OFWs may lose jobs in Guam to Americans

MANILA, Philippines — The 15,000 up to 20,000 job openings in Guam being eyed by the Philippine government for overseas Filipinos workers are imperiled by a United States legislator who wants most of the jobs given to US citizens, according to a consultant for overseas job recruitment.

Emmanuel Geslani, a consultant of several Manila-based recruitment agencies, said the US Senate and House of Representatives have been reconciling the final version of the proposed 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, which would specify the budget and expenditures of the US defense department for 2010.

According to Geslani, however, the US Congress might move to prioritize Americans for such jobs.

Various online news have reported that the House version of the bill contains an amendment by Hawaii 1st district Rep. Neil Abercrombie, which, among others, reserved to US citizens up to 70 percent of the jobs to be generated by the US$15 billion worth of construction and infrastructure projects for the planned move of 8,000 Marines and their 9,000 dependents from Japan to Guam.

Abercrombie’s amendment to the House version of the bill also required that the wages for the jobs match the level in Hawaii for similar work.

Reports said that US Navy Secretary Ray Mabus opposed the Abercrombie amendment, which he said would add another US$10 billion to the Guam military-buildup, which centered on the expansion of the Andersen Air Force Base on the island.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration announced last month that OFWs would be preferred in the buildup jobs resulting from the transfer of the US military bases and personnel from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam, a US territory.

The POEA had even started negotiating with job providers in Japan on the wages the OFWs would be getting, adding that OFWs were preferred for their professionalism and hard work.

Geslani said a delay in the passage of the bill by the US Congress would “certainly” affect the timetable for the withdrawal and the POEA’s expected mobilization of OFWs by the first quarter of 2010.

“OFWs are advised to wait until the POEA clears up the situation and accredits selected agencies for this huge project, according to the criteria being drafted by the POEA for licensed recruitment agencies interested in gaining access to the Guam labor market,” he said in a statement.

He also warned OFWs that the POEA has not been processing any job orders for Guam. He urged them not to listen to illegal recruiters who have been going around provinces, recruiting applicants for Guam and telling them that licensed agencies have been listing up possible workers for Guam.

Geslani said the negotiations for OFW deployment have been affected because of the disputes and deadlocks in the processing and procedures for the construction of the new military and housing facilities for the US soldiers.

The consultant, quoting Filipino and Guamanian labor experts familiar with the negotiations, said differences over the selection of contractors for the projects could lag up to a year, upsetting the timetable for the completion of the military transfer by as much as three to four years.

He said another unresolved issue has been the POEA contract containing provisions contrary to Guam labor laws, which have been patterned after those in the US mainland.

“POEA insists that OFWs’ food and accommodation should be free but under Guamanian labor laws, food and accommodation are to be shouldered by the workers, similar to what is practiced in all the US states,” he said.

He said manpower agencies in Guam and the Philippines have also bee also “turned off” by projected costs of sending an OFW to Guam. These costs include the $400 airfare, service fees amounting $1,000 to $2,000, and visa fees of about $1,000.

“Therefore, it would be easier to hire jobless American nationals from the mainland who can fly on their own airfare without the need of a visa, no service fee involved, and no additional costs. Probably the contractors would hire jobless Americans from the construction and home industry who now number 2.5 million,” he said.

He noted that hiring rules were the same as in the US, which would be per hour, and this meant that OFWs would receive the same pay as Americans.

“’So why hire an OFW if you can hire an American at no cost to you’ — this is what recruitment leaders are saying. There is no advantage in hiring Filipinos. In fact, it is a disadvantage to contractors or sub-contractors for the military project,” Geslani said.

Japan has agreed to provide $6.09 billion of the projected $10.27-billion relocation costs, a figure that includes the base housing as well as infrastructure improvements.

The US has already proposed using part of that money for improving other military facilities not directly connected to the transfer of the Okinawa-based Marines. –Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer