Int’l labor group pushes ‘Boycott PAL’ plea

ILOILO - Normal operations in Philippine Airlines (PAL) Iloilo may have resumed yet another call was made to boycott its services, including that of AirPhil.

The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) made the double-boycott plea to support the PAL Employees Association (Palea).

“Let Lucio Tan, owner of both airlines, know that you won’t fly PAL or AirPhil until locked-out workers have been requested to their regular jobs,” ILRF director for policy and legal programs Brian Campbell said in a statement.

The boycott drive has got online while advocacy group Freedom from Debt Coalition is pushing the local efforts.

“It’s time to up the pressure… we know that the airlines cannot withstand a boycott. PAL and AirPhil rely on end-of-year holidays travel for their profit line. If a large enough group of us joins the boycott publicly, we will have an impact…Let’s act together for a better future for airline workers who are facing job loss and state-sponsored repression today. Now is the time to join with Palea in their call for justice,” Campbell said.

Palea and PAL management are embroiled in a longstanding labor dispute triggered by the management’s outsourcing of its core services.

Iloilo operations, though affected, managed to resume flights.