Gordon: 8,000 hires for buildup: Olongapo City could be source for experienced workers

By Bernice Santiago • Pacific Daily News

Olongapo City in the Philippines, the site of the former U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay and a major training center for welders, could be a source of workers for the U.S. military buildup on Guam, Mayor James Gordon said last Wednesday.

Gordon said the city government has so far counted 8,000 potential hires for military buildup construction projects, and they are still counting.

"I'm prepared to deliver whatever is needed," said Gordon. "Because of the experience Olongapo has as a former base area, our people are exposed to that experience and they know how to operate in a military base."

Former Subic Bay workers who could be hired have been trained in ship repair, road building, carpentry, masonry and in the operation of power plants and airports, Gordon said.

In addition, Olongapo's city government and South Korean company HanJin Shipping together have trained 6,800 welders in the past three years, Gordon said. Every two weeks, an additional 250 welders are trained.

Gordon said Olongapo City is the biggest welding center in the world. The city recently sent welders to Florida, Korea and Australia. Gordon said he plans to send 15 of his best welders to Guam.

At an Olongapo job fair held Tuesday, 4,000 people attended. At the job fair, which included job recruitment for areas in the Middle East, Australia and Europe, participants inquired about the Guam buildup, Gordon said.

Gordon has visited Guam twice in the past two months, and will be sending the chairman of his Guam Task Force to the island in June. Olongapo City Councilor Edwin Piano will attend the "OSHA Train the Trainer" courses the Guam

Contractors' Association will hold in early June, and bring that information back to the Olongapo.

On his second trip, Gordon brought Olongapo businessmen who were interested in investing in Guam, and he is planning to bring another group once Olongapo City receives a formal letter of invitation.

Gordon has met with Gov. Felix Camacho, several senators, the Mayors' Council of Guam, Department of Public Works and Navy officials.

He has proposed a sisterhood agreement between Olongapo and Guam to the island's government officials.

"If we have a sisterhood agreement, it will not only be helping Guam in the selection of skilled workers, but it will also help Guam when it comes to health care, by offering our hospitals in Olongapo and the Subic Bay area," Gordon said.



In Your Voice Read reactions and GIVE COMMENT to this story

davebowden wrote:

Replying to fchase:

Replying to Madantche:

i wonder whether these H2 workers will send their money off-ijsland?

Uh, yeah. The PI is a twitching corpse that gets millions of tiny cash infusions from all of it's expatriate workers. This provides the country just enough energy to breed millions of more expatriates to continue these tiny infusions...

Your statement, though true, sounds pathetically more like that of guam...except they beg the government for money (no local desire to actually work with heavy desire to work a brainless job at govguam) to support the local gov't. Thus the simplified model: beg for money to support a twitching govguam so impotent employees can breed millions of more impotent govguam employees...it's a model they stick with year after year. H-2 workers will come here and do well,

export their money and locals will miss out but have lots of excuses for their own failures
06/02/2009 3:54:31 a.m. CST

Replying to fchase:

Replying to Madantche:

i wonder whether these H2 workers will send their money off-

ijsland?

Uh, yeah. The PI is a twitching corpse that gets millions of tiny cash infusions from

all of it's expatriate workers. This provides the country just enough energy to breed millions of more expatriates to

continue these tiny infusions...

Your statement, though true, sounds pathetically more like that of guam...except they beg the government for money (no local desire to actually work with heavy desire to work a brainless job at govguam) to support the local gov't. Thus the simplified model: beg for money to support a twitching govguam so impotent employees can breed millions of more impotent govguam employees...it's a model they stick with year after year. H-2 workers will come here and do well, export their money and locals will miss out but have lots of excuses for their own failures davebowden

ICEMAN671 wrote:

Replying to howlatthemoon:

Read up on labor law, it is Americans first, H-2's second.

You have to admire Mr. Gordon's hustle. He's not waiting for a phone call asking for workers; he's out there promoting his people and looking for work.
We don't have that.

We have no leaders insisting that industry come to Guam and train us. We have no leaders insisting that we get first dibs on the jobs coming available here. It's going to take hundreds of people to operate and maintain these facilities once they are in place. Has anyone seen a training facility being set up to provide the skilled workers that's going to take? It's going to take thousands of workers to build this facility. Has anyone seen the prospective contractors on the ground setting up training for the workers these projects are going to need?

