Taipan suspected to be Human Rights Violator

Taipan suspected to be Human Rights Violator

“The Philippine Commission on Women has already pronounced that PAL's policy towards its female flight attendants is discriminatory. The Commission on Human Rights chair, Ms Etta Rosales, has also pointed-out that PAL's retirement, pregnancy and maternity provisions for flight attendants are sexist and discriminatory, in violation of their human rights,” Anduiza said.

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PAL cabin crews to strike
By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net

Filed Under: Protest, Air Transport, Labour dispute, Lucio Tan

MANILA, Philippines—After talks with the Philippine Airlines management bogged down, a group of flight attendants and stewards on Wednesday announced it will push through with its labor strike sometime between October and November.

In a statement, the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) said it would no longer enter into further negotiations with PAL after its management refused to fix the mandatory retirement age of flight attendants and to correct the minimum wage levels for flight attendants and stewards as mandated by law.

Bob Anduiza, president of the 1,600-strong FASAP, said the strike will be held sometime between the end of October and the first week of November.

The decision to push through with the strike came after Tuesday’s meetings of the labor group with PAL at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board of the Department of Labor and Employment ended in a deadlock.

FASAP said that PAL still insists on paying P8,605 as minimum monthly wage of flight attendants instead of the P12,288 minimum pay mandated by the Department of Labor and Employment.

“It clearly showed that the PAL flight attendants' entry level pay of P8,605 is way, way below the present P12, 288 minimum wage,” Anduiza said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100929-295021/PAL-cabin-crews-to-strike

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNation.htm?f=2010/september/29/nation2.isx&d=2010/september/29

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Ultimatum for Bong Tan

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideBusop.htm?f=2010/september/29/vicagustin.isx&d=2010/september/29

TAIPAN Lucio Tan has drawn a very public line in the sand for his namesake son, Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr., about his reported acquisition of the publicly-listed MRC Allied Industries.

The taipan placed paid advisories in the newspapers for the past two days clarifying that the Lucio Tan Group of Companies have “no corporate ties or any business dealings” with MRC Allied, a shell company controlled by investor and real estate developer Benjamin Bitanga.

The ads are the culmination of a series of moves, both intimidating and conciliatory, from the taipan’s trusted aides to frustrate Bong Tan’s desire to start a business outside the family conglomerate.

These moves included, according to the pro-Bong Tan grapevine, writing the Chinese embassy to forewarn possible Chinese investors about a power plant venture, calling up DMCI’s Isidro Consunji about the son’s planned acquisition of AG& P, and, even earlier, unseating the son from the presidency of Tanduay Distillers and dumping his office belongings in a box.

The pro-taipan grapevine, on the other hand, claim the old man just wanted to inform the son’s potential partners that the patriarch would no longer throw a financial lifeline to his eldest son’s next venture just like what he did when he ended up cleaning up the P3-billion disaster of the son’s Catering-X business during the regional currency crisis.

On a personal level, the pro-taipan grapevine has been trying to impress on the US-educated, 43-year-old heir to cut down on golf and basketball and spend more time with the family business. Why can’t he be like his half-brother Michael Tan and his uncles Harry Tan and Domingo Chua, who are at the beck and call of the 75-year-old patriarch, especially with the king-sized headaches that Philippine Airlines has lately been giving him? the pro-taipan chatter asked.

PAL Holdings, incidentally, will hold a stockholders’ meeting at Century Park Thursday; the press should have more clues on the direction of this brewing family split, should Bong Tan, a company director, decide to appear. Or not.

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Heard through the grapevine

The Bank of the Philippine Islands has concluded due diligence work on Philippine National Bank and Allied Bank, a claim being strongly denied by key Lucio Tan officials.

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From the grapevine

First come, first served

Claims on the $4 billion wealth of an ailing Taipan has started. A child is reported to have sued his rich father for his share of the sprawling empire.

Sadly, mistresses have no right to the treasures.

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The absent Tans
October 4, 2010

LUCIO Tan Sr. and Lucio Tan Jr. were both absent in Thursday’s annual stockholders’ meeting of PAL Holdings at the taipan’s Century Park hotel.

The patriarch, along with wife Carmen, was reportedly in China for the Oct. 1 national day celebrations; the junior Tan, despite telling his uncle Harry Tan that he would attend, decided not to show up as well.

Uncle Harry neatly deflected possible inquiries about the reported fissures between the patriarch and his oldest son, cutting off a reporter’s question by saying, in Pilipino, “those are just rumors,” as he hurriedly walked away from the media pack.
The shareholders’ meeting was short and went without a hitch along the prepared script. Even the restive flight attendants’ union of Philippine Airlines stayed away.

http://cocktales.ph/

What’s next for Mariano Tanenglian?

What’s next for Mariano Tanenglian?

Business circles are now rife with speculative talk about the cause and true nature of the feud between wealthy Chinese-Filipino businessman Lucio Tan and one of his brothers, Mariano Chua Tanenglian. And one cannot help but wonder if this feud is actually the beginning of the end of the Tan family’s mighty business empire.

