS and the Treasury Department have a duty to preserve fairness in the tax code, and the hedge fund reinsurance loophole is plainly unfair. Former U.S. Rep. David Camp has a three-prong test that would prevent abuses and ensure tax fairness. Under that test, “an insurance company would have to have more than 50 percent of its gross receipts consist of insurance premiums, have insurance liabilities equal to 35 percent of its total assets, and be subject to tax as an insurer if it were a U.S. business.” Sign this petition urging the IRS and Treasury to close the reinsurance loophole! The IRS and the Treasury Department should do the fair thing for the American people by closing this loophole. It’s only fair that people making so much money should be playing by the same rules as the rest of us. In unity, Lynne Audet National Board Certified Teacher, Perth Amboy, N.J. Randi Weingarten, President Lorretta Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer | Mary Cathryn Ricker, Executive Vice President © American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. All rights reserved. Photographs and illustrations, as well as text, cannot be used without permission from the AFT. Contact Us | 555 New Jersey Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20001

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