The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Saturday expressed support for the proposed partial nationalization of the Hanjin NJIN shipyards at Subic by the Department of National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
In a statement, the TUCP said there is a need to emphasize a Philippines-first strategy to ensure that Hanjin is rehabilitated under Philippine management, perhaps through a management contract with the Philippine Navy.
“TUCP reminds the five creditor banks of Hanjin that national security interests and saving the jobs of Filipino workers makes economic sense. We urge the creditor banks to be prudent and cautious in their rush to look for a “white knight” investor lest they unwittingly actually compromise our national security and open us up to a “hostile dragon,” TUCP president Rep. Raymond Mendoza said.
The big labor group said that there are natural ups-and-downs in the shipbuilding industry, saying that when demand for ships once more increases, the Philippines will have world-class workers and a world-class shipyard ready and perfectly positioned to take advantage of the renewed demand.
“Only recently, the Philippine Coast Guard acquired three modern fast patrol craft from a French firm. This is proof that there is an existing market as under the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, our naval fleet and coast guard fleet have to be modernized to fight smuggling and the threat of terrorism,” Mendoza said.
He said that instead of buying ships from the French or the Israelis, the Philippines can produce ships in Subic, and improve the internal capacity to equip the country.
“In the process we also save the jobs of Filipino workers in Hanjin,” Mendoza added.
“TUCP insists that if there are any existing corporate liabilities that is due to the workers earlier laid off, the creditor banks must proritize this. Again, we caution the creditors from following the path of least resistance and trying to cut off the assets of Hanjin into pieces and selling it at a firesale at discount rates. We fear the creditors may pick an investor to step up and come in who will begin by laying off the remaining workers, who will lower occupational safety and health standards to bring down operational costs, or who will re-classify existing regular workers as contractual labor. These are highly-skilled workers so let us make use of their strategic value as a specialized team. Let us put Filipino worker interests first also,” he said.
While the five creditor banks have pledged that they will “coordinate,” the TUCP proposes that an interagency team be established to firm up the rescue efforts to refloat the Hanjin operations.
“TUCP believes that the international goodwill of the Filipino seafarers should also be tapped to mobilize the international manning agencies and the shipping lines to market the services of Hanjin abroad,” Mendoza added.