Training center for maritime workers rises in Cebu City

While workers around the country marked Labor Day with rallies, elsewhere maritime workers opened their training center at the Cebu Ports Area of Cebu City yesterday.

Sporting red, blue and white colors, the eight-story Japan Seamens Union-Philippine Seafarer’s Union (JSU-PSU) Mariner’s Court building was inaugurated six months after construction began last year.

The P140 million building is a joint project of the Japan Seamen’s Union (JSU) and the Philippine Seafarer’s Union-Associated Labor Unions (PSU-ALU).

The building will serve as a training center, convention area and a dormitory for PSU-ALU and ISU members, said Joy Lim, public information officer of the ALU.

The PSU-ALU, together with the JSU, jointly represents Filipino on-board Japanese-owned vessels covered by collective bargaining agreements.

PSU-ALU members affiliated with the JSU are entitled to avail of the union’s benefits.

Lim said the JSU-PSU project is proof of the commitment of both groups to improve the welfare of Filipino seafarers by providing them with the facilities to “advance their skills.”

“The JSU-PSU is also a concrete expression of the staunch friendship and lasting ties between Filipino and Japanese seafarers. The JSU-PSU serves as a bridge for the dynamic functioning of cultural reciprocation between Japan and the Philippines,” the building marker stated.

The marker that was uneveiled yesterday bears the signatures of Captain Joyi Fujisawa, president of JSU and Atty. Democrito T. Mendoza, presiden of PSU.

Lim said, the building also serves as a venue for “institutional exchange of educational and enriching experiences on maritime matters.” –Cebu Daily News, Ador Vincent Mayol