NAIA 3 will create more jobs — Piatco

Airport workers will not be laid off when the $500-million Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3) opens on Dec. 15.

NAIA 3 contractor/concessionaire Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) made the assurance yesterday to allay fears of workers at NAIA Terminals 1 and 2 that they would lose their jobs.

In a statement, Moises Tolentino, Piatco vice president and spokesman, said the new international passenger terminal needs 30,000 workers, in contrast to the 10,000 jobs at NAIA 1 and 2.

"The fears of the workers are groundless," Tolentino said. "In fact the new terminal, once it is fully operational, would need a work force three times bigger than that employed in the two old terminals."

Tolentino said several hundred workers from NAIA 1 and 2 are now undergoing training after they have been hired to work at NAIA 3.

"This is so because the new terminal is several times bigger than the old facilities and will take in business establishments, such as malls, duty-free shops and other services," he said.

Tolentino said the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) is "addressing" the concern of workers at NAIA 1 and 2 that they might not get their separation pay.

"The two concerns of the airport workers, however, are not the grounds the union is asking the Supreme Court to stop the opening of the NAIA Terminal 3 ordered by President Arroyo for Dec. 15," Tolentino’s statement a