By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Ariel Guanlao was told that New Zealand was “the right choice” if one wants to work abroad. So after 16 long years working for the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), he went to New Zealand to work as a residential faultman for one of the country’s biggest online and communications companies, Telecom.

Three years later, however, he faces the risk of losing his job.

Telecom signed a new business scheme with subcontractor Visionstream. Under the new scheme, workers are required to switch from working for the company as employees to being sub-contracted owner-operators. Because of this, Filipino engineers in New Zealand staged a nationwide protest on Aug. 11 against Telecom.

“Under Visionstream’s model, Filipinos and other migrants face (a high risk of losing) their jobs. It is deplorable that business giants take advantage of the current economic climate to justify massive job lay-offs and introduce new employment models,” Migrante Aotearoa national coordinator Dennis Maga said.

To become a subcontractor, the employee must have between $20,000 and $30,000. “Workers will have to choose (between being) heavily indebted or (being) out of work,” said Migrante Aotearoa, a Filipino migrants’ group based in New Zealand.

“It’s all about opportunity,” Visionstream’s manager Andrew Stevens said in a news article posted in the National Business Review, adding that this is an opportunity for experienced workers to build their own business.

However, most of the affected workers are on work permits and cannot become self-employed subcontractors. “I became a permanent resident under the Work-to-Residence policy. I worry about the fate of work permit holders. Like them, I have no job to return to in the Philippines. Telecom shattered our dreams,” said Guanlao, who is also a Migrante leader in Auckland and member of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union.

EPMU national industry organizer Joe Gallagher said their independent analysis revealed that if the employees agree to the scheme, there would be a 50-65-percent drop in their income; they would not be guaranteed regular work; and they would have to shoulder huge business risks for small returns.

“It’s unfortunate that while government and some employers are trying to ease the impact of the recession, Telecom chose a business model that does not offer a fair deal for Kiwis and migrants,” said Maga, adding that more migrant workers might lose their jobs if other companies would copy the said business scheme.

“When I heard that Telecom would be laying-off 900 (workers), I didn’t think that the company was losing profit. Telecom’s new contract with Visionstream is clearly anti-migrant and one of the worst forms of union-busting and business profiteering at the expense of workers’ rights and welfare,” said Guanlao.

Gallagher earlier said Telecom is not interested in negotiating with the workers. “Our members have been left with no other option but to strike.” Public protests condemning the new business scheme between Telecom and Visionstream would take place in various parts of New Zealand such as Whangarei, Kerikeri, Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch. (Bulatlat.com)

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