There are rumors of Mariano’s alleged embezzlement of company funds for personal profit, which is somewhat difficult to believe considering what the brothers had gone through in business together all these years, and of significant business losses from trading in metals and speculative hedging on jet fuel prices.

Obviously, with Mariano handling treasury for the group, he cannot expect to be blameless for financial troubles, if any. But he has been doing finance for Lucio’s businesses in the last 50 years. And for sure, in all those years, his financial management was not always perfect. But why the relationship blow out now?

There is also talk of the 69-yeard-old Mariano going into business for himself, investing in a real estate venture without the permission of his older brother, the 74-year-old Lucio. Some people claim Lucio is particular about loyalty to the family business, and has ordered that all family members working for the group cannot work nor do business externally.

That Lucio and Mariano are not blood brothers, as some pundits point out, does not seem to be an issue. But it remains uncertain whether Lucio is also about to question the loyalty of their brothers Harry and Frank or Chang Wing Kit, and brothers-in-law of Domingo Chua Cheung Chi Ming. The worse that can happen is for the ongoing feud to divide the family further.

Not at a time when business is not doing too well. The cigarette and liquor business are now under threat both from smugglers as well as new taxes; their airline business is adversely affected by rising fuel prices; the merger of their banks is also held back by regulatory issues. There is also the issue of their profitability, with one stockholder reportedly complaining that bank stocks she had bought at P100 apiece were now worth just a little over P23 per share.

It is always sad to read about family, or brothers, fighting over business. And Philippine industry has seen enough of such fights over the years. To the credit of the Gokongwei brothers, for instance, despite the passing of Henry and Johnson Robert, eldest brother John and youngest brother James continue to work well with Henry’s and Johnson’s children.

In the case of the Lucio Tan Group, what started out as a small trading firm in the late 1950s diversified into chemicals, cigarettes and liquor, a piggery, several banks, hotels, airlines, and real estate development. And today, the group has business interests in the Philippines, China and Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Guam, Canada, and the United States.

Also, it is easy enough to mistakenly think that the group was founded solely by Lucio Tan. People in the know are quick to point out that the group’s business success can also be credited to three other people. Aside from Lucio, there were Benito Tan and Florencio Santos, now both deceased, and of course, Mariano.

Being a commerce graduate, as opposed to Lucio’s degree in chemical engineering and Florencio Santos’s law degree, it was only fitting that Mariano handled treasury for the group. And this was for almost 50 years, for nearly all the companies in the group, until the publicized falling out between brothers that reportedly started in February.

With only Lucio and Mariano still alive, and with no clear succession rules, perhaps the 74-year-old family patriarch is beginning to feel insecure with his younger brother’s influence in the company. Also, one can speculate the possibility of infighting among Lucio’s aides, especially after their boss’ recent surgery. What happens to them when he goes is anybody’s guess.

Also raised by speculators is Mariano’s supposed loyalty to Lucio Tan’s first family. Coffee shop wags claim that because of their late Tan mother’s insistence on faithfulness, Mariano acknowledges the legitimacy of Lucio’s first wife, Carmen, and thus reportedly recognizes Lucio Tan, Jr. as his father’s rightful heir.

But unfortunately for Lucio Khao Tan, Jr. or Bong, despite his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and his Executive Masters in Business and Administration from Northwestern University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the supposed support of his Uncle Mariano, he does not seem to be in his father’s favour.

As for Mariano’s fate, the word is, he has been told to move overseas with the rest of his immediate family. In February, he was already barred from entering the premises of the Allied Bank Building on Ayala Avenue, where he holds office. This prompted him to sue the bank’s security chief, which reportedly even earned him the irritation of his brother.

Talk about 50 years of contribution and dedication to the family businesses suddenly being rendered worthless. Since then, Mariano’s nominations to the various Tan company boards have been withdrawn, including that for Allied Bank and Philippine National Bank, Tanduay Distillers, Philippine Airlines, Eton Properties, and MacroAsia.

History is replete with stories of kings, emperors, or even wealthy and powerful businessmen whose empires were eventually brought to ruins by mismanagement or even family squabbles, or worse, by wedges driven between family members by ambitious and scheming but undeserving underlings. One can only wish Lucio Tan the best of luck in keeping his family and his businesses from falling apart.

Comments to matort@yahoo.com

MERGER NG PNB-ALLIED BANK, GANAP NA KONTROL NI LUCIO TAN SA BANKO

MERGER NG PNB-ALLIED BANK, GANAP NA KONTROL NI LUCIO TAN SA BANKO

by Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC) Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010 at 9:46 PM
epcc_la@hotmail.com 818-749-0272 1740 W. Temple St. Los Angeles, Ca 90026

Nalaman ngayon ng EPCC NEWS na magsasanib ng Philippine National Bank (PNB) at ang Allied Banking Corporation (ABC). Dahil dito ganap na makokontrol ni Lucio Tan ang kontrol sa PNB dahil makokompleto nito ang 80% dahil sa pag-aari niya sa Allied Bank. Ang Allied bank ay dating kontrol ni Juan Ponce Enrile at ng mga Marcos. Isa ito sa mga hinahabol na ari-arian ng PCGG subalit bigo sila sa kanilang pagiimbestiga laban dito maging sa ma kaso laban kay Lucio Tan.

