DOLE official confirms 182 PAL workers have received separation pay
Published Mar 1, 2020 12:00 am
By Leslie Ann Aquino
More than 180 workers of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) have already received separation pay, according to a labor official.
Labor Assistant Secretary Benjo Benavidez
(DOLE / MANILA BULLETIN) "We sent a labor inspector and were told that 182 workers already received a separation package. Others are still deciding whether to accept it," DOLE Assistant Secretary Benjo Benavidez said in an interview in Manila, Sunday. "It's voluntary separation so it’s up to the workers if they want to leave PAL, and just look for work or have their own business," he added. Benavidez said the separation package was "above average". Earlier, PAL announced its decision to lay off some 300 administrative and management staff through "voluntary separation" and retrenchment in order to allow the company to trim losses, which had been amplified by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread. Benavidez also explained that there was nothing preventing companies in the Philippines from retrenching workers or even closing shop as long as they meet established standards. "Under the Labor Code, any employer may retrench an employee provided there is separation pay and proper notice," he said. "As early as last year, they already had losses. Add to this their projected losses in the next coming months due to cancelled flights. And regardless, whether there is loss or not, anytime a company can opt to (retrench)," added Benavidez. "So far, we haven't seen any labor violation (on the retrenchment)," he said. Labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM), meantime, said that the latest retrenchment in PAL was a continuation of the massive outsourcing plan of 2009. “Since 2011 PAL has been laying off regular employees and outsourcing the work to contractors who hire endo workers. PAL is just using the covid-19 travel ban and alleged financial losses as alibi for the latest round of contractualization at the flag carrier,” said Rene Magtubo, PM chair, in a statement. He said “PAL’s modus operandi of dismissing workers and replacing them with contractual workers in service providers is pretty well established. At the very least, PAL’s allegations of losses as basis for retrenchment should be taken with a grain of salt.” “In fact, the epidemic of endo is a worse plague on Filipino workers than the threat of the covid-19 virus. PAL’s recent mass layoff exposes that the problem of contractualization is as bad as ever. With President Duterte’s veto of the Security of Tenure bill last year, he definitely reneged on his promise of ending endo. Thus capitalists are emboldened anew to engage in contractualization,” Magtubo said.
Labor Assistant Secretary Benjo Benavidez(DOLE / MANILA BULLETIN) "We sent a labor inspector and were told that 182 workers already received a separation package. Others are still deciding whether to accept it," DOLE Assistant Secretary Benjo Benavidez said in an interview in Manila, Sunday. "It's voluntary separation so it’s up to the workers if they want to leave PAL, and just look for work or have their own business," he added. Benavidez said the separation package was "above average". Earlier, PAL announced its decision to lay off some 300 administrative and management staff through "voluntary separation" and retrenchment in order to allow the company to trim losses, which had been amplified by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread. Benavidez also explained that there was nothing preventing companies in the Philippines from retrenching workers or even closing shop as long as they meet established standards. "Under the Labor Code, any employer may retrench an employee provided there is separation pay and proper notice," he said. "As early as last year, they already had losses. Add to this their projected losses in the next coming months due to cancelled flights. And regardless, whether there is loss or not, anytime a company can opt to (retrench)," added Benavidez. "So far, we haven't seen any labor violation (on the retrenchment)," he said. Labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM), meantime, said that the latest retrenchment in PAL was a continuation of the massive outsourcing plan of 2009. “Since 2011 PAL has been laying off regular employees and outsourcing the work to contractors who hire endo workers. PAL is just using the covid-19 travel ban and alleged financial losses as alibi for the latest round of contractualization at the flag carrier,” said Rene Magtubo, PM chair, in a statement. He said “PAL’s modus operandi of dismissing workers and replacing them with contractual workers in service providers is pretty well established. At the very least, PAL’s allegations of losses as basis for retrenchment should be taken with a grain of salt.” “In fact, the epidemic of endo is a worse plague on Filipino workers than the threat of the covid-19 virus. PAL’s recent mass layoff exposes that the problem of contractualization is as bad as ever. With President Duterte’s veto of the Security of Tenure bill last year, he definitely reneged on his promise of ending endo. Thus capitalists are emboldened anew to engage in contractualization,” Magtubo said.