Manila. Philippines. October 17, 2011.
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Nearly 500 former Philippine Airlines (PAL) employees received their separation pay over the weekend as the national flag carrier began distributing P2.6 billion in cash benefits to those affected by the airline’s outsourcing program.
In a press statement, PAL said the first batch to receive their separation checks were those who had already transferred to PAL’s three service providers—SkyLogistics Philippines, SkyKitchen Philippines and SPi Global.
On Oct. 15, PAL started distributing another 1,500 checks to the second batch—those who refused to accept jobs at the service providers but did not participate in the Sept. 27 work stoppage at Naia Terminal 2. The whole distribution process could take about a week.
The checks of those who staged the wildcat strike are on hold pending final clearance of these employees.
Philippine Airlines will hold for safekeeping any unclaimed checks of employees all of whom were officially considered terminated as of Oct. 1. The airline said the hopes of some employees that they could rejoin PAL rather than its service providers are in vain as the three PAL departments where they used to work had already been abolished.
Per PAL records, more than 28 percent of the affected employees will receive P1 million and above; 37 percent will get between P750,000 and P1 million; and 22 percent below P500,000. The biggest check is for P2.4 million, while the smallest is P120,000. The cash component of the benefits is tax-free.
The noncash benefits include free PAL tickets, one-year hospitalization and salary guarantee.