EPCC News
January 19, 2009

MERGER NG PNB-ALLIED BANK, GANAP NA KONTROL NI LUCIO TAN SA BANKO

Los Angeles—Nalaman ngayon ng EPCC NEWS na magsasanib ng Philippine National Bank (PNB) at ang Allied Banking Corporation (ABC). Dahil dito ganap na makokontrol ni Lucio Tan ang kontrol sa PNB dahil makokompleto nito ang 80% dahil sa pag-aari niya sa Allied Bank.

Ang Allied bank ay dating kontrol ni Juan Ponce Enrile at ng mga Marcos. Isa ito sa mga hinahabol na ari-arian ng PCGG subalit bigo sila sa kanilang pagiimbestiga laban dito maging sa mga kaso laban kay Lucio Tan.

Alam ng lahat na ang Allied Bank ay banko ng mga kroni na malalaking loggers sa Pilipinas Dati itong hawak at pinaghaharian ng isa sa mga bataan ni Enrile na si vice-governor Alfonso Reyno ng Cagayan.

Dahil sa kontrol ni Tan sa PNB at iba pang pag-aari ng gobyerno tulad ng Philippine Airline (PAL), lalongtumibay ang posisyon nito sa ekonomya ng Pilipinas.

Dating matibay na banko ng gobyerno ang PNB ngunit mula pa sa panahon ni Marcos, ginawa na itong gatasang baka ng mga negosyante at mga burukrata kapitalista.

Yes, Estrada and Ms Arroyo are “birds of the same feather.” Estrada sided with tycoon Lucio Tan against the workers of Philippine Airlines. He even reprimanded the workers, by asking them the question: “Nakakain ba ang CBA?” [“Can you eat a CBA?”] Estrada is pro-rich and his slogan “Erap para sa mahirap” [“Estrada for the poor”] is just a slogan.

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Ka Popoy Lagman was arguably be the most colorful and effective leader of this generation. His run-ins with the biggest of the tycoons and the most powerful of politicians are legend. Popular columnist Conrado de Quiros documents the following incident -

Lagman, as far as I know, was the first one to stand up before Erap and tell him to his face that he agreed completely with his desire to bring peace and harmony to labor-capital relations, and the best way to do that was to put criminals like Lucio Tan behind bars. This was Labor Day a couple of years ago, during the height of the labor problem at PAL, when the labor leaders were invited to Malacañang. That was real cojones." (PDI, "There's the Rub, Revamp the vision, not the men")

BAKIT DAPAT KASAMA TAYO SA LABAN NG MANGGAGAWA NG PAL?

BAKIT DAPAT KASAMA TAYO SA LABAN NG MANGGAGAWA NG PAL?

Agosto 6, 2010

Mga kamanggagawa at kababayan,

SA IKALAWANG pagkakataon, inaatake ni Lucio Tan ang manggagawa ng PAL. Gagawing kalahati ang sweldo! Gagawing kontraktwal ang mga empleyado!

Ang mga piloto na sumusweldo ng P150,000 kada buwan sa PAL ay ililipat sa Air Philippines, na pag-aari rin ni Lucio, at pasasahurin ng P75,000. Dahilan para lumipat sa ibang bansa ang ilan na sa mga piloto. P400,000 kada buwan ang average salary ng piloto sa ibang bansa. 26 na ang umalis at may 50 pa ang nagbabalak umalis na piloto.

Ang mga ground crew [nag-aasikaso ng bagahe ng PAL], maintenance [mekaniko sa lahat ng eroplanong lalapag sa NAIA] at catering [nagsusuplay ng pagkain at inumin sa mga eroplano ng PAL] regular employees na sumusweldo ng P20,000 ay pasasahurin ng P10,000 bilang kontraktwal na empleyado matapos ihiwalay ang mga departamentong ito sa kumpanyang PAL. Pag-aari rin ni Lucio ang mga bagong kumpanya ng ground crew, maintenance at catering. Kamakailan lang ay pinahintulutan ng DOLE si Lucio na tanggalin ang 2,600 na manggagawa sa pamamagitan ng pagbabaklas ng departamento ng ground crew, maintenance at catering mula sa PAL upang bigyang-daan ang kontaktwal na relasyon ng mga dating permanenteng manggagawa sa bagong kumpanyang itatayo ni Lucio sa mababang sweldo at benepisyo.

Ang mga flight attendants at stewardesses ay 3 taon ng di tumataas ang sweldo at benepisyo dahil sadyang pinatatagal ng kumpanya ang negosasyon. Negosasyong karaniwang tumatagal lang ng 3-6 na buwan. Bargaining in bad faith ito na labag sa Labor Code. Dagdag pa, ipinilit ng kumpanya ang patakaran nitong mandatory retirement age na 40-45 anyos sa mga babae. Samantalang ang kapwa nila empleyado sa PAL sa lahat ng departamento ay 60 anyos ang retirement age.

Ang ginagawang ito ni Lucio ay walang katulad sa Pilipinas at sa buong mundo!

