Hanjin deaths reported to CBCP

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The number of workers who died in accidents inside a Korean shipyard at the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales has reached 26 since 2006, a labor and trade union center said in a report sent to the social action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

In a report to the National Secretariat for Social Action– Justice and Peace (Nassa) on Thursday, the Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan (Makabayan) also reported that 21 others survived accidents, seven suffered skin diseases, 11 suffered maltreatment and five were suspended in the course of working for subcontractors of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines Inc.

The latest death inside the shipyard was recorded on April 15 while the latest maltreatment case happened on May 4, the report said.

Makabayan made the report on behalf of its affiliate, Samahan, a Hanjin workers association accredited by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The report was submitted to CBCP in light of the continuing Church-Labor Conference, Samahan president Joey Gonzales said.

Taek Kyun Yoo, Hanjin deputy managing director, did not reply when asked for reactions on Makabayan’s report.

But DOLE’s Task Force Hanjin and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority

(SBMA) found Hanjin “fully compliant” with occupational health, safety and labor standards as of October 2010.

Hanjin made the single biggest foreign direct investment into the Philippines in 2005, getting a 50-year lease agreement for 263 hectares on the free port’s Redondo Peninsula and a 10-year tax holiday.

Makabayan said unfair terms began during the workers’ training with a subsidiary of Hanjin.

The more than 21,000 workers in the shipyard came from all over the country, from as far as Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao or Kalinga in northern Luzon.

“Hanjin’s 19 subcontractors divide the workers among themselves. This absolves Hanjin of liability, as they argue that they do not directly employ any of the 21,000 workers,” Makabayan said.

It said workers do not get to keep a copy of their contracts.

Work shifts are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. “[They] are made to report 30 minutes earlier or forced to do back-to-back shifts. Their mobile phones are confiscated upon entry,” it said.

Hanjin, according to Makabayan, denies responsibility for deaths. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon