Philippines Ambassador to Qatar Crescente Relacion (left) with de Jesus during the flag-raising
ceremony on Friday.
By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter
A group of Filipinos has withdrawn 35 cases they had filed against their original employer after the new management of the company paid their dues, labour attaché Leopoldo de Jesus told Gulf Times yesterday.
De Jesus said that 50 of the more than 100 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have decided to stay with the readymix company, which saw a change in management team recently.
He said that 31 of the workers have asked the new management to send them home since they wanted to see their families.
“I was told that the company has paid for their plane tickets, and they have received their salaries and other benefits due to them,” he said.
This has prompted the workers to withdraw the cases.
The OFWs filed labour cases against their original employer but officials of the new company management decided to settle the workers’ claims.
De Jesus disclosed that some of them were also given No Objection Certificates (NOCs), allowing them to seek employment elsewhere in Qatar.
“We are very happy about this development,” the labour attaché stressed.
It is learnt that the new management has been making preparations to reopen the company.
It is expected to resume normal operations in the coming months, and has plans to hire more workers, de Jesus said.
Besides the Filipinos, some Nepalese and Indians who were affected by the company’s closure last year were absorbed by the new management.
An official of the new management had earlier said that since they inherited many problems from the previous management, they had difficulties in dealing with claims, especially labour matters.
He added that they have been co-ordinating regularly with the Philippine embassy officials.
Meanwhile, de Jesus also disclosed that the number of “distressed” OFWs has dropped to about 40 from more than 100 in December.
“We are hoping that they (the number) would continue to decrease,” he said.