Minsan na niyang ginawa ito sa PAL noong 1998. Sinuspindi niya ng 10 taon ang CBA o collective bargaining agreement – walang wage at benefit increases — ng Philippine Airlines Employees Association o PALEA. Ito ang unyon ng ground crew, maintenance, catering at ticketing. Maramihan niyang tinanggal ang mga piloto at opisyales ng Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines o ALPAP, flight attendants/stewardesses/ at ilang opisyales ng Flight Attendants and Stewardess Association of the Philippines o FASAP at ground crew/ maintenance.

Nagawa ito ni Lucio noon katulong ang gubyerno ni Erap at mga ahente ng kapital sa masmidya, kasama na rito ang napanood natin sa TV na male-maletang pera na nagkakahalaga ng 50 milyong pisong ibinayad ni Lucio sa ilang opisyal ng unyon sa PAL. Naitulak nilang pansamantalang sumuko noon ang mga manggagawa ng PAL dahil ginamitan nila ng blackmail ang mga manggagawa: 10-year CBA moratorium o isasara ang PAL.

Pero ang epekto ay di lang sa PAL employees. Ang ginawa ni Lucio at ng gubyerno noon sa PAL ay naging huwaran sa ibang kapitalista. Nauso ang moratoryum sa mga CBA negotiations sa maraming kumpanya. Nagkakapirmahan sa mga CBA na walang lamang wage increase! Sinisertipikahan ang mga CBA ng Department of Labor kahit alam na ang mga ito ay “sweethearts contracts” na labag sa Labor Code! Kaya naman marami ang di umaabot ang sweldo sa minimum wage. Hanggang ngayon, ito ang trend sa relasyong manggagawa-kapitalista.

Ngayon, makalipas ang 12 taong pagyurak sa karapatan ng mga manggagawa sa PAL at pagholdap sa kanilang dagdag na sweldo at benepisyo, pumangalawa na si Lucio Tan kay Henry Sy sa pinakamayamang tao sa ating bansa. 12 taong walang CBA. 12 taong nakatipid ng labor cost si Lucio Tan!

Mga kamanggagawa at kababayan.

Ang ginagawa ni Lucio Tan ay gyera laban sa mga manggagawa ng bansa. Gerang walang fixed battle lines. Kumikilos ito nang marahan. Minsa’y bumibigwas nang biglaan. Di mawari ang pinanggagalingan. Lagpas sa mga batas, kumbensyon at kalakaran.

Bagong pakana itong ginagawa ni Lucio. Nagseset ito ng bagong trend. Kakalahatiin ang sweldo! At gagawing kontraktwal ang lahat ng empleyado! Wala ng regular. Wala ng permanente.

Kagaya ng nauna, gagayahin din ito ng ibang kapitalista. Kagaya ng nauna, kakampihan din ito ng gubyerno! Kagaya ng nauna, ito ang magiging BAGONG kalakaran!

KUNG hahayaan nating ang ALPAP, PALEA at FASAP lang ang lalaban. Kung iisipin nating problema lang nila yan at di natin problema. Kung amor propio ng sariling organisasyon ang ating mas pahahalagahan kaysa kapakanan ng buong uring manggagawa.

MAGSAMA-SAMA TAYONG LAHAT para kondenahin at puspusang labanan ang pakana ni Lucio Tan. Hindi lang ito para sa mga empleyado ng PAL. Para rin ito sa ating lahat. Para ito sa lahat ng mga namamasukan o mga mamamasukan sa hinaharap sa alinmang kumpanya. Kapag tuluyang nagtagumpay ang eksperimento ni Lucio Tan sa kanyang kumpanya, lalaganap yan sa lahat ng employer sa buong bansa.

Gusto ba nating bukas makalawa ay kakalahati na lang ang sweldo at puro kontraktwal na ang empleyado sa lahat ng kumpanya?

Lucio Tan did not make it to the Forbes' Billionaire List

"The companies of another Filipino businessman included in Forbes' billionaire list this year, beer and airline magnate Lucio Tan, also did not make the cut."

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/09/16/10/china-india-tie-top-place-forbes-asias-fab-50

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China, India tie for top place in Forbes Asia's Fab 50

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 09/16/2010 11:23 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Asia’s economic powerhouses China and India have tied for top place with the most number of firms on Forbes Asia’s Fab 50 List, with both countries accounting for more than 60% of the firms on the 2010 list.

Forbes Asia's Fab 50 list is an annual roster of the best 50 big-capitalization and profitable companies in the region.

China, which has topped the list since 2008, held steady with 16 entries, unchanged from last year. Of these, 10 firms are returnees including Lenovo Group. The company commands the biggest share of the PC market in China, and makes the list for the fourth time after dropping out last year.

Also returning to the list are 2 other Chinese technology companies: Digital China Holdings and Tencent Holdings.

India also had 16 entries on the list, compared with 13 last year and only 3 when the inaugural Fab 50 List was published in 2005. A lot of Indian companies displayed staying power with 11 firms returning to the list.

Perennial top performer Infosys Technologies joins the roster for the sixth straight year. Making their appearance for the fifth consecutive time are Bharat Heavy Electricals, HDFC Bank and Larsen & Toubro. Other Indian returnees include ITC and Axis Bank.

Despite being named this year's richest man in the Philippines, the conglomerate of tycoon Henry Sy, SM Investments Corp., did not make it to the top 50.

The companies of another Filipino businessman included in Forbes'billionaire list this year, beer and airline magnate Lucio Tan, also did not make the cut.

The Fab 50 List appears in the latest issue of Forbes Asia. The 50 firms were picked from a shortlist of 936 that had revenues or market capitalization of at least $3 billion as of September 1, 2010, and a 5-year record for revenue, operating earnings and return on capital. Other criteria included recent financial result, share price movement and outlook.

This year, Hong Kong and Taiwan tied for third place with 4 companies each.

Hong Kong’s Li & Fung is the other firm apart from Infosys that has made the Fab 50 in all 6 years since the list began. Taiwan’s Acer, the world’s number 2 PC maker, has made the list every year except in 2006.

Coming in fifth is South Korea with 3 entries: Glovis, NHN and Samsung Engineering. Following behind are Australia and Japan with 2 entries each while Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand rounded off the list with one entry each.

The number of Japanese firms making the cut has declined over the years since the list started in 2005. Japan topped the inaugural list with 13 firms but since then its entries have dwindled along with the country’s economic stagnation.

This year’s Fab 50 List includes 18 new faces. Dongfang Electric, one of 6 new Chinese companies on the list, makes power-generation equipment and has produced more boilers, turbines and generators than any other company in the world.

Its president Wen Shugang tells Forbes Asia how his Sichuan-based company survived the devastating earthquake in 2008 in the latest issue of the magazine.

Another notable new entry is Thai coal miner Banpu, which has been steadily expanding overseas for 12 years. Its revenue grew 20% last year to $1.7 billion, and profits jumped 61% to $427 million.

The Fab 50 companies will be honored at an award ceremony and dinner in Bangkok, Thailand on December 8 2010.

Theres The Rub: Stewardesses are not GROs

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20100914-292278/Stewardesses-are-not-GROs

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By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:39:00 09/14/2010

Filed Under: Labor, Social Issues, Air Transport

THE FIRST time I saw it was maybe 15 years ago, at an American Airlines flight. The fellow was a steward, uniformed like the others, trim like the others, capable like the others. With one exception. His hair was gray, his skin was blotched, and his face bore wrinkles. I figured he must be in his late 60s or early 70s.

He wasn’t just polite. He was pleasant, engaging the passengers in banter, for those who wanted to banter. He had a smile for everyone. After a while the novelty of his appearance (for me at least—it didn’t seem to strike the other passengers as so) wore off and he faded into the woodwork, or the cabin, just another member of the crew.

Soon after that, the sight became so common in various airlines you didn’t notice it anymore.

But the first time made you ask: Why on earth (or in the skies) not? Why should stewardesses look like the Girl from Ipanema? Flight attendants are not there to serve patrons, they are there to serve passengers. They are not there to entertain customers, particularly in their times of dire want, they are there to help commuters, particularly in their times of dire need.

That is the question Fasap (the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines) is asking PAL (Philippine Airlines). That is the answer Fasap is giving PAL.

For which it has filed a notice of strike.

I’ve known Fasap for about a decade and a half now and known it to be one of the most reasonable unions in the world. That is the reason for its success. It does not rush headlong into strikes. It does so only after exhausting other means. Other unions would do well to learn from it. Reasonableness is its middle name.

The working conditions of its female crew suck. That is the core of its cause. That is the reason it has served a notice to strike. It has nothing to do with more pay, more allowances, more benefits. It has everything to do with basic, minimum, elemental, justice. Two-thirds of Fasap’s 1,564 members are women.

Two things in particular Fasap wants to change.

The first is for PAL to scrap its de facto policy of criminalizing pregnancy for flight attendants. There is no other way to put it. You are a PAL stewardess and you get pregnant, you get to file a leave of absence without pay. The leave amounts to close to a year, given the two months for normal delivery and three months for caesarean you are required to take afterward. That period is taken away from your number of years of service. If you get pregnant three times in the 20 years that you work for PAL as a flight attendant, you will register only 17 years served.

That applies only to flight attendants. It’s different for the ground crew. They may work till they are about to deliver, have their 60-day leave paid for by the Social Security System, and come back to work shortly afterward. None of it is taken away from their record.

What makes the policy exceedingly laughable—the kind that makes you cry—is that male flight attendants who take a paternity leave do not have their leave taken out of their years of service. The policy is clear: You are innocent if you get your wife (or mistress) pregnant, but guilty if you yourself get pregnant.

Fasap in fact is simply asking for the period of pregnancy not to be discounted from the flight attendant’s years of service. The rest—what pay or benefits she should get in the course of her nearly-one-year leave—remains subject to negotiation. You can’t get more minimum than that. Other unions would criticize Fasap for being too tame. PAL is accusing it of being too spoiled.

The second, which bears directly on the first, is for PAL to stop parading its flight attendants as eye candy. There is no other way to put it. Since the mid-1990s, PAL has set the retirement age for flight attendants at 40. Too early to get SSS benefits and too late to start again elsewhere. The retirement age for the ground crew ranges from 60 to 65.

