Philippine Seafarers in the Global Labour Market

Philippine Seafarers in the Rough Seas of the Global Labour Market

Amante, Maragtas, S.V.

The Philippines supplies more than a quarter of the highly globalized labour market for seafarers. Although the magnitude of Filipino seafarers is a recent phenomenon, there is documented history of the seafaring tradition in the Philippines. The supply of Philippine seafarers in the global labour market occurs in the context of high unemployment, widespread poverty and an economy facing pressures from trade deficits and to pay off the $50 billion foreign debt. Filipino seafarers are mostly from the poor maritime areas in the Visayas and Mindanao. Maritime school owners and crewing agencies exploit vulnerable young students to pursue a seafarers’ career, with promises ‘to earn dollars and see the world for free’, to escape poverty. The State’s powers over maritime education and training and labour market regulation have been constrained by the need to promote overseas employment, as a source of foreign remittances to balance debt and trade payments and support the economy. The framework of global governance and labour relations, and the fiction of representation through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) is heavily influenced by among others, the need to stabilize the global labour market with competent and skilled seafarers.

Amante, M. S. (2004). Philippine Seafarers in the Rough Seas of the Global Labour Market.