Sulpicio lays off several workers
The grounding of the vessels of Sulpicio Lines Inc. after sinking of its flagship M/V Princess of the Stars has taken its toll on the employees of the firm.
This as the company has been forced to remporarily lay off 136 crew members from eight vessels that are now just docked in port.
More lay offs are expected next week as the beleaguered shipping company continues to assess the situation it is now in.
The lay off of workers comes amidst the call of the business and local government sectors for the national government to allow Sulpicio to resume operations as the grounding of the vessels affects traders.
Aside from the ship crews, arrastre workers and dock handlers working in the Sulpicio pier have also been forced to stop working as there are no vessels to service.
Lawyer Nolie Espina, counsel of SLI, yesterday said most of those temporarily not allowed to work were “mess men” or stewards that attend to passengers.
“We had no choice but to lay off. Our ships are stranded. It will be pointless for them to continue working,” Espina told The FREEMAN.
But Espina clarified the lay off is temporary and workers will be rehired once the Maritime Industry Authority orders the resumption of operations for Sulpicio.
However, if no action is taken for a long time, there is a possibility that the layoff will be made permanent, he added.
Two days after the sinking of M/V Princess of the Stars, Sulpicio’s biggest passenger ship, in Romblon on June 21, the
“They will be reinstated to their respective positions, but if the operations will not resume for a long time, it’s possible that it would translate to a permanent layoff. We hope that will not happen,” Espina said.
Genaro Tasan, president of the Sulpicio Line Employees Union-Associated Labor Unions, said only the crew of the Cebu Princess and Cagayan Princess that include him were not affected by the temporary lay off.
He said they will not be surprised that eventually they would also be affected by the lay off because they expect almost everybody, including those working in the offices in the piers in different provinces to be affected by the grounding of the SLI’s ships.
“Daghan kaayo nawagtangan og trabaho. Tungod ani, naa mga anak nga dili na makaeskwela. Gihangyo namo ang authority, ilabi na ang
Despite the recent tragedy that hit the company, Tasan said they are not blaming the management because it has been doing its best to help the workers.
“Kadaghanan namo na-lay off na, ug maski wa na mi mga trabaho nagpasalamat gihapon mi sa kompaniya kay gisweldohan pa mi katong kataposan sa June ug karong July 15 maski wa na magbiyahe ang mga barko,” said Tasan.
Joy Lim, information officer of ALU said they are appealing to
“We sympathize with the victims and families of the passengers of M/V Princess but we should also consider ang mga tawo nga nanginabuhi nga maapektohan,” she said.
Lim said the government has listened to and acted on the concerns of the victims and families, but it failed to look at the needs of the workers who lost their jobs.
“We feel very sad that Sulpicio was forced to lay off its workers. Unsaon na lang ni karon ang mga pamilya nila? We understand that the priority of the government is the safety of the passengers but it should also take consideration of the hundreds of Sulpicio employees,” she added.
M/V Princess of the Stars capsized off Sibuyan island in Romblon province at the height of typhoon Frank on June 21 while en route from
To date, 33 survivors have been accounted for and more than 200 bodies recovered so far, while more than 500 others are still believed trapped inside the sunken ferry. –(/NLQ)
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