Recruitment firm belies illegal dismissal allegations

MANILA, Philippines - A recruitment firm belied Wednesday the claims of illegal dismissal against it made last December by 19 Filipino security guards deployed to Kuwait.

Paul Chua, president of A & C recruitment firm, claimed Philippine labor attaché to Kuwait Josephus Jimenez even egged the guards to demand higher salaries from their employers.

"We later found out Labor Attaché Josephus Jimenez persuaded the workers that they should demand higher salaries and that the employment contract signed in Manila is not valid and unfair to the workers," Chua said in his letter to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website.

Jimenez earlier said three conciliation conferences were conducted among the security guards, the recruitment agency and the principal employers, but failed to arrive at any settlement.

Chua said "very few" security guards went to Jimenez for advice, with
18 Filipino security personnel deciding to stop working without prior notice and stayed at Jimenez's office.

He claimed nine of the 18 "striking" security guards "decided to return for work with Group4 after realizing they have been mislead [sic] by their Filipino peers."

Also, he said the workers "were never illegally dismissed as alleged, they were coerced to demand higher wages or stop working." He explained this was the reason why the guards refused to work.

The CBCP News website said Chua visited its office Monday and showed a copy of a check and receipt that his company paid for the tickets for the concerned security guards who want to return to the Philippines.

"We did not violate any terms and provisions conditions of the contract; there was no contract substitution," Chua added.

He said his company is displeased by the media releases made by Jimenez "through irresponsible interviews damaging the reputation to our company."

He said that because of Jimenez, "instead of mediating and settling amicably all parties involved, the situation has worsened."

"Coercion and extortion should never be part of any mediation process ... (We) find it strange for a Labor Attaché to include in the executed affidavit of the workers a provision that states that his job was done properly," he said.

The CBCP news site said it stands by its report quoting Jimenez's statements at the POLO in Kuwait City last December. - GMANews.TV

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