“We agreed and signed contracts for two years in the Philippines with a salary of $300 or about SR1,200 a month. Since we have finished our contracts, we want to go back to the Philippines, but the company won’t let us go,” the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) said in a complaint sent to Migrante Middle East.
The main reason why they stopped working and don’t want to renew their contracts is the fact that they were receiving only SR600 a month instead of SR1,200 as written in their contracts, Migrante regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona told Arab News on Saturday,
“From that measly amount of SR600, SR100 was being deducted monthly for visas,” he said.
He added that some are willing to stay if they receive the salaries indicated in their contracts, which are still lower than the SR1,502 minimum wage mandated under Philippine OFW law.
Since their place of work is under the jurisdiction of the Consulate General in Jeddah, their complaint was sent to Labor Attache Vicente Cabe of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Jeddah (POLO-Jeddah) on March 3.
Consequently, Cabe wrote a letter on March 14 to Shaker Al-Sheikh, KFH assistant executive director general, that said: “We would like to bring to your attention the concerns of 52 Filipino employees of Al-Zahran Company … The said 52 employees are complaining of underpayment of salaries … We seek your help to address the problems by helping us communicate with Al-Zahran Company...”
Cabe did not receive a reply. Since Al-Zahran is based in Riyadh, Cabe forwarded the complaint to Labor Attache Albert Q. Valenciano of the POLO in Riyadh.
Valenciano subsequently sent two letters to Al-Zahran Company, but he did not receive any reply.
Because of this lack of response, Valenciano recommended that Al-Zahran Company be blacklisted in Manila to prevent it from further hiring workers from the Philippines. Al-Zahran’s recruitment agent in Manila is Al-Ahram.
“I commend Labor Attache Albert Q. Valenciano for his decisive action in recommending to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administ-ration that Al-Zahran Company be blacklisted. I also suggested to him the filing of a complaint with the Saudi labor court against Al-Zahran,” Monterona said.
