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Philippine Airlines Employees' Association appeals for solidarity

Philippine Airlines Employees' Association Urgent Appeal - October 6, 2011

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The Philippine Airlines Employees' Association (PALEA) appeals to all union brothers and sisters, as well as all who support just wages, job security and safe work conditions, for solidarity as it continues its struggle against an outsourcing plan that will lay off 2,600 employees and downgrade them from regular to contractual hires.

On September 27, PALEA launched a sit-down strike at the airport and other offices that paralyzed the operations of Philippine Airlines (PAL), the national flag carrier.

The response from PAL and the Philippine government was the forcible eviction by a combined force of police and security guards of the striking workers. The workers have been locked out since then and terminated from their jobs on October 1. But despite this dispersal of protesting workers, PAL has been unable to resume normal operations. This illustrates the failure of the outsourcing plan and the militancy of PALEA's resistance.

PALEA is demanding that PAL open talks to resolve the labor dispute. The lockout must stop, the outsourcing plan should be scrapped and the workers should be allowed to return to their jobs as regular workers.

To keep up the pressure on PAL and the government, PALEA has setup picket lines outside the international airports of Manila and Cebu, the two biggest cities in the country. Every day more than a thousand workers man the pickets in shifts.

PALEA needs your moral and logistical support.

We ask for solidarity messages and actions. Even the simplest expression of support will help sustain the high morale of PALEA members at the picketlines.

If possible, we call for delegations to and/or pickets at embassies or consulates of the Republic of the Philippines to convey concern for the plight of PALEA in order to maintain pressure on the government to heed workers' rights and demands.

Lastly, we appeal for logistical support. It costs PALEA around US$1,500 daily just to feed its members and supporters who sustain the protest camp. Although donations from fellow PALEA members, other PAL employees such as the cabin crew, labor groups and other organizations defray some of the costs, the logistical needs of the picket lines and such other mass activities as rallies are depleting the union's funds, especially since management stopped remitting dues since October 1.

Donate online via the website of Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party-Philippines): http://laborpartyphilippines.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=21&Itemid=43

Or send donations by bank to:

PALEA Strike Fund
Account Number 00008-057-00403-9
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC)
Quirino Ave., Baclaran, Paranaque City, Philippines.

International support from labor groups and advocates will go a long way in sustaining and winning this fight. Help us end outsourcing and contract hire.

For more information:

Website: www.laborpartyphilippines.org
Blog: http://partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com
Facebook: Sulong PALEANS!
Tweeter: manggagawa