PAL confirms it's to take off again<\/p>\n
MANILA (AP): Philippine Airlines publicly announced Sunday it
\nwas reopening after forging a no-strike deal with its largest
\nunion, though militant workers vowed to continue opposing the
\ndeal.<\/p>\n
In several paid newspaper advertisements, PAL said it would
\noffer 14 round-trip domestic flights from Manila starting on
\nWednesday and apologized to the public for problems caused by its
\nshutdown last month.<\/p>\n
\"Your national flag carrier is back,\" PAL said.<\/p>\n
PAL officials have said at least 2,000 workers will be
\nrecalled to handle domestic operations, and most of the airline's
\n8,600 current workers will be recalled once international flights
\nresume in a few weeks.<\/p>\n
The debt-ridden airline, Asia's oldest, closed on Sept. 23
\nafter failing to persuade its ground crew union to accept a
\nmanagement-proposed recovery plan that would suspend its workers'
\nright to strike and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement
\nfor 10 years.<\/p>\n
Its closure left much of the Philippine archipelago without
\nair service, prompting President Joseph Estrada to enlist Hong
\nKong's Cathay Pacific to fly PAL's domestic routes to avoid
\nserious damage to the economy.<\/p>\n
In a second government-supervised referendum held Friday,
\nabout 61 percent of the 6,700 members of PAL's largest union
\naccepted the proposal to suspend collective bargaining in
\nexchange for 20 percent of the company's stock and seats on its
\nboard.<\/p>\n
Militant members of the union, however, said they would seek
\ncourt action on Monday to declare the agreement illegal and would
\ncontinue protests against it.<\/p>\n
\"This agreement would set a precedent and lead to the downfall
\nnot only of PAL workers,\" said Renato Reyes, a union board member
\nopposed to the proposal.<\/p>\n
He said the PAL recovery plan violates the Philippine
\nconstitution, which guarantees the right of workers to form
\nunions and bargain collectively for labor benefits.<\/p>\n
Estrada assured the workers that he will defend their rights
\nduring the proposed 10-year collective bargaining suspension,
\nadding it is only a temporary measure to help PAL and the Manila
\ngovernment cope with the Asian crisis.<\/p>\n
Asia's currency crisis hit last year shortly after PAL
\nlaunched a US$4 billion modernization program, greatly inflating
\nthe amount of money it must repay to overseas creditors. It has
\nbeen unable to make payments on $2.1 billion of debt.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pal-confirms-its-to-take-off-again-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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