China Harbour project faces labor complaints over unpaid wages

By ROY C. MABASA

China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), one of China’s state-owned entities engaged in several infrastructure projects in the Philippines, is facing a string of labor complaints due to alleged non-payment of salaries and wages of workers who were tapped to construct segments of the Cavitex C5 Link Expressway.

These are just some of the issues that China Harbour has been dealing with, which have led to an ongoing investigation by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for possible violations of Philippine labor laws, specifically on the non-payment of wages to construction workers.

Aside from China Harbour, also named as co-respondents in the complaints filed by Filipino construction workers before the DOLE Manila Field offices were the A.M. Oreta & Co and Abyan Management, one of the service providers supplying the manpower needs of the P8.8 billion project.

Both China Harbour and A.M. Oreta were handpicked by Cavitex Infrastructure Corporation (CIC), the concessionaire of the twin road projects which are supposedly due for completion in the second quarter of 2022.

Sources at the labor office said they have received more or less 29 individual complaints while more than two dozen other workers opted to air their complaints over the radio program of now Senator Raffy Tulfo.

Documents obtained by Politiko showed that most of the complaints are still undergoing the Single Entry Approach (SENA) at the DOLE office, a process to enable both parties to reach amicable settlement.

However, some complainants have opted to elevate their cases to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) due to the alleged inability of China Harbour and its co-respondents to show “good faith” in settling the issue of non-payment of wages.

All in all, the total number of complaints, including those reportedly lodged through the barangays, could reach up to more than 60.

Sources said China Harbour’s alleged unsettled fees and wages with the workers and the service providers are estimated to reach more than PhP100 million.

China Harbour is the subsidiary of the China Communications Construction Co., one of the 24 Chinese firms and targeted individuals blacklisted by the United States government for their alleged involvement over the building of artificial islands in the South China Sea.

https://politics.com.ph/2022/07/23/china-harbour-project-faces-labor-complaints-over-unpaid-wages/