A stipulation to recruitment should be AMERICANS FIRST. Write your president, write members of congress that are in favor of jobs for Americans]

06/02/2009 3:44:43 a.m. CST

KULOTORU wrote:

I think before hiring off island open it up in house first. We have to invest in our own people. People that live here and keep the money here. That is GUAM's problem now. We have so many that come here and send the money off to their families abroad. It's inevitable to keep ALL the money here but come on....someone who lives here & is raising their family here is a better option. We need money to be circulated here not elsewhere. My home was built by H2 workers and it wasn't that great.

A lot of problems and redo's. Besides how honest are these people about their skills? Some seem to be " ON THE JOB TRAINING". Lie that you are a master carpenter know the basics and learn as you go....we can do that with our own people who reside here; need jobs. Why go abroad? Give our people of GUAM the first and foremost opportunity...and don't say they are lazy because I know alot of people looking for that one job that they feel they can be dedicated to and get paid their worth.
06/02/2009 3:43:19 a.m. CST



ICEMAN671 wrote:

Replying to GOLDENCHELU:

Son, you have some very twisted ideas. First, foreign workers are NOT taking away jobs from locals. First of all, the locals have first choice (priority) of any work that will be given out. If they want to work (where many will chose to stay on welfare) than they will be hired first(if qualified) Read the PDN's classified section, where contractors advertise for labor, and if the requirements are not filled, than they are allowed to bring in H-2's. Why are there so many H-2's now?

Locals don't want to work. Wake up.

Second, there are so many Filipinos on Guam now that another few thousand are not going to make any difference.

06/02/2009 3:37:14 a.m. CST

.

Don't accept a "SisterHood Agreement" with Olongapo Phillipines,Unless you want less jobs for local residents and mass immigration from the Phillipines.The island 's culture will suffer further Extinction."Preserve The Chamorro Culture"The true face of the island !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.This is a fight for your culture.DEFEND IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![

ICEMAN671

oldsuquebebastar wrote:

I like H-2 workers. I built one building and remodeled another for my businesses using H-2s working nights and weekends for cash that they smuggled back into the PI when their Guam contracts were up. I'm getting ready to build a house and look forward to more H-2s being availabe on Guam. They have a higher skill level and work harder then local construction workers and I can usually find a talented foreman who let's me bypass a local contractor. It's a win-win situation.
06/02/2009 3:10:34 a.m.

nationalist2009 wrote:

Subic Naval Base was once the biggest U.S. military installation overseas and all the skilled workers who used to work there were trained by the U.S. military. It does make sense to bring those workers as H2 to supplement the need of skilled and experienced workers.
06/02/2009 3:09:25 a.m.

cowriespots wrote:

This is my island and I should be the boss. That is the attitude one runs into too often here. Actually knowing something about the requirements of the job, and aquiring some skills to carry the job out, do not occur to many of the young people here. Part of the problem is our politicians who like to stress "culture" over compentency because it gets them votes. Culture is easy, attaining competency is not.

The efforts of GCC and GCA to provide training for locals is very good. All the training, is useless without a good attitude towards your job. It is the responsability of the worker and the employee to nurture a good working climate.

The employee has to have an open mind towards following directions, accomplishing tasks and learning skills. The employer has to believe that treating his staff well and providing good working contditions is profitable.

On Guam, somethimes, we have a hard time with both of these concepts.

Replying to fchase:

Replying to Madantche:

i wonder whether these H2 workers will send their money off- ijsland?

Uh, yeah. The PI is a twitching corpse that gets millions of tiny cash infusions from all of it's expatriate workers. This provides the country just enough energy to breed millions of more expatriates to continue these tiny infusions. It's an economic model they stick with year after year.

Your reasoning sounds a lot like the US welfare system.

DaneJiRoos wrote:

Replying to I_C_U_TRIPPIN:

The question I have for you is, Why are you trying to bring workers from a place were the US were asked to leave and that they no longer need the help of the US Government and knowingly that we have AMERICANS to employ? I am a native son of Guam, and I believe that there are many American/Chamorro's out there who are highly skilled and is able to function just like Myself. Gordon, is it the pay you are worried about? if so you get what you pay for.

Gov. Felix Camacho,Senators, Mayors' , I hope you all do not buy into this sisterhood deal. Remember our people, remember what the island of GUAM stands for. EMPLOY GUAM.

Native in FL

The question is why haven't the Chamorros who moved to the states not coming back to take advantage of the upcoming buildup? They certainly are the first choice to being hired if and when they make themselves available. So what's the reason?

