Pinoy seamen face unemployment, group says

MANILA, Philippines - Hundreds of Filipino seafarers face unemployment as foreign shipping companies threatened to stop hiring crewmen from the Philippines to protest questionable National Labor Relation Commission (NLRC) rulings, a group said earlier this week. 

United Filipino Seafarers (UFS) official Benjamin Lorque said foreign shipping companies were outraged by a NLRC decision requiring the payment of $250,000 to a Filipino seaman who accidentally lost a fingernail at work.

“Due to the questionable decision, the foreign principal already decided to employ other nationalities which already resulted to the displacement of 300 Filipino seafarers,” Lorque said.

He noted that several other foreign principals are also threatening to stop employing Filipino seafarers, adding that “a number of them were sent home due to the unfair decision.”

Last Tuesday, some of the displaced seamen trooped to the Department of Labor and Employment office to ask Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to act on the NLRC’s questionable decisions.

Lorque said under the regulations of the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration, a seafarer who lost a finger due to a work-related accident shall be paid $3,000 while the family of a seafarer who died of a work-related accident will receive $50,000.

Lorque said though the ruling is still under appeal before a higher court, many foreign employers have started pulling out. However, he expressed hope that Baldoz will take action to resolve the problem.