Help displaced Hanjin workers, DOLE urged

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has been urged to help displaced workers of the bankrupt Hanjin shipyard get new jobs. 

There is a higher demand for construction workers in New Zealand that Filipino laborers could apply for, according to Aniceto Bertiz III of ACTS-OFW party-list.

“We are hoping that some of the displaced Hanjin workers can be deployed there,” Bertiz said over the weekend, referring to New Zealand.

On the average, Filipino construction workers in New Zealand get paid 10 times the P537 daily minimum wage they receive in Metro Manila.

Filipino workers in New Zealand sent home a record $218.6 million or P11.4 billion in 2018.

The amount was higher than the $120.4 million or P6.3 billion that were remitted in 2017, largely on account of the increased hiring of construction labor, according to Bertiz.

Some 10,800 workers were laid off when Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines Inc. declared bankruptcy on Jan. 8 and closed down its shipyard in Subic Bay, Zambales.

The world’s fourth-largest shipyard at its peak employed up to 21,000 Filipinos.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said Japan could also accommodate the displaced workers, noting their skills in shipbuilding.

Aside from shipbuilders and machinists, the POEA said Japan lacked caregivers, building cleaners, industrial machinists and electronics technicians.

Those interested should first learn how to speak Japanese so they could qualify for new job opportunities in Japan, the POEA said. – With Mayen Jaymalin