Kin of Filipino Workers Killed in Louisiana Oil Rig Explosion Speak Up-Slave Labor Conditions At $5.50 An Hour

Kin of Filipino Workers Killed in Louisiana Oil Rig Explosion Speak Up-Slave Labor Conditions At $5.50 An Hour
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Kin of Filipino Workers Killed in Louisiana Oil Rig Explosion Speak Up

http://www.philippineforum.org/2013/01/11/for-immediate-release-kin-of-f...

Posted by Philippine Forum on 1/11/13 • Categorized as Alliances and Campaigns,Events and Announcements,News Releases,Statements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10 January 2013

Reference: Yancy Gandionco, Philippine Forum New York, info@philippineforum.org
 

Kin of Filipino Workers Killed in Louisiana Oil Rig Explosion Speak Up

NEW YORK — On January 16, family members of the Filipinos killed in the explosion at the Black Elk Energy oil platform last November 16, 2012 in Louisiana will be coming to New York. Along with some of the other workers who filed a class action lawsuit  against the Grand Isle Shipyard (GIS) — the company for which the workers who died worked — they will speak about their experiences, raise awareness about the case and encourage other victims and survivors to join the campaign for justice for the GIS Filipino workers.

 “The explosion in Louisiana claimed lives of 3 Filipino workers and injured 3 others, also Filipinos. Families of the victims have joined in calling for justice for the workers and they will join the Filipino community in a series of actions and a press conference here in New York starting January 16,” said Anne Beryl Corotan-Naguit of Philippine Forum, the community-based organization in New York leading the campaign, Justice for Grand Isle Shipyard Filipino Workers (J4GIS-Fil-Workers).

Crimes by GIS against Filipino Workers

Grand Isle Shipyard (GIS) is an oil company based in Louisiana, USA, which recruited Filipino workers — mostly welders, pipefitters and scaffolders. Since 2005, GIS have been hiring and providing Filipino workers to oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico, through the DNR Offshore Crewing Services.

The Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who worked for GIS said that they were required by the company to work 6 to 7 days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day, without overtime pay. Some Filipino workers even worked for 4 straight months offshore, as compared to the American workers who work only two weeks then return onshore to rest.

They were also restricted in their movement, isolated and were not allowed visitors. They stayed at a bunkhouse where there is a 10pm curfew and heavily guarded and monitored with cameras. While American workers can freely move around, Filipinos are not allowed to leave. They are only allowed to buy groceries for an hour a week accompanied by company driver. Filipino workers are also not allowed to get state identification cards and drivers’ license.

Millions of dollars were also stolen from the Filipino workers. They were charged from $1000 to $3000 per month for a bunk bed in a 10 x 10 feet room. Most of the salary of Filipino workers went to unlawful deductions including deceptions and tax fraud.

One worker was still even required to work while on treatment for temporary blindness because of welding for long hours. Another was burned inside a tank but was hidden in a house without medical treatment.

Filipino workers are also sent to platforms that are severely unsafe, such as the Black Elk Energy, which resulted to the death of three and injury of another three.

Those who dared complain were threatened to be deported. Filipino workers suffered all these and more in the hands of Grand Isle Shipyard.

Over 70 Filipino Workers Fight Back with Class Action Lawsuit

Prior to the explosion, over 70 workers have already filed class action lawsuit against GIS on grounds of violation of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), discrimination, trafficking, slavery and fraud.

Within the next few weeks, more Filipino workers are expected to join the class action lawsuit as there are up to 500 who have been most likely affected by these abuses and injustices perpetrated by the GIS.

Unknown to many, however, the 70 Filipino workers called the Philippine Embassy even before the Black Elk explosion and requested for Philippine Ambassador to the United States, Jose L Cuisia, Jr. to address their concerns and have a dialogue with them. But they never heard back from the ambassador.

After the explosion in November last year, Ambassador Cuisia even stated after his visit that the Filipino workers in Louisiana are fine, despite 3 Filipinos being killed in the explosion, and that the Philippines is “looking forward to bringing more Filipinos to work for GIS”. The ambassador, when asked about the class action lawsuit filed by the 70 Filipino workers, claimed that he had no information on it.

“The Philippine government turning a blind eye towards the cases of abused Filipino workers working hard despite being under drastic conditions is totally unacceptable. Community actions are already being planned in different parts of the United States within the next few days, starting with New York, to demand that the Philippine government genuinely address the issues and concerns of the Filipino workers of Grand Isle Shipyard,” said Jonna Baldres, Community Action Coordinator at Philippine Forum and current Deputy General Secretary of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON).

Justice for Grand Isle Shipyard Filipino Workers!

