MANILA — Philippine Airlines' cabin staff on Thursday told the government they would go on strike over pay at the end of October, saying the move would ground all flights by the loss-making flag carrier.
The 1,600-member cabin crew union said it had filed a strike notice with the labour ministry, which by law has 30 days to try to find a compromise between the two sides to prevent a shut-down.
"Once we go on strike, no flight will take off," said Bob Anduiza, president of the Flight Attendants Association of the Philippines.
"This will ground PAL's entire operations," he told a news conference.
PAL in a statement said the impending strike was ill-timed and could impact on both on the tourism industry and the airline's fragile finances.
It appealed on the cabin crew to return to the negotiating table, as it assured the public that all operations remained normal.
"There is no immediate work stoppage due to the union?s filing of a strike notice," PAL spokeswoman Cielo Villaluna said.
"We hope the (union) leaders will go back to the negotiating table and help ease any anxieties their threat of strike creates on the minds of the riding public," she added.
The cabin staff are seeking a raise that would put their pay on par with that offered by foreign carriers.
They are also demanding paid maternity leave and an end to a company policy that forces female attendants to retire at the age of 40.
Anduiza said these issues had not been addressed by PAL during the last round of negotiations in 2007, and that talks earlier this year also failed to resolve the dispute.
"All of our appeals had fallen on deaf ears," Anduiza said. "PAL is our country's flag carrier and it should not be allowed to discriminate against age and gender."
PAL rejected the union's allegations, insisting that its crew receive industry-standard salaries, on top of other perks.
The planned strike is the latest in a string of labour problems to hit the airline.
Last month, 25 pilots and first officers on PAL's short-haul aircraft suddenly quit for higher paying jobs abroad, forcing the abrupt cancellation of several flights.
In 1998, Philippine Airlines shut down all operations after a dispute with its ground staff amid massive losses caused by the Asian financial crisis.
The government subsequently brokered a deal that allowed the carrier to gradually rebuild its services while going into temporary receivership.
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