DOLE calls for strong partnership with maritime sector

News affecting OFW's
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is urging for a stronger partnership with the maritime industry to keep up with the global demand.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion issued the urgent call as the maritime sector has been besieged by a waning number of seafarers, specifically officers, in an era of increasing demand for such kind of workers.

"A stronger partnership among various stakeholders in the maritime sector to effectively respond to the fast-changing developments in the global maritime industry is needed," he said.

Brion said it must be a partnership calling for the expansion of the spheres of cooperation beyond the traditional human resources demand and supply considerations of the maritime industry.

He added the partnership should embody a social dimension that would allow the pursuit of both economic and social goals and gains for all the industry's players, including the ship owners, foreign principals, manning agents, the seafarers and the government.

"We in the government, and the DOLE family in particular, stand ready to be counted as a full participating member of that partnership," the labor chief assured.

Brion said that further education and skills training for Filipino seafarers would be a good starting place for stakeholders to jointly address.

He also called on the industry and foreign principals to help search for ways that the remittances of the seafarers can be protected against the uncertainties of foreign exchange fluctuations.

"The effort will directly benefit the seafarers, his family and the home country, but indirectly, it will also benefit the industry, as it will establish seafaring as a reliable career," the labor chief said.

Brion also proposed the establishment of a maritime voluntary arbitration body in consideration of the special nature of maritime labor disputes.

He said the special voluntary arbitration body will be formed through the designation of ten senior officials from the DOLE and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) as ex-officio voluntary arbitrators from the government side.

The labor chief said the special voluntary arbitration body could start with a small compact group with 10 representatives each from labor, management and government. He offered the services of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) as interim secretariat that later on can be replaced by an independent one supported by the maritime industry.

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