The “Justice for Grand Isle Shipyard Filipino Workers” (J4GIS-Fil-Workers) Campaign is led by Philippine Forum, a community organization based in New York, in collaboration with other local organizations — Anakbayan New York, Anakbayan New Jersey, New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP) and Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE).

“Philippine Forum has experienced and witnessed countless cases of abused migrants in United States and continues to stand firm on all grounds to protect the rights and welfare of migrants, to uphold the truth, justice and dignity for all workers. We denounce the inhumane capitalist extraction of super profit by companies such as Grand Isle Shipyard that intentionally rob Filipino workers of their dignity through severe forms of exploitation and oppression,” Corotan-Naguit expressed.

National organizations and alliances, such as US-based National Alliance for FIlipino Concerns (NAFCON) and the Ecumenical Forum for Filipino Concerns (EFFCON), have also signified to join the campaign. Philippine-based organizations such as Migrante International, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-Philippines) and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) will also be helping out on the Philippine part of the campaign. The International Migrants Alliance (IMA) and the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), international alliances with hundreds of member grassroots organizations around the world, have also expressed support.

A press conference will be held on January 16, Wed, 11am at the Bayanihan Community Center (40-21 69th St. Woodside NY 11377). More plans for the campaign will also be announced. On January 18, Fri, 2pm, there will be a community action in front of the Philippine Consulate in New York (556 Fifth Avenue, between 45th and 46th Streets) to air grievances of the Filipino workers and families to the Philippine government. A community reception for the families and memorial for the workers killed in the Black Elk explosion will then follow on January 19, Sat, 7pm also at the Bayanihan Community Center.

The families and workers are also slated to meet with elected city officials during their stay in New York to share their experiences and gather support as they pursue the class action lawsuit.

For more information on the Justice for Grand Isle Shipyard Filipino Workers Campaign, please contact us at5169011832 or email us at info@philippineforum.org. ###

$5.50 An Hour Filipino Oil Platform Worker injured in Gulf platform fire dies-Super Exploitation Of Immigrant Filipino Workers
Filipino Oil Platform Worker injured in platform fire dies

By Ramon Antonio Vargas, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
on November 23, 2012 at 11:02 AM, updated November 24, 2012 at 3:45 AM
http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2012/11/worker_injured_in_platform...

One of the four Filipino oil workers who was seriously injured last week in an explosion and fire on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico died Friday morning, according to the Philippines Embassy. Avelino Tajonera, 49, a welder, died at Baton Rouge General Hospital's regional burn unit.

EnlargeMichael DeMocker, NOLA.com and the Times-Picayune
Two workers were killed, another is still missing and three more are still hospitalized with severe burns following an explosion and fire Nov. 16 on this oil platform, located about 35 miles southeast of Grand Isle, owned by Houston-based Black Elk Energy. Shot on Friday, November 16, 2012. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Aerials of Gulf oil rig explosion gallery (6 photos)
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Tajonera's wife and three children flew in from Manila, the Filipino capital, and saw him hours before his death, the embassy said. 

Tajonera, from Dinalupihan, Bataan, is the second confirmed fatality following the Nov. 16 fire on Black Elk Energy's West Delta Block 32 oil platform. Three more workers remain hospitalized in Baton Rouge with burns from the blaze. 

The body of Ellroy Corporal, 42, was recovered near the oil platform Saturday night, and another crewman, 28-year-old Jerome Malagapo, is still missing. Black Elk suspended itssearch for MalagapoTuesday evening.

Grand Isle Shipyard Inc., of Galliano in Lafourche Parish, employed Tajonera, Malagapo, Corporal and the other injured workers. The men were brought to Louisiana by DNR Offshore and Crewing Services, a job placement and recruitment firm with an office in Manila. Grand Isle Shipyard had a contract with Houston-based Black Elk to refurbish the platform.

Philippines Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia says he learned of Tajonera's death from Randolf Malagapo, a DNR executive manager. Randolf Malagapo also told Cuisia that Tajonera passed away in the presence of his loved ones, the Philippines Embassy said in a statement. 

Filipino dignitaries offered condolences to Tajonera's survivors and "assured the family that the Philippine government will extend any assistance they may require," the embassy added.

The embassy noted that relatives of the hospitalized workers are in Baton Rouge and have visited the patients. Three other Filipino workers who were aboard Black Elk's oil platform but were unhurt traveled to Manila after they gave their accounts of the incident to investigating authorities, and officials are expecting to repatriate Corporal's body to the Philippines on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ordered Black Elk to continue to keep "shut in" the West Delta and other company platforms where the flow of oil had been stopped to allow maintenance work until the firm adopted major improvements in its safety program.