PAL says it is merely thinking about the flight attendants’ welfare—they shouldn’t be flying past that age. That is refuted by several things. One is that other airlines now routinely have flight attendants who are senior citizens. There have been no reported cases of them tottering and dying from a heart attack while serving drinks. Two is that the retirement age for PAL’s pilots is 60 for both men and women. Why should the risks be higher for flight attendants than for pilots? And three is that the line administrators, the officers who fly to rate the flight attendants’ performance, retire at 65.

Elsewhere, the point is to be fit. But PAL’s point is that fit means young. Fit means not being pregnant. Fit means fit to ogle, fantasize on, flirt with. That is the only explanation for the patent discrimination. That might have been acceptable once with airlines, during Cro-Magnon times, but that is no longer so today. For good reason: It is an exploitative view of flight attendants, and the world will have nothing to do with it. Flight attendants undergo training, undergo skills-building, undergo ordeals with exceptionally rough flights and even more exceptionally rough passengers. They are not in flights to pretend, they are in flights to attend. That is why they are called flight attendants.

What Fasap wants is merely the same retirement terms as the ground crew and the pilots. It does even better, which is to propose that retirement be based on years of service—counting pregnancies—and not age. Other unions would criticize Fasap for being too restrained. PAL is accusing it of being too out of its mind.

Well, truth has a way of coming out, these days more than others. Quite simply, the flight attendants’ notice of strike serves notice:

PAL is not Pegasus, and flight attendants are not GROs.

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Key people

Lucio C. Tan (Chairman and CEO)

Harry C. Tan (Vice-Chairman)

In PAL, life ends at 40

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/business/09/11/10/pal-life-ends-40

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First-timers ang bansag sa kanila ng unyon sa Philippine Airlines (PAL) sa mga Flight Attendants and Stewards' Association of the Philippines (FASAP).

Ngayon lamang sasali sa labor dispute sa pagitan ng unyon at ng PAL management.

Karamihan sa flight attendants ay nagsimula noong 2007.

Sina Louise Navarro at Hanina Han, mga dating cabin crew ng PAL ang mga magulang.

Bata pa sila, pinangarap nang maging flight attendants.

"Baby pa lang. I was practicing, both of us, pretending to be FAs in the house",ani Navarro.

"I don’t have any plans of applying to other airlines because I’m so proud working with Philippine Airlines",pahayag naman ni Hanina.

Ang masaklap dahil sa tinatawag nilang gender discrimination, unti-unti umanong pinapatay ng PAL ang kanilang career.

Ipinaglalaban nila rito na dapat ay amyemdahan ang itinakdang retirement age na 40 batay sa collective bargaining agreement.

Bukod sa retirement age, isyu rin nila ang hindi pagkamit ng minimum wage.

Matatandaan na tumatanggap lamang ng basic pay ang bawat flight attendant ng P8,600, na mababa sa minimum wage.

"Many say that life beings at 40. In PAL it ends at 40 years old",pahayag ni Navarro sa media.

Kaya sa itinakdang strike ng flight attendants sa katapusan ng Oktubre o unang linggo ng Nobyembre, 100% daaw ang sasali.

Sa panig naman ng PAL, nanatili silang tapat sa kanilang negosasyon sa FASAP.

Hinimok nila ang mga miyembro na makipag-negosasyon muli at dahil natanggap na ng labor department ang notice of strike, mahigit isang buwan pa ang cool off period.

Ayon naman sa labor department, batay sa kanilang datos nitong taon lamang, aabot na sa 100 ang natatanggap nilang notice of strike mula sa mga kompanya sa National Capital Region.

Susubukan nilang maplantsa ang mga labor dispute na ito para hindi na humantong sa tigil-trabaho. - Alex Santos, Patrol ng Pilipino

DOTC maps out contingency plans for PAL strike

DOTC maps out contingency plans for PAL strike

09/11/2010

The Department of Transportation and Communications has started threshing out contingency plans for a possible strike that may cripple flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL).

DOTC Secretary Jose de Jesus said Saturday he has been meeting frequently with concerned government agencies to discuss the details of the plans.

We are now drawing up contingency plans to minimize the disruption to PAL operations. Of course you have heard or read about the president making an appeal to PAL and the [flight attendants'] union to try to settle their differences so there will be no disruption in the service of PAL," he said on government-run dzRB radio.

He did not say if the contingency plans are in coordination with PAL management, which said on Friday it is drawing up its own contingency measures should the strike push through.

De Jesus, however, did not give details of the contingency plans for now.

Meanwhile, De Jesus admitted there is still no definite policy on President Benigno Aquino III’s threat to open up Philippine skies to foreign airlines if a strike cripples PAL.

[But] our government, the cabinet and the president, regardless of whatever anybody else thinks what is best for the country, will do what is best for the majority, and not for a few interest groups," he added.

