Profit-hungry airlines plan to sack thousands

Virgin pilots are on the verge of signing a new collective agreement that will cement good pay rises and other conditions over the next three years.

On the other hand, Qantas, Australia’s biggest airline carrier has announced that it will start a major round of restructuring and outsourcing in order to maintain its profits. Qantas has said that thousands of jobs will have to go. Unions have said that they will oppose this.

With ongoing globalisation of the airline industry, workers in many countries are coming under increasing pressures as companies look to establish operations in countries where workers are not well organised and the pay and conditions are lower.

In the Philippines the Office of the President (OP) has affirmed its earlier ruling allowing Philippine Airlines to lay off 2,600 employees and make them contractual workers in third-party service providers. Gerry Rivera, PALEA President and Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) vice chairperson, slammed the decision by saying “With the OP decision permitting PAL to retrench thousands of workers despite billions in profit, Pres. Benigno ‘PNoy’ Aquino, III has unveiled his fire-all-you-can policy. This overturns the provisions of the Labor Code and jurisprudence of the Courts that serious financial losses are a necessary ground for retrenchment.”

Virgin pilots are on the verge of signing a new collective agreement that will cement good pay rises and other conditions over the next three years.

On the other hand, Qantas, Australia’s biggest airline carrier has announced that it will start a major round of restructuring and outsourcing in order to maintain its profits. Qantas has said that thousands of jobs will have to go. Unions have said that they will oppose this.

With ongoing globalisation of the airline industry, workers in many countries are coming under increasing pressures as companies look to establish operations in countries where workers are not well organised and the pay and conditions are lower.

In the Philippines the Office of the President (OP) has affirmed its earlier ruling allowing Philippine Airlines to lay off 2,600 employees and make them contractual workers in third-party service providers. Gerry Rivera, PALEA President and Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) vice chairperson, slammed the decision by saying “With the OP decision permitting PAL to retrench thousands of workers despite billions in profit, Pres. Benigno ‘PNoy’ Aquino, III has unveiled his fire-all-you-can policy. This overturns the provisions of the Labor Code and jurisprudence of the Courts that serious financial losses are a necessary ground for retrenchment.”