Additionally, Black Elk must submit comprehensive safety plans and a safety audit to the federal agency, which also is conducting an investigation into the accident that's likely to lead to fines or other actions.

Staff writer Mark Schleifstein contributed to this report.

Accident sheds light on use of Filipino 'guest workers' in offshore industry
By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
on November 20, 2012 at 8:30 PM, updated November 21, 2012 at 2:33 PM
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/11/accident_sheds_light_on_use_...

Grand Isle Shipyard Inc., the company whose workers were aboard the West Delta Block 32 platform Friday morning when an explosion and fire killed one worker, left another missing and injured 11 more, is facing charges of abusive and exploitative working conditions akin to slavery in a federal lawsuit filed by former workers from the Philippines.

The allegations surfaced as the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which regulates the oil and gas industry, began its investigation into Grand Isle Shipyard and Black Elk, the Houston-based owner of the oil platform that caught fire 18 miles southeast of Grand Isle.

The independent federal Chemical Safety Board announced it also was considering an investigation into the accident and served two subpoenas on Black Elk on Monday.

More information about the crew aboard the platform has emerged as the Coast Guard continues to search for the missing crewman, Jerome Malagapo. The body of contract worker Ellroy Corporal was recovered Saturday night; it is being prepared for return to the Philippines after an autopsy.

Both Malagapo and Corporal are Philippines nationals, according to DNR Offshore and Crewing Services, a job placement and recruitment firm with an office in Manila that brought both men to Louisiana. DNR also is a defendant in the lawsuit alleging widespread mistreatment of Grand Isle Shipyard's workers.

One of the four workers suffering burns during the platform fire, Wilberto Ilagan, 50, also from the Philippines, is now in good condition at the Baton Rouge Medical Center, center officials said. The other three men remain in critical condition.

There are more than 150 Filipino welders, pipe fitters, scaffolders and riggers working in the Gulf, according to the Philippines embassy, and many of them apparently work for  Grand Isle Shipyard.

Twenty former employees of the firm, all from the Philippines, filed the lawsuit last year accusing the company of improper treatment of its workers. The suit claims the workers were required to pay between $2,000 and $3,500 a month to live in 10-by-10-foot rooms, six to a room -- some in a work barge in Lafitte and others in a Galliano bunkhouse that had been converted from a bowling alley.

An attorney representing the workers said she didn't believe any of those involved in the lawsuit are still employed by the company. "I know workers on the platform were from the Philippines, but none to my knowledge are our clients," Lori Mince said.

Grand Isle Shipyard provides maintenance services to platform owners like Black Elk. DNR, also based in Louisiana, provides employment services involving guest workers, including visa arrangements, for Grand Isle Shipyard.

In court filings, the company has denied the suit's claims. DNR also denies the allegations and contends that it is a different company from D&R Offshore and Crewing Services, the company that helped arrange visas for the workers who filed suit. The workers contend it's the same company or a successor.

According to court papers, the Filipino workers originally responded to job offers from Industrial Personnel and Management Services Inc., a recruiting firm based in Quezon City, Philippines, and a second company. The workers had to pass skill tests showing they could perform the trades required by Grand Isle Shipyard, including welding and pipefitting, and were told they would be paid $16.25 an hour for regular time and $24.37 an hour for overtime, along with transportation to the United States, housing and food.

Actual pay was as low as $5.50 an hour, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that the workers were required to sign two different contracts, containing differing pay rates, with the contract containing higher wages complying with federal law filed with the U.S. Embassy in Manila, and a second contract, with lower wages, filed with the companies.

"Plaintiffs executed the contracts because they believed that, in order to work in the United States, they had no choice," according to the suit. "Further, they were deceived and/or otherwise fraudulently induced to sign the contracts with the promise that (Grand Isle Shipyard) would sponsor them for E-2 visas, making them eligible for permanent resident status."

When they got to Louisiana, the workers allege they were charged exorbitant rates to live in substandard facilities. They also were charged fees for equipment used during their work, the suit said, even though the companies "ultimately retained, and clearly benefited from, these work-related tools and equipment."

"Once plaintiffs and other Filipino workers arrived in the United States, however, defendants forced them into involuntary servitude and subjected them to insufferable and inhumane living and work conditions," said a memorandum filed with the court by the workers in support of a motion -- granted Monday by U.S. District Judge Kurt Englehardt -- to block Grand Isle and DNR employees from intimidating them for being involved in the lawsuit.

That memorandum charges that the two companies threatened to deport at least one worker, and also offered the same worker and his family "financial assistance" if he dismissed the lawsuit. Another was told to withdraw an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the companies "for the future of [his] kids," the suit says.