In Malacañang, meanwhile, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Palace will still request PAL and the Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines to settle these things," and resolve those concerns peacefully so the riding public will not be inconvenienced." — LBG, GMANews.TV

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As PAL strike looms, Aquino threatens to open RP skies

JAM SISANTE, GMANews.TV

09/10/2010

President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III on Friday renewed his threat to open Philippine skies to other airlines if the country's flag carrier, Philippine Airlines (PAL), fails to resolve its row with its flight attendants.

In an ambush interview after a Navy counter-terror demo in Cavite, Aquino said the policy review about opening Philippine skies is now being "fast-tracked."

"The open skies policy, the review is bring fast-tracked and if it is necessary we will do it to minimize disruption to the riding public," Aquino said.

Aquino made the statement a day after the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) filed a notice of strike at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). According to FASAP president Bob Anduiza, their strike may start either late October or November.

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PALEA has been opposing the planned massive layoff and outsourcing of PAL's core functions such as passenger handling, ramp and cargo handling and customer care units to third party service providers.

PM chairman and former labor partylist Rep. Renato Magtubo said that the plan would affect the job security of at least 2,600 employees who are intended to become contractual workers.

Sensing a looming strike scenario in PAL, Magtubo urged the Aquino government to make an advance crisis management plan on this issue to avoid repeating a major disorder that attended the recent hostage crisis in Manila.

"This is definitely bigger than the recent hostage crisis as it involves thousands of workers facing job loss, discrimination, and deteriorating working conditions in PAL," said Magtubo in a statement furnished to The FREEMAN.

The labor leader said the proper way of state intervention on this problem is to prevent PAL from enforcing its illegal, anti-labor and discriminatory policies such as the planned contractualization of its ground employees and the forced early retirement plan for its female cabin crews.

Magtubo further said the FASAP and PALEA have the support of almost all the organized labor groups in the country as well as other advocacy groups that are strongly opposed to contractualization and discrimination in the labor sector.

PAL's flight crew union filed a notice of strike the other day citing the management's bad faith in negotiations as their new collective bargaining agreement already dragged for three years.

FASAP, on the other hand, is opposing PAL's plan to have its female cabin crews retire upon reaching 40 years old. (FREEMAN)

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CEBU, Philippines ~ The management of flag carrier Philippine Airlines yesterday assured the riding public of continued and unhampered service despite a notice of strike filed by its cabin crew union.

"PAL's operations remain normal and all flights are operating as scheduled. There is no immediate work stoppage," PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said in a state-ment.

However, PAL said the notice of strike filed by the Flight Attendants' and Stewards' Association of the Philippines (FASAP) is untimely as it would scare away tour-ists and can cause further damage to the flag carrier's fragile finances.

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Taipan loses control of Fortune Tobacco. PAL to go on strike. Which company is next?

PAL flight attendants file notice of strike

PAL flight attendants file notice of strike

abs-cbnNEWS.com

Posted at 09/09/2010 12:03 PM

MANILA, Philippines - The Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) filed a notice of strike with the Department of Labor and Employment on Thursday.

FASAP Vice-President Andy Ortega said the group's 1,600 members are expected to join the strike.

The notice of strike was filed after FASAP failed to reach a compromise agreement with Philippine Airlines' management during mediation talks at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board last August 9.

FASAP withdrew from the talks after PAL refused to change its policies on mandatory retirement age and on maternity and pregnancy leaves.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz earlier said that after a notice of strike is filed, it will take 30 days for a cooling off period to still look for a settlement.

"Once we go on strike, no flight will take off," said Bob Anduiza, president of FASAP.

"This will ground PAL's entire operations," he told a news conference.

PAL spokeswoman Cielo Villaluna appealed to the union to reconsider and return to the negotiating table.

"This will affect Philippine tourism and our financial position," Villaluna said in a radio interview, noting that the country's tourism sector has already taken a blow from the August 23 Manila hostage crisis.

But contrary to FASAP's claim, Villaluna said PAL's flights will not be disrupted if the strike pushes through. She said they are ready for contingencies.

The cabin staff are seeking a raise that would put their pay on par with that offered by foreign carriers. They are also demanding paid maternity leave and an end to a company policy that forces female attendants to retire at the age of 40.

There was no immediate comment from the labor department.

The planned strike is the latest in a string of labor problems to hit the national flag-carrier. Last month, 25 pilots and first officers of PAL's short-haul aircraft suddenly quit for higher paying jobs abroad, forcing the abrupt cancellation of several flights. With additional report by Agence France Presse

However, Anduiza said since 2000, they have been trying to raise the retirement age of both male and female flight attendants to 60 years old.

"PAL however would always insist on the 40, 45, and 55 years old retirement ages," he said in an August 25 article on the FASAP website.

"What PAL is not saying is they want younger and pretty flight attendants because of the outmoded stereotyping of treating them as sex objects. It is plain sexism and age discrimination. It's the 'beer house' mentality of lusting for young and pretty girls as cocktail waitresses," he added. –VVP, GMANews.TV

PAL flight attendants to stage strike vs age discrimination09/09/2010 11:58 AM

Share36 The flight attendants of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) filed a notice of strike at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday to protest what they called "age discrimination."

The Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) announced their planned strike at a press conference in Pasay City before proceeding to the DOLE office to file the notice of strike.'

