To semper fi
Well, well.... Just as I've been saying to c1052, not everyone knows of the situation back in the Phils.
There was a strike vote sometime in May 98 and ALPAP (Airline Pilots Association of the Phils) members (around 600 at the time) voted "YES" overwhelmingly to the strike (around 99%). You can't have a better percentage than that. You can never get 100 % of the voters anytime.
When the strike was finally implemented, all union members went on strike, except for a few, who stayed inside & never joined. It was all hanky-dory the first few days, rally here, rally there until the seventh day...when management felt "enough is enough" and were ready to settle with the pilots...But whadayaknow? 7 Little Dwarves suddenly appear from nowhere & destroyed everything. These very junior 2nd Officers crossed over & offered their services, thinking that this is their best bet to get ahead of their colleagues & jump the seniority. This got Management thinking...."Hmmm...why don't you guys recruit 3 more pilots each so we can sustain our operation?" And so it went like that. These 7 recruited 3 each & those 3 recruited 3 each & so on...NETWORKING in full force! A few weeks later, PAL, having sustained their operations, trimmed of the operating fat (the money-losing routes & aircraft), fired all the remaining strikers which by then were about 500.
The real strikers stayed on & were never coerced or changed their minds about their principle, about what they were fighting for. They hung on in the hope that somehow their plight will be noticed by the government & will try to help them. But unfortunately, the government doesn't care. After the full page ads in the papers shouting "SO THE PUBLIC MAY KNOW....PAL will have to cancel flights because of the ongoing pilots' strike...", nobody symphatized with the strikers anymore, except their families, who were also by that time, beginning to get angrier & angrier with their husbands & fathers for striking because now they don't get paid. But still they hung on. Scabs continued on trickling to the other side while the strikers try to find jobs elsewhere.
Most went to the other airline in the Phils, Cebu Pacific; some to other less-known operators; and the rest applied abroad.
Now these scabs are widebody commanders now, either on the A330, A340 or B744. Their move paid off. And this is one of the times when I think "Crime really does pay!" And these guys, having earned their command time, want to make the most of it by applying abroad as well since PAL's paying peanuts compared to foreign airlines.
As of today, I believe ALPAP has given their blessings to those strikers who want to rejoin PAL, knowing how long they have suffered already without jobs, and which they couldn't help much (especially those Fokker 50 guys who suddenly found themselves unemployable after the strike because only MAS & KLM operate this type & which unfortunately don't accept expat pilots then). Some have rejoined PAL & soon got their commands as well.
Most of those who never went back & got jobs abroad stayed abroad & away from PAL.
I just hope this answers your question, semper fi. Again, I'm not starting an argument or discussion about the strike. I'm just stating facts.