22 November 2013 - To promote and protect the labor rights of Filipino workers in their respective jurisdictions, the Philippine Consuls General in Agana, Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco, signed alliance agreements with the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) at the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco on November 14.
Consuls General Bayani V. Mangibin (Agana, Guam), Julius D. Torres (Honolulu, Hawaii), Maria Hellen Barber Dela Vega (Los Angeles, CA), Marciano A. Paynor, Jr. (San Francisco, CA ) and Ken Nishiyama Atha, Regional Administrator, San Francisco US DOL-SHA signed the alliance arrangement between the Consulates General and the US DOL-OSHA Region IX Health Arrangement.
The alliance aims to establish a collaborative relationship between the Consulates General and OSHA Region IX office to provide Filipino workers and employers with information, guidance and access to resources to promote workers’ rights in protecting their occupational safety and health, and on the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Consul General Paynor and Susana Blanco, District Director of the WHD San Francisco District Office signed the alliance arrangement between the Consulate General in San Francisco and Wage and Hour Division. The alliance aims to provide Filipino workers guidance and access to education and training to help them exercise their workplace rights, particularly with regard to reducing violations of the minimum wage, overtime recordkeeping, child labor, safe housing and transportation provision of the laws and regulations administered and enforced by WHD, and to help them understand the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the employment programs under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which the WHD has enforcement authority.
The alliance arrangements established are a welcome addition to similar arrangements that have been established in the United States. These were borne out of the Joint Declaration and Letters of Arrangement signed in Washington, D.C. on June 11, 2012 between the US DOL and the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs. More alliance arrangements are expected to be signed to cover other States.
Consul General Paynor said that “the gathering of the four Consuls General in San Francisco to sign the agreements underscores the importance given by Philippine Government to promote and protect the rights of Filipino workers in the United States.”
Regional Administrator Atha and District Director Blanco both acknowledged the importance of the alliance arrangements in their respective agency’s efforts not only in reaching out to Filipino workers to promote awareness about their rights on work safety and health, and wages and related issues, respectively, but also in their efforts to consult the Filipino community about their views on workplace rights and protection. END