MANILA, Philippines - Ground workers of Philippine Airlines (PAL) are set to meet with the management of the Lucio C. Tan-led carrier in a bid to block plans to outsource around 3,000 jobs.

The PAL Employees’ Association (PALEA) said it would ask PAL President Jaime J. Bautista today to withdraw the retrenchment plans.

“We believe this is just a move to focus on contractual employees,” said PALEA Secretary Ambrosio T. Palad.

PAL could not be reached for a comment.

The airline announced on Monday that it would be outsourcing three non-core units: catering, ground and call center services. The outsourcing plan will affect around 3,000 workers.

Mr. Bautista told reporters last Monday outsourcing would generate savings of P1 billion to P1.5 billion for the company and would make the airline more attractive to investors.

PAL will be paying around P2 billion in benefits. Retrenched employees are entitled to separation pay equal to one month salary for every year of service.

The flag carrier may also outsource two more non-core units: medical services and information technology, Mr. Bautista said last Monday.

PAL has been planning the outsourcing of non-core units since September 2009 but this was deferred due to complaints filed by the union before the Labor department.

Union-management talks stalled in March as a result of elections for new PALEA officers.

The airline reported a net loss of $40.2 million in the first nine months of its fiscal year ending in December 2009, an improvement from the $330.2 million the previous year. It carried 7.02 million passengers during the period, up by 7.3% from 6.54 million previously.

Revenues rose by 15% to $1.08 billion but expenses reached $1.1 billion.