Union, recruiters expect almost 30,000 workers displaced in 2015

A large labor group and a group of recruitment officials both cautioned the national government in separate reports made yesterday that thousands of workers here and abroad will most likely be displaced come 2015.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said that as many as 24,000 local government employees will likely be rendered jobless when the Bangsamoro Transition Council becomes operational next year.

TUCP executive director Louie Corral said: “Workers employed in municipalities, cities, provincial and regional offices will be displaced once the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is dissolved and taken over by the Bangsamoro Transition Council,” said

Corral stressed that it is the primarily the government’s duty to create safety nets for these workers, in light of their service to the bureaucracy.

However, Corral noted that the Aquino administration seems to have no fallback plan in place for the anticipated displacement of these government employees.

Meanwhile, TUCP official Gerard Seno questioned the Civil Service Commission (CSC) as to why measures have not been taken , and urged them to step up the necessary preparations in anticipation of the situation.

“We are wondering why the commission has no preparations towards one of very important elements of the transition issue,” Seno said

Seno stressed that instead of leaving the predicament of these employees to chance, the CSC should see to it that these workers would be included in the new Bangsamoro government by way of lateral transfer and merit-based integration.

In similar news, officials of the job placement industry reported yesterday that thousands of overseas Filipino workers currently employed in US bases in Afghanistan will also most likely be displaced by the pullout of US troops from Afghanistan at the end of 2014.

The group estimates that of the 4,000 Filipinos working in Bagram Air Base and Kandahar Airfield, quite possibly only 1,000 will be retained after the pullout of US troops in order to maintain the military facilities.

The displaced workers are expected to start returning to the country as early as November, while some workers have expressed their hopes of being kept on by international contractors hired by the US government.