FBMA Marine Inc., the shipbuilding arm of the Aboitiz Group, is asking the government for help in preventing the departure of more skilled workers for jobs overseas.
FBMA marketing manager Craig Patrick said the departure of workers for overseas jobs hampers the company’s growth.
He said it is high time for the government to strictly enforce Executive Order (EO) 588, which aims to strengthen the Philippine shipbuilding and ship repair sectors by promoting growth and development within the industry.
Patrick cited Section 2 of EO 588, which states that “Filipino workers who participated in the free skills-training and development, conducted by duly registered entities engaged in shipbuilding and ship repair, are encouraged to faithfully adhere to their contractual commitments with the entities under the program.”
EO 588 states that “overseas deployment or changes in employment in the breach of contract by Filipino workers shall be considered acts inimical and greatly prejudicial to the national interest.”
“We are asking for some protection,” Patrick said in an interview with reporters Tuesday during the launching of the company’s first vessel delivery this year, the Pentalina, at the FBMA shipyard in Balamban, Cebu.
Lost workers
He lauded the efforts of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration “which have committed to honor EO 588.”
Mary Geraldine Polanco-Onganon, FBMA assistant vice president for human resource-branding, lamented that in 2005, the company lost 110 of its 500
workers—welders, pipe-fitters and fabrication marine electricians, among others—who left for better-paying jobs in Australia.
“When Australian companies pay them $21 per hour, that’s hard to (beat),” Onganon said.
To prevent labor shortage, FBMA invested in an in-house training center that allows even high school graduates to develop specialized skills in shipbuilding for 10 months. The training is free for qualified individuals.
Trainees also receive 70 percent allowance in the first six months and an additional 15 percent during their apprenticeship, or about P187 per day.
“We also have yearly salary adjustments,” Onganon said.
The training facility caters to 24 trainees and has already produced 123 graduates since its establishment in 2006.
To lure potential workers, the FBMA training center has partnered with vocational and technical schools. It is also working on getting an accreditation from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. (MMM)
