Job offers come for Pinay cleaners abandoned in UAE

There’s a bit of good news for most of the 86 Filipina cleaners abandoned by their employer in the United Arab Emirates: job offers from various companies in Abu Dhabi and Dubai now await them. But Philippine officials will scrutinize the job offers that came for 76 of the 86 workers, even as 10 of them chose to return to the Philippines. “We have to verify the existence of the companies and their capability to provide salaries on time and other benefits to these workers. We will be very thorough in the verification because we do not want their next employment to end up in a similar situation as what they have been undergoing these past months," Philippine Labor Attaché Amilhassan Amilbahar said in an article posted Thursday on UAE news site Khaleej Times. The 84 Filipina cleaners had been living in misery since they were abandoned by their employer in July, without salary and food, at a home in the United Arab Emirates. Electricity and water services had likewise been cut off in the shelter since July 13 due to unpaid bills. (See: 84 Pinay cleaners in UAE left without food, water) On October 11, 46 workers were arrested by local police following complaints from neighbors who thought something unusual was happening in the housing compound, and were subsequently released to the custody of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office the next day. (See: Report: RP takes custody of 46 distressed OFWs in UAE) The other workers meanwhile are temporarily sheltered by relatives and friends in Dubai. Amilbahar said they will start processing for a new employer only after their present cases filed with the Ministry of Labor and the Dubai Court are closed. Companies and employment agents offering employment to the 76 Filipina cleaners are required to submit in writing their salary offer and photocopies of their company papers for review and verification, he added. “An employment agency in Abu Dhabi has offered jobs to all the cleaners, but the offer is only Dh850 (P10,028). We are looking into the companies, which are offering a minimum salary of Dh1,200 (P14,157)," Amilbahar added. The Philippine Labor Department has set the basic salary of a Filipino cleaner at Dh1,200 with food allowance, free accommodation and free transportation for work. On the other hand, Amilbahar said he has requested the authorities back in the Philippines for air tickets, for those who have decided to go home. “I have made the request although their cases are still going on in the Dubai Labor Court. It will take time before the request will be approved," he said. Currently, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office is still waiting for a court order, which the ministry concerned will use as basis for the release of the four checks supposedly waiting in its coffers. These checks are expected to settle the 86 workers’ unpaid salaries, water and electric bills and the villa rent.—With Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV