Labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno today condemned Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for threatening to file cases of economic sabotage against Philippine Airlines workers who staged a protest action against the impending massive layoff in the country’s flag carrier last Sept. 27.
KMU said the president has consistently sided with PAL owner and business tycoon Lucio Tan on the labor dispute resulting from the massive layoff and contractualization via outsourcing scheme in the airline company.
“Pres. Aquino has shown himself to be Lucio Tan’s attack dog against the workers of Philippine Airlines. He is using his seeming neutrality to faithfully side with Tan and rabidly assault PAL workers,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson.
“If anybody is guilty of economic sabotage in this issue, it is Lucio Tan and the president himself. Tan is attacking the job security of all workers in the country and the president is legitimizing the repression of workers fighting for their rights,” he added.
“People have been calling the profiteering schemes of the Big 3 oil companies forms of economic sabotage, yet the president defended these to death.Maliliit na tao lang ang kinakaya-kaya niya (He only attacks poor people),” he said.
PALEA leadership slammed
KMU also criticized the leadership of the PAL Employees’ Association or PALEA’s response to the president’s threat, in which the union merely said that the president has been “misinformed” by the PAL management.
“It’s not that Pres. Aquino is misinformed on this issue; it’s just that he is taking the side of Lucio Tan with all the information that he has. It is foolish to think that the president, who has consistently shown that he is pro-capitalist, is merely misinformed,” Labog said.
The labor leader also said that the leadership of PALEA is persisting in its error of trusting the president to come up with a pro-labor decision on the labor dispute in PAL.
“The leadership of PALEA is persisting in its error of putting its trust in the president. It refused to uphold its members’ decision to go on strike and set up preparations for a strike because it is having all these illusions about Noynoy,” Labog said.
“As a result, ordinary PAL workers are suffering from the attacks of Lucio Tan and the Aquino government. Still, the PALEA leadership refuses to shake off its illusions about the pro-capitalist anti-worker president,” he added. Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU Chairperson