DaneJiRoos

fchase wrote:

Replying to Madantche:

i wonder whether these H2 workers will send their money off- ijsland?

DaneJiRoos wrote:

Replying to wtfgenius:

Our island may have the talent/ skill pool that some claim however, the reality is foreign workers will nab 90% of the jobs.... why you ask? our local brothers want to be hired off the street as a Superintendents, managers, directors, etc..... until then the attitude is "I'll sit here with my beer and bbq pit, they'll call me". don't believe me? ask one of those trying to get a job, I guarantee not one of them wants to work their way up from the bottom so in comes the H2 worker and everyone gets pissed off about it. are we ready for the buildup?????? I say....NOPE.

Can you imagine if Mr. Gordon was pushing for Guam's people to get the jobs? You would see a bunch of barbeque pit technicians suddenly get up and say that the money isn't enough and that it only pays H2 salary grade level.
06/02/2009 2:30:01 a.m. CST

Replying to wtfgenius:

Our island may have the talent/ skill pool that some claim however, the reality is foreign workers will nab 90% of the jobs.... why you ask? our local brothers want to be hired off the street as a Superintendents, managers, directors, etc..... until then the attitude is "I'll sit here with my beer and bbq pit, they'll call me". don't believe me? ask one of those trying to get a job, I guarantee not one of them wants to work their way up from the bottom so in comes the H2 worker and everyone gets pissed off about it. are we ready for the buildup?????? I say....NOPE.

Can you imagine if Mr. Gordon was pushing for Guam's people to get the jobs? You would see a bunch of barbeque pit technicians suddenly get up and say that the money isn't enough and that it only pays H2 salary grade level.

DaneJiRoos


wtfgenius wrote:

Our island may have the talent/ skill pool that some claim however, the reality is foreign workers will nab 90% of the jobs.... why you ask? our local brothers want to be hired off the street as a Superintendents, managers, directors, etc..... until then the attitude is "I'll sit here with my beer and bbq pit, they'll call me". don't believe me? ask one of those trying to get a job, I guarantee not one of them wants to work their way up from the bottom so in comes the H2 worker and everyone gets pissed off about it. are we ready for the buildup?????? I say....NOPE.



DaneJiRoos wrote:

How is this a threat to culture? These people are here to do the jobs that the local government can't fill. Saying that their presence is a threat to culture is BS. We have had an influx of military since forever and the culture is still there;

Guam is being overwhelmed by the compact impact agreement and the culture is stll there; Guam has had an influx of H2's from China, Korea, Philippines and the culture is still there. The only way culture is threatened is if the locals themselves fail to practice it amongst themselves and make it appealing to the younger generation. It's weakminded to say that an influx of H2's will erase culture.

As for the jobs lost to foreign workers, where are the local groups and/or government leaders who feel that these jobs should hire only US citizens. Because US workers fall short then what is your solution? People use race and "quality" of work as an excuse that these people will fall short on the standards. Again another excuse and not a solution.
06/02/2009 2:18:04 a.m.

Loadtoad wrote:

I see lots of complaints but less action from our local people. I read comments like, "we have people who are far skilled than those H2 workers." Then I ask you, why are these skilled people not getting the job? You see my friend, those "SKILLED" people are not putting the effort to get the job. They complain a lot how the Gov is corrupt. Stop pointing fingers and instead do some actions about it. Pointing fingers won't get the job done.

I think these people are just to lazy to even try to get the job. All they do is sit in their buttocks and wait for a phone call from company to hire them. Unlike this Mr. Gordon guy, he does not wait for a phone call, rather he advertise his workers. This is how you get jobs from different country.

Ill end this by saying, "Stop complaining if you are not willing to put effort in"
06/02/2009 2:02:29 a.m. CST


JPBACory wrote:

Yeah, and we can do the same thing for, say any large city in the US. Lets send even more money off island, out of country.


Sungi wrote:

Best idea yet, over crowd Guam with more H-2 workers. It might work with the current GOG. Since everything is runned with a kissed ss vote or $$ with more of it ssitting out to Guam. We might even have to relocate to Coco's. We let the qualification to a bottom standard of the very bottom endless sea for both the medical and education sector then fluid the island with all of the fish in the Pacific Ocean?