According to a report of dzXL radio, the placards at the FASAP press conference venue read "100 percent strike" and "No to age ... discrimination."

"Pag sinunod namin we're looking at end of October hanggang November ... may karapatan kaming magwelga, ie-exercise namin ito," FASAP president Bob Anduiza said in an interview on dzXL radio.

(If we follow procedures, we expect the strike to last end-October until November... We have a right to strike, and we will exercise it)

Anduiza said they will announce the actual date of the strike soon.

PAL spokeswoman Cielo Villaluna, however, appealed to the FASAP not to push through with the strike, which she called as "untimely."

Villaluna instead urged the attendants to return to the negotiation table.

From the Taipan who charges others with slavery: Earlier, PAL management has threatened to file charges in court against the pilots who resigned, citing “breach of contract” and “debts” owed them for the cost of their aviation school training. Labor secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has echoed PAL management’s denial that the pilots’ mass resignation had nothing to do with the labor disputes in PAL. Baldoz has also suggested a longer notice, which is dubbed as a “slavery bond” in other countries, before pilots can leave PAL for overseas jobs.

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Low Salary

Per aviation industry standards, PAL pilots are given “lower salaries” than their counterparts in other airlines, according to pilots interviewed by Bulatlat but who requested anonymity, citing a gag order by management, among others.

But more than the salary, the resentment among the pilots and first officers is rooted in the way the company treated them. A co-pilot revealed that the mass resignation began with the forced resignation of 11 co-pilots who earlier refused to be transferred to Air Philippines, a budget airline also owned by business tycoon Lucio Tan.

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In 2008, tinanggal ng Taipan ang kanyang kapatid aka si Mr. Management sa PAL at pinasok niya si Miss Management.

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In 2008, PAL owner took out brother aka Mr. Management and replaced him with Miss Management.

SC: Lucio Tan's argument on NAIA-3 flawed

Written by Aries Rufo
Monday, 21 April 2008

The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed for being “substantially and procedurally flawed” bordering on “absurdity” the petition of the Lucio Tan-led Asia Emerging Dragon Corp. (AEDC) to operate the mothballed Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3).

In a 62-page en banc decision penned by Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, the tribunal junked for lack of merit Tan’s move to compel the Department of Transportation and Communication and the Manila International Airport Authority to award the NAIA-3 to AEDC.

The decision said the arguments of AEDC that it has the automatic right to operate the terminal on the sole ground that it is the original proponent “is substantially and procedurally flawed” as the rights and privileges of an original proponent to an unsolicited project proposal are never meant to be absolute.

"Otherwise, the original proponent can hold the government hostage and secure the award of the infrastructure project based solely on the fact that it was the first to submit a proposal. The absurdity of such a situation becomes even more apparent when considering that the proposal is unsolicited by the government," the SC ruled.

(Since at the onset, Lucio Tan’s bid on NAIA 3 had been known as that of a crook’s, absurd to the peril of the country’s economy. The dissenting justices did not see what we saw? Money surely talked to these! Look, this AEDC was initially composed of Henry Sy, John Gokongwei, Alfonso Yuchengco, Andrew Gotianun and this tax cheating bogus philanthropist – Lucio Tan. Why did they all abandon him to be left alone? You ask them. They will tell you that they could not stomach his evil schemes!)

LUCIO TAN'S STRONG INFLUENCE IN MEDIA

ISN'T GMA GETTING INSANE? HERE WE ARE WALLOWING IN GARGANTUAN BUDGETARY DEFICIT, YET SHE HAS THE TEMERITY TO GIVE THE ORDER OF LAKANDULA AWARD TO THE NUMBER ONE TAX EVADER IN OUR COUNTRY, LUCIO TAN. NO DOUBT, HIS TENTACLES REMAIN HOOKED WITH THE POWERS THAT BE THRU HIS BROTHER, HARRY TAN. ...P-NOY's PLATFORM IN GOING AFTER ECONOMIC SABOTEURS & GRAFTERS GAINS GROUND BY CUTTING OFF TAN's TENTACLES FOR GOOD.!!!!

LUCIO TAN'S STRONG INFLUENCE IN MEDIA:

I WAS SCHEDULED TO BE FEATURED IN ABS-CBN 6:00 PM NEWS UNDER "MISSION EXPOSE" REGARDING THE MANIPULATION OF TAN'S P338 MILLION TAX CASE BY THE BIR LED BY COMMISSIONER JOSE ONG. HOWEVER, IT WAS SUDDENDLY CANCELLED WHEN THE NEWS STAFFER, MARITESS SALVIEJO, INFORMED ME THAT NEWSCASTER, NOLI DE CASTRO,(now Vice President of the country), PUT IT OFF FOR THE REASON THAT THE CASE WAS ALREADY INVESTIGATED BY THE SENATE BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE. I BELIEVE THAT THE REAL REASON WAS THAT ABS-CBN WAS APPREHENSIVE THAT TAN'S COMPANIES MIGHT PULL OUT ITS MULTI-MILLION AD PLACEMENTS WITH THE STATION (the PCIJ magazine story about tan's hold in media backed up my theory).