'BOC workers at NAIA to get their overtime pay'

MANILA, Philippines - Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez yesterday assured Bureau of Customs (BOC) employees at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport that he would convince the other international airlines to pay the overtime pay of Customs inspectors after Philippine Airlines (PAL) paid the company’s share of the overtime salaries of the bureau personnel.

Alvarez said he would soon ask international carriers, like Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific, to also pay the overtime pay of the BOC workers after PAL paid its share of the overtime salaries.

He said that since PAL, which accounted for 60 percent of the receivables, has already deposited a check worth more than P25 million, he is now planning to convince other airlines to follow PAL’s lead.

The P25 million would only cover five of the 16-month backlog in overtime payments.

“We are highly confident that they (other airlines) would listen to our appeal. After PAL, we would try to negotiate with Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific because these are the big airlines,” Alvarez said.

When asked where the meetings would take place, he said, “If it is needed that I would have to go to their offices, I would do it… I am expecting that these foreign airlines would follow because from what I have heard, they were just waiting for PAL to pay. So, I am appealing to them to give the overtime pay of our employees because they rendered their service in order to earn that extra money.”

He said that he expected PAL to deposit the P25-million check yesterday and hoped that in three days the money would be divided among the 412 BOC employees.

The check was paid to the BOC-NAIA Collector’s Office.

Alvarez confirmed yesterday that all employees of the BOC at the airport would receive on Dec. 13 some P250,000 each from PAL and other foreign airlines for rendering overtime service for five months.

Bautista said PAL issued P25-million worth of checks for the overtime pay of more than 400 Customs employees at the various air terminals.

Bautista said that PAL agreed to pay BOC employees who rendered overtime service for five months.

Bautista said that BOC has been demanding overtime pay for 11 months from PAL and the other airlines since 2009.

The Court of Appeals, however, ruled in favor of PAL that questioned the BOC’s demand for overtime pay.

Bautista said the CA ruled that the airlines have no obligation to provide overtime pay to the BOC employees.

Alvarez added, “When we went to NAIA last Friday, Saturday and Sunday the employees were very happy. We saw that all the booths were fully manned by our people so we would no longer encounter problems of long queues.”

There had been reports of long lines at the Customs counters at the NAIA after some of the employees refused to work beyond their shift because the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR) reportedly refused to give their overtime salaries.

But Alvarez said he was able to work out an agreement with PAL management and convinced them to pay the initial five months, using the old rate.

As for the remaining 11 months, both groups would form their respective technical working groups to thresh out the issues concerning the overtime pay of Customs employees.

Another solution to the problem is that beginning Jan. 1, 2011 they would be hiring 78 additional personnel and from two shifts, the working hours would be divided into three shifts. The new recruits would undergo a two-week training starting on Dec. 15, the commissioner said.

The BOC would also initially shoulder the salaries of the newly hired workers, which means that the bureau would have to allocate P20 million of their savings to pay for their services for one year.