Garment: 10,000 garments workers to lose jobs

Garment workers to lose jobs Business Mirror

Written by Sara Fabunan / Correspondent

Monday, 02 February 2009 01:40

The country’s embattled garments industry is expecting 10,000 more workers to lose their jobs in the months to come. Boy Arpafo, vice chairman and a full-time officer of clothing textile and footwear industry, said in an interview that out of 150,000 workers, there have been 5,000 workers displaced since October 2008. He reported that about 30 percent of the garments companies had already cut operations to three to four days a week. “Talagang bumagsak ang kita ng factories,” he said. Even before the current global financial crisis, profits of the local garments industry have already been decreasing because of the tough competition. According to the National Statistics Office (NSO), exports of garments and clothing accessories decreased 11.6 percent to $991.56 million in 2008 compared with $1.121 billion in 2007. “Five years ago, ang malaking problema namin ’yung mga smuggled clothes at ukay-ukay, nadagdagan lang ’yung problema ’nung nagka-crisis,” he said. To help address the worsening jobs situation, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it is providing P501 million, approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), for displaced workers as it works to address the growing problem brought about by the global financial crisis. On Friday the labor department, together with representatives of different industries in the garments, electronics, semiconductor, land and sea-based services, export and textile and the informal sector have come up with practical resolutions that could alleviate the negative effects of the crisis, facilitate the recovery of employment-generating capacity and lay the groundwork for cooperation and collaboration. “The common action areas where all stakeholders can contribute or take active participation, will be identified and effectively pursued,” Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said during a multisectoral conference at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in Quezon City. The labor chief emphasized that the country’s labor market has remained resilient in 2008, as employment nationwide grew by 1.6 percent, or a net addition of 530,000 employed persons in the labor force, mainly in the services and agriculture, fishery and forestry sectors. Roque said that the labor department will immediately focus on the 33,000 workers who are affected with compressed-hours works, the 44,000 displaced workers and the 5,404 overseas Filipino workers who have been sent home. Displaced workers have asked the DOLE to formally request the Social Security System and Pag-ibig to suspend surcharges and interests on their loans. Industry leaders agreed to cooperate with the DOLE in providing the actual number of layoffs, work-hour reductions and employee profiles. During the conference, the government and the garment representatives agreed to meet with concerned government agencies to discuss the issues on the lack of demand for local products due to undue competition from smuggled goods and ukay-ukay as well as to embark on campaigns toward patronizing locally produced garments and similar products. The industry will also provide retooling of workers and technology- based training for self-employment at the community level, through Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) interventions. Tesda, noting the displacement of thousands of Filipinos due to the global financial crisis, has urged Filipinos to upgrade their skills for the workplace through training with them, for free. Tesda Director General Augusto Syjuco predicted that the export, electronics and manufacturing industries will continue to suffer from for quite a period of time due to the sudden drop in product demand. The garment sector said it would also give the DOLE notices on job openings, and manning agencies said they would set up a database of displaced overseas Filipino workers to facilitate job matching. On the part of the electronics sector, which recorded some 6,000 displaced workers, the government will provide TUPAD program including trainings, assistance to families, local and overseas jobs placement, livelihood assistance, financial assistance and legal assistance. The DOLE also issued an advisory on the adoption of flexible work arrangements to guide employers and workers in the private sector in implementing mutually acceptable work schedules as a measure against the adverse impact of the global financial crisis. Just recently Sabah deported some 5,000 Filipinos found working there without permit, while another 3,000 of their compatriots are languishing in detention centers in Sandakan in Malaysia, according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI). Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said it has processed the papers of the 4,847 deportees as a result of Malaysia’s continuing crackdown against illegal foreign workers. He said the deportees are processed by Task Force Sabah, a team of immigration officers formed last year. According to Task Force Sabah headed by Jose Carandang, the 4,847 workers are those who arrived since July 24 when the BI task force started its task and does not include those who were previously repatriated to Zamboanga. The task force was created to allow easy reentry by deportees from Sabah. “They are Filipinos so the Bureau of Immigration accords them the welcome they deserve and easy access back to their home country,” Libanan said. He formed the task force upon the request of Zamboanga City Mayor Claro Lobregat, who sought the BI’s help in addressing the influx of deportees to the southern port. Carandang added that there could still be about 3,000 Filipinos presently detained in Sandakan and awaiting deportation. Most of them had reportedly worked either as domestic helpers, factory workers or market vendors but without the proper documents.   Meanwhile, in an apparent effort to cushion the effects of a global economic meltdown, various agencies, the local government unit and the business sector are coming up with a job caravan where people who won’t be hired would come home as entrepreneurs. With the local government hosting a job fair for the component provinces of the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Mayor Joric Gacula described the regional caravan as not just another venue to get a job but a place where one could actually consider entrepreneurship over employment. Gacula said that in their locality alone, 26 publicly listed corporations have sent confirmations to the local Public Employment Service Office to participate and hire people from the applicants of the regional job caravan slated on February 6 at the Events Center of SM City Taytay. On top of the 26 participating companies, 10 placement agencies are also joining the caravan from where they’ll scout workers for overseas work. With R. Mercene, C. Mocon