NO to H2 and Stop the Maddness of Changing Guam to an All One Race Island. If this should happen bring all that is bad, ugly and 69 too, since we don't need to go to PI.
06/02/2009 1:07:22 a.m.

donbjr95 wrote:

I see two obvious points of concern right away:

"Former Subic Bay workers who could be hired have been trained in ship repair, road building, carpentry, masonry and in the operation of power plants and airports"

(Like..ah...these people are at or near retirement age?)

"Every two weeks, an additional 250 welders are trained."

(Two weeks does Not make a skilled welder...there must be job history & performance statements, certifications, etc.)

Like most agendas coming out from the Philippines, it appears self-serving and money hungry inspired. I wonder where these characters from Olongapo City get all their travel/hotel/ammenities funding? USAID?

06/02/2009 12:59:46 a.m. CST

appears that Mr. Gordon is the lowest bidder. Mmmm... I wonder what the conflict of interest between him and the local politician?? The Department of Labor is the agency in charge of approving "LABOR CERTIFICATION" for the H2's to work in the U.S... Without the "LABOR CERTIFICATION", US Immigration will not approve the petition. DOL require local company publicly announce all the job vacancy that is available before hiring people outside the USA. Mr. Governor, How could you justify not hiring skilled local worker?
06/02/2009 12:54:30 a.m.

beach671 wrote:

They spend two weeks showing a Fillapina how to weld and consider him a full fledged welder?

HA ha ha ha! haha haha ! Oh jeez Uncle Sam's going to get robbed on this one. Highly skilled...lanya

They say they are bringing the former employees that worked for the Navy at Subic Bay. What are they now? In their 60's? If they are in their 40's now then they only were in their 20's when they worked at Subic and weren't journeymen tradesmen. They didn't know squat. They would have mastered their trade post-Navy employment. That mastery involved ripping everything of value from Subic Bay and Clark for scrap metal prices. Demolition and clean up from the volcano.


The politics of the Phillipines expands a large area in the Pacific from the Active Duty Officers and Federal Civil Servants at Andersen AFB married to Fillapina's trying to create their power network for post Federal Civil Service down to the Navy and all the way back to the PI. The money is big, the stakes are high, Guam not.

beach671
YakRider wrote:

Somebody should remind Gordon that this isn't Olongapo City and he's nothing here. He might rule that place like his own private fiefdom but that don't mean diddly squat on Guam. He's just another 2-bit, corrupt Filipino politician.


I_C_U_TRIPPIN wrote:

BIBA GUAM.
06/01/2009 11:13:06 p.m. CST

I_C_U_TRIPPIN wrote:

Mr. James Gordon, are you not forgetting that we AMERICANS has more of the same but better. In time like this, as leaders; we need to protect the interest of our dieing America. We all know that there are millions of unemployed citizens (US) who are out of jobs due to this fallen economy, Closer of Big Business, Bank Bail outs and Auto Industries fallout's. The question I have for you is, Why are you trying to bring workers from a place were the US were asked to leave and that they no longer need the help of the US Government and knowingly that we have AMERICANS to employ? I am a native son of Guam, and I believe that there are many American/Chamorro's out there who are highly skilled and is able to function just like Myself. Gordon, is it the pay you are worried about? if so you get what you pay for.

Gov. Felix Camacho,Senators, Mayors' , I hope you all do not buy into this sisterhood deal. Remember our people, remember what the island of GUAM stands for. EMPLOY GUAM. Native in FL

islandboz wrote:

Guess they have to hire more H2 workers from the P.I. Guam lack skill workers.
06/01/2009 10:57:55 p.m.

GOLDENCHELU wrote:

BADD IDEA !!!! The last thing Guam needs is more H-2 workers !!!! Unless Guam wants to become "The Little Phillipines" Don't bring more H-2 Workers to Guam.I wrote a email to both CNN NEWS in Atlanta and also to the White House in Washington DC addressing what problems are existing with the way the H-2 program is taking away jobs from the locals and also how more H-2 Immigration would further strap the local goverment of Guam and the Labor/Immigration Departments.To be fair though I first pointed out in my Emails of the poor living conditions in Guam that were being provided by Foreign employers and how many weren't getting all their pay for the work performed.If any people in Guam want to preserve the current culture of Guam.Then you must speak up and be heard together as one voice !! The article yesterday that i responded to about the H-2 workers and living conditions and pay is were i put all the addresses and phone #s even a fax #.Please everyone needs to have their voice heard!
06/01/2009 9:43:14 p.m. CST


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