The employees were kept from leaving the crew quarters during their off hours through use of curfews, gates and security cameras, according to the memorandum. Other than for work, Mince said the workers were allowed to leave the crew area for only one hour on one day a week, to travel to a local Walmart. They were accompanied to and from the store by company employees, she said.

With the deductions from their wages for living expenses and use of equipment, the wages fell below federally mandated minimum wage rates, the lawsuit charges.

Some of the workers also had their Social Security cards kept by D&R employees, and were given only copies of them, the suit says. When an employee's contract expired, he would be returned to the Philippines, where his passport and visa would be kept by IPAMS, the Quezon City-based recruiting firm. He would be returned to the U.S. only if he returned to work for D&R, Grand Isle or another related company, the suit says.

Engelhardt found that the workers provided enough information to require the notification of all Filipino workers who were employed by the company during the past four years of their right to join in the suit, but limited the ruling to workers who were employed by the companies in Louisiana.

On Tuesday, stung by the accusations, Grand Isle Shipyard President Mark Pregeant offered a reporter a tour on Tuesday of the Galliano bunkhouse at the center of a class-action lawsuit.

Pregeant was not willing to talk on the record about the year-old federal lawsuit against his firm, nor would he answer questions about the size of the rooms, what he charges for rent, or when the building was last renovated.

A quick walkthrough of the facility conjured up a college dormitory: Pregeant, taking the lead, opened the door to one bedroom that had a set of bunk beds lining each wall. He said similar setups - possibly as many as five dozen rooms - went down the length of the hall and throughout the facility.

The bunkhouse, which occupies a former bowling alley, has a game room, with air hockey and pool tables; a large TV room, with a flat screen and a karaoke machine; as well as a laundry room and a conference room for making phone calls. As he showed a reporter around, Pregeant stopped often to shake hands and chit-chat with Filipino workers making their way through the facility.

Pregeant declined to discuss the lawsuit, but said he was considering calling a news conference to give his side of the story.

At the exit of the nearby Walmart Supercenter, a dozen or so Filipino men carrying shopping bags and smoking cigarettes huddled Tuesday afternoon. According to the lawsuit, the Galliano Walmart was the only place workers were allowed to go beyond the crew area - and they were only allowed to go there for one hour on one day a week.

Several of those standing outside Tuesday said they worked at Grand Isle Shipyard. One of them said that, despite the lawsuit, he didn't believe the living quarters were so bad. He declined to answer when asked how much he pays to stay there.

Last Friday's mishap is not the first fatal accident for Grand Isle Shipyard, according to federal Labor Department records. The company was found responsible for a "serious violation" stemming from the December 2007 death of two workers overcome by poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas.

In that accident, a worker who was cleaning a tank aboard a utility vessel fell from a ladder, which disconnected his respirator and exposed him to the gas. A second employee went to rescue the worker, but in the process, his harness was cut. By the time the men were recovered, they were unconscious. They died within days.

After the investigation was completed, in 2008, Grand Isle was fined $7,000 for the accident, which Occupational Safety and Health Administration deemed a "serious violation," federal records show.

The explosion and fire last Friday aboard the West Delta 32 production platform -- which had been "shut in" so that the flow of oil had stopped -- will be investigated by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

The agency began an inspection of the site Friday, BSEE spokeswoman Eileen Angelico said in a statement Monday. The bureau's priorities are ensuring Black Elk makes the platform safe for personnel to be aboard, develops a safety plan for future activities, prevents pollution from residual oil released during the accident and secures physical evidence for the investigation.

The investigation team met with Black Elk personnel Monday to collect and safeguard evidence, gather accounts from workers on board at the time of the accident, and review documents regarding the personnel, safety procedures and operations in place at the time of the explosion.

BSSE Director James Watson said in the statement that regulators were "reviewing all available technical documents to ensure that we are able to obtain an accurate representation of what happened."

"When all of the information is collected and analyzed, BSEE will be in a position to decide which enforcement actions are appropriate and more importantly, how BSEE and the offshore industry can learn from this tragic event in order to prevent loss of life and injuries from future accidents," Watson said.

The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, said it is arranging for relatives of the injured workers to travel to the United States.

In a statement, Philippines Ambassador Jose Cuisia, who on Monday visited the Baton Rouge Hospital where the four injured workers are being treated, said his embassy continued to pray for Malagapo to be found alive. "We Filipinos always believe in miracles," he wrote.

Reporters Richard Thompson, Ramon Antonio Vargas and Quincy Hodges contributed to this story.