Thursday, July 24, 2008 Arroyo asks DSWD, Remonde to study assistance for laid-off Sulpicio workers
PRESIDENT Arroyo has instructed the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Director General Cerge Remonde of the Presidential Management Staff to study what assistance the government can give Sulpicio Lines Inc. officers and crew members who were temporarily laid off.
But the porters and workers who lost their jobs with the suspension on Sulpicio vessels are not satisfied with government’s assurances.
It’s not trainings or assistance they need, they said in a protest staged yesterday, it’s their old jobs that they want back.
Sulpicio workers gathered outside the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) building yesterday, asking its regional director Elias Cayanong to come out and talk with them.
Sulpicio workers are members of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP).
Obligations
Remonde said during a press conference organized by the Philippine Information Agency that he “reminded the management of their obligations under the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement).”
Remonde said Arroyo has directed DSWD to give welfare benefits to the employees while they are still out of work.
“This is a program that I will still discuss with the DSWD Secretary. She also tasked Presidential Assistant Felix Guanzon to coordinate with Sulpicio Lines and the union to get the names of the would-be beneficiaries,” Remonde said.
Earlier yesterday, Remonde met with affected Sulpicio officers and crew members, upon orders of the President.
“I talked with the Sulpicio personnel and assured them of the President’s concern. I also told them of the President’s order to DSWD to give them some sort of a family subsidy,” Remonde said.
He did not divulge the amount of possible financial assistance saying he still has to discuss the matter with the DSWD secretary. He said the assistance may not only be financial but also include job placement.
Remonde said some shipping companies suffering a shortage of seafarers can hire those who lost their jobs last July 16.
Priority
Lawyer Manuel Espina, counsel of Sulpicio Lines, earlier said that the 136 officers and crew members of the eight vessels that were grounded by Marina were laid off temporarily.
Espina said they will get their jobs back once the government lifts the order suspending the operation of Sulpicio Lines.
“They are the top priority for re-hiring once the shipping firm will operate again,” Espina said.
Cayanong, meanwhile, said his agency is also willing to help the laid off workers through trainings and job placement.
Sulpicio workers gathered outside the Dole 7 office yesterday before marching to Malacañang sa Sugbo in anticipation of President Arroyo’s visit. Remonde met the crowd outside the gates, across the street from the building.
Cayanong assured the workers that Dole is working on an “emergency employment program” for the laborers affected by Typhoon Frank.
“You can be temporarily absorbed in other industries,” Cayanong told the crowd of workers, saying that Dole can train them to work in industries like tourism and construction.
But Alex Damole, president of the SLI union of workers, expressed dissatisfaction with the assurances.
Not enough
“Assistance is not enough; what we need is employment,” he said in Cebuano.
Josefina “Joy” Lim, ALU-TUCP Education and Information Department director, expressed the same sentiment.
“The workers don’t need training, but they need jobs,” Lim said. “That’s why we are asking Marina (Maritime Industry Authority) to lift the ban (on Sulpicio vessels).”
The group coursed their appeal to Marina through Dole and, afterward, to Arroyo through Remonde.
Genero Tasan, president of the Sulpicio Lines and Solid Towage and Lighterage Co. Inc. Employees’ Union, said the 136 workers previously laid off temporarily by Sulpicio were not the only ones affected.
He estimated that 500 janitorial workers, including vendors, cooks and canteen concessionaires, were also affected.
“Di na unta mawad-an pa og trabaho tungod sa sayop nga desisyon sa Marina (We hope no more jobs will be lost due to Marina’s wrong decision),” he said.
Porters and maintenance personnel of container vans were also affected.
Marlon Garcia, who maintains the upkeep of SLI container vans, said that while he and his co-workers have not been officially laid off, they have had nothing to work on ever since the suspension on Sulpicio vessels.
He said that he depends on Sulpicio for his livelihood as he has six children to send to school. Two of his children are in college.
“Naa mi’y gipaskwela; naa mi’y gipakaon (We have children to send to school, we have mouths to feed),” Garcia said.
He added that most of the workers affected were the breadwinners of their families.
“It’s a tragedy, a calamity. Pero ang gitan-aw sa gobyerno kay ang patay, dili ang buhi (But the government is now concerned about the dead, not the living),” he said. (EOB/KAB)
