“Once again, Pres. Aquino has shown that when he said ‘Kayo ang boss ko’ in his inauguration speech, he was referring to big capitalists like Lucio Tan.”
This was labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno’s reaction to the decision of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to uphold the spin-off scheme of Lucio Tan-owned Philippine Airlines, which will subcontract three departments to third-party providers and layoff 2,600 workers.
The Office of the President said the PAL Employees’ Association or PALEA failed to raise new points to overturn the previous decision allowing the spin-off scheme.
“Pres. Aquino is blaming the petition filed by PAL workers for his decision when he is simply upholding Lucio Tan’s interest to bust the workers’ union and boost profits by contractualizing PAL’s workforce. He is just making an excuse for this most anti-union and anti-worker of decisions,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson.
“If he really wants to defend PAL workers from mass layoff and contractualization, he can just say that he decided based on the interest and welfare of the PAL workers and of Filipino workers in general. What is clear, however, is that he is siding with Lucio Tan in implementing an anti-union and anti-worker scheme,” he added.
KMU reiterated its analysis of PAL’s spin-off scheme, and called on the Filipino workers and people to condemn Pres. Aquino’s decision.
“The facts are there for everyone to see: Lucio Tan remains the second richest man in the country and PAL cannot hide its profits despite its magic tricks. On the other hand, 2,600 regular and unionized workers will be laid off only to be re-hired as contractuals with less wages and benefits, no job security and no rights to speak of,” Labog said.
“Pres. Aquino’s decision on PAL is not only a bad news for us workers but a bad precedent. Businessmen whose profits are smaller than Tan, which include all local businessmen except Henry Sy, are given a green light to implement contractualization via outsourcing schemes,” he added.
“We are calling on the Filipino workers and people to protest this most anti-union and anti-worker decision of the president. The majority of the country’s workers are already contractuals, and Pres. Aquino’s decision will only make matters worse for the Filipino workers and people,” he said. Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU Chairperson
