DOLE: Displaced mine workers to get emergency employment

To cushion the impact of the closure and suspension orders on large-scale mining operations by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is offering displaced workers a livelihood and emergency employment package.

“I have already ordered the regional offices to assess and prepare for the impact of the closure of these mining companies. Workers who want to have temporary work will be given emergency employment while those who wanted to have other means of income will also be provided with livelihood assistance,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a statement on Wednesday.

DOLE offices in Regions III, VI, XIII and Cordillera Administrative Region were ordered to do a needs assessment and profiling of workers for the government’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers Program (TUPAD).
 
The regional offices, in coordination with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, are also planning to train mine workers who want to upgrade their current skills sets.
 
Workers who will be hired under TUPAD will be working for minimum of 15 days and maximum of 30 days and paid with the regional minimum wage.

"The program will not only provide income for the beneficiaries who are mostly affected by the closure of mining operations in the said regions, but likewise contribute to the improvement of facilities and environment," the Labor Department noted. — Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News