Militants including from Cebu win PALEA leadership election

CEBU, Philippines - Militants again won the elections for leadership of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association, the union for ground crew of the national flag carrier.

A slate led by Gerry Rivera, incumbent PALEA president and vice chair of Partido Manggagawa, won all the top executive positions.

PM-Cebu in a statement said that the winning PALEA board member for Visayas hails from a union in Cebu.

“They won on a platform of pushing for negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement  and the full implementation of the settlement agreement,” the statement reads.

It can be recalled that since 2010, PALEA has been locked in a bitter dispute with Philippine Airlines  over outsourcing and contractualization.

After more than two years in the picketlines in the airports of Manila and Cebu, PALEA settled the dispute with PAL in November 2013.

Rivera appeals to all PALEA members, including candidates for the elections, to move forward and unite for the common interests as PAL employees.

“It is time to leave partisan politics behind and respect the will of the majority as the union faces the challenge of securing a pay hike, other benefits and job security,” Rivera said

He also called on the management to work with PALEA in attaining the industrial peace needed in PAL’s corporate plans. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/NSA (FREEMAN)