De Jesus was referring to a Feb. 20 meeting he had with KGL at the OFWs’ dorm where the company promised the workers that they would receive their salaries regularly through automated teller machine (ATM) and that their February salaries would be released before March 2.

Estrada criticized the POLO for not being supportive of and immediately acting on the complaints of OFWs. In stead, the POLO allegedly had “standard replies” whenever OFWs file a complaint with its office or with the local labor bureau called sho-on, such as a) “It will take a long time;” b) “the employer might kick them out of their dormitories;” or c) “they might need to go to court and that they would have to pay for their own lawyer as the POLO has no money for this.”

He said he has talked with a lot of OFWs who were given these “standard replies” and were left to fend for themselves like staying with friends. Others, he said, “even sell their own blood just to have some money. And yes they already sought the assistance of the Labatt (labor attaché) on this.”

Estrada added that the POLO also usually told OFWs who filed a complaint that “it would be better to complain in the Philippines through the POEA or the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) because of the joint liability of the placement agency and employer.”

Estrada also said that “Labatt de Jesus and other government officials in and outside Kuwait have a penchant for blaming the workers for their woes,” particularly for accepting wages lower than KD120 ($439.20).

“But looking back, how can you impose a POEA requirement in another sovereign country that does not even have a minimum wage law of its own? And why blame the workers on a policy which they themselves cannot implement/impose?” asked Estrada.

Broken promises

During the Feb 20 meeting, Ceradoy said the workers were paid their January wages except for Marvin Marquez who was not paid a single cent. But de Jesus discouraged them from pursuing the unjust deductions, which were taken from their salaries. Estrada told Bulatlat that during the said meeting, de Jesus told the OFWs that it was best to pursue their claims with regards the deductions when they arrive in the Philippines.

Despite Labatt de Jesus’ promise that his office will keep on monitoring KGl’s compliance to all the commitments it agreed to during the Feb. 20 meeting, Estrada said, a lot of these were violated.

Estrada was informed that the January wages of the 49 OFWs were indeed released but with the unjust deductions. On March 7, 25 of the 49 OFWs did not go to work to protest the delays in the release of their February salaries, which was supposed to be given to them as per the Feb. 20 agreement on March 2. In stead they held a dialogue with the management. Estrada said that although the management released their February salaries after the dialogue, they were considered absent from work that day.

Of the nine OFWs with finished contracts, Estrada said only two, Baldoza and Mirando, have decided to return to the Philippines, while the rest intended to go home only for a vacation.

But when Baldoza and Mirando went to the KGL office, they refused to sign a document written in Arabic allegedly stating that the company has paid them all its commitments and that they already have their plane tickets, because they have not received anything yet.

The company refuses to provide them with plane tickets, despite the agreements during the Feb. 20 meeting. Estrada said the management told the Baldoza and Mirando to shoulder their own airfare. But, Estrada said this was impossible considering the very low wages the two received and the delays in the releases of their unpaid salaries.

Some of the remaining 40 OFWs have been reemployed. But Estrada said they wanted to withdraw from their contracts because they are not aware of its provisions since there is no English translation.

While some are hesistant to return to the Philippines because they are deeply in debt with amounts ranging from P30,000 to 50,000 ($734.39 to $1,223) for the processing of their papers before going to Kuwait, Estrada said, they are united in their resolve to continue pressuring the management to release their salaries on time, without the unjust deductions. (Bulatlat.com)

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