Union urges Tourism Congress to look into safety issues at PAL

MANILA, Philippines—The ground crew union of Philippine Airlines (PAL) urged the Tourism Congress on Saturday to look into passenger safety issues at the national flag carrier after it laid off 2,600 workers from its call center reservation, catering and ground handling service departments.

The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) called on delegates to the congress, which started on Saturday, to inquire about safety concerns at PAL after the airline spun off the three units and replaced the affected workers with supposedly “overworked and untrained” personnel from three outsourcing companies.

“We ask the Tourism Congress to take up the cudgels for the riding public by inquiring about safety and service concerns at PAL given that overworked and untrained replacement workers are now servicing passengers,” Palea president Gerry Rivera said in a statement.

“If the Tourism Congress is anxious about the impact of the labor dispute on the influx of tourists, then it should also be worried about any possible accidents due to unsafe work practices by contractual workers,” he said.

Rivera issued the call as the Catholic Church and a broad coalition of labor groups under the Church Labor Conference (CLC) appealed for “a just and equitable resolution” to the labor dispute at PAL.

The CLC is co-chaired by Bishop Broderick Pabillo, director of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ National Secretariat for Social Action and former party-list Rep. Renato Magtubo of Partido ng Manggagawa.