Passengers stranded by walkout in Manila

Philippine Airlines failed to offer alternate arrangements to passengers of cancelled international and local flights as ground crew members walked out in protest against the cutting of 2,600 jobs which are to be outsourced from October 1. Some 14,000 passengers were affected as PAL cancelled 50 international and 35 local flights at PAL's terminal two in Pasay City's Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) yesterday morning, said PAL spokeswoman Cielo Villaluna, adding that normal operations would be restored by 6pm. PAL's ground crew members in charge of catering and the boarding area staged a walkout and slowdown of work in protest against PAL's "illegal lock-out". It was the response of the PAL Employees Association (Palea) to the dismissal of the ground crew workers," said Gerry Rivera, head of Palea. "The dismissal is like a big typhoon hitting us and our families," said Rivera, who apologised to the passengers who were inconvenienced by the strike. Meanwhile, PAL president and CEO Jaime Bautista warned that the striking ground crew workers would be charged with economic sabotage. "The identification cards of the striking ground crew members will be confiscated and they will no longer be allowed to enter the airline's terminal at the airport," Bautista said. At the same time, Labour Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz sent Nida Romulo, head of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board's National Capital Region office, to mediate between the PAL management and the union. "Both parties will hold a meeting to reach a settlement as soon as possible," said Baldoz. The beleaguered company has decided to outsource jobs of its ground crew to save $15 million (Dh55 million) in overhead costs, following losses of $312 million from 2008 to 2009. PAL's other headache is that flight crews have been demanding higher wages and better retirement benefits. Twenty-five pilots and first officers abruptly left their work at PAL last year after being recruited by high-paying companies abroad.