4 ms·

If you're a Filipino man and reading this, please don't be tempted to take one of these jobs. Your health is something that you can't replace.

by wyclif 10y ago

jacquesm 10y ago
What do you suggest that Filipino man does instead?
- liotier 10y ago
  Found a startup, pitch on HN, get rich - c'mon man, get with the program !
  - alfiedotwtf 10y ago
    For a different perspective, conditions may have changed now... I have about 6 cousins from the Philippines that are all around the world on various cruise ships, tankers, and cargo ships. Each one sending money back home, each one happy, they all love their jobs, and go back for reassignment.
    - SeanBoocock 10y ago
      So did the man profiled in this story and several of his friends until health problems and workplace conditions wore down their enthusiasm. Even if the vast majority of cruise ship employees are satisfied with their employment, one should worry about the effort to weaken laws and regulations meant to protect these vulnerable workers.
- wyclif 10y ago
  Anything that doesn't end up destroying his health and life. I reject the notion that cruise ship work is the only job available to him.
  - jacquesm 10y ago
    Unless you're planning to employ him I don't think that's your call to make.
    - wyclif 10y ago
      You're trying hard to be annoying, I suppose. You don't know this, but I've never worked for a startup. If you're looking for that attitude of "oh, he should have learned React and moved to SF", then you're looking in the completely wrong direction. Now, I know there are people on this board naive enough to believe things like that, but I'm definitely not one of them. And as far as "it's not my call to make", I'm not making this guy's call. The implication is that unless I have a job to provide this unfortunate fellow, in your view I shouldn't be commenting and suggesting that destroying his health by signing an employment contract that waives his right to collect damages is a bad idea. I think that's an absurd attitude to maintain.
      - jacquesm 10y ago
        > You're trying hard to be annoying, I suppose. No, I'm not. That's called 'disagreement' and it can happen. The only thing I note is that you don't know what options this man has available to him since you are not in his shoes and you can simply assume that he's trying his level best to do the best he can - just like everybody else. So unless you wish to increase the number of options available to him I don't think you should be telling him what to do, just as he wouldn't have any standing to tell you what to do. None of your other assumptions are relevant to this and besides I wasn't making them. Filipino employees are exploited because they have very little in terms options to resist signing such contracts. It's akin to victim blaming.
onezeronine2 10y ago
Filipino here. My father is a seaman and have been working for that job for more than 20 years. He does not have health problems and received a good pay that helped me able to graduate from college. Despite his age, he still continues to work because he still needs to sustain the family expenses. Most of the Filipinos sees working overseas a special opportunity to bring good fortune to their families. But sometimes reality strikes hard for some and are lured into abusive employers. This is one of the reasons why we have a government body to handle such cases. Most of these problems happen on non-specialized jobs such as domestic helpers, waiter and care givers since they are the most vulnerable to abuses compared to engineers and nurses.

If you're a Filipino man and reading this, please don't be tempted to take one of these jobs. Your health is something that you can't replace.

by wyclif 10y ago

If you're a Filipino man and reading this, please don't be tempted to take one of these jobs. Your health is something that you can't replace.

jacquesm 10y ago

What do you suggest that Filipino man does instead?

liotier 10y ago
Found a startup, pitch on HN, get rich - c'mon man, get with the program !
- alfiedotwtf 10y ago
  For a different perspective, conditions may have changed now... I have about 6 cousins from the Philippines that are all around the world on various cruise ships, tankers, and cargo ships. Each one sending money back home, each one happy, they all love their jobs, and go back for reassignment.
  - SeanBoocock 10y ago
    So did the man profiled in this story and several of his friends until health problems and workplace conditions wore down their enthusiasm. Even if the vast majority of cruise ship employees are satisfied with their employment, one should worry about the effort to weaken laws and regulations meant to protect these vulnerable workers.
wyclif 10y ago
Anything that doesn't end up destroying his health and life. I reject the notion that cruise ship work is the only job available to him.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  Unless you're planning to employ him I don't think that's your call to make.
  - wyclif 10y ago
    You're trying hard to be annoying, I suppose. You don't know this, but I've never worked for a startup. If you're looking for that attitude of "oh, he should have learned React and moved to SF", then you're looking in the completely wrong direction. Now, I know there are people on this board naive enough to believe things like that, but I'm definitely not one of them. And as far as "it's not my call to make", I'm not making this guy's call. The implication is that unless I have a job to provide this unfortunate fellow, in your view I shouldn't be commenting and suggesting that destroying his health by signing an employment contract that waives his right to collect damages is a bad idea. I think that's an absurd attitude to maintain.
    - jacquesm 10y ago
      > You're trying hard to be annoying, I suppose. No, I'm not. That's called 'disagreement' and it can happen. The only thing I note is that you don't know what options this man has available to him since you are not in his shoes and you can simply assume that he's trying his level best to do the best he can - just like everybody else. So unless you wish to increase the number of options available to him I don't think you should be telling him what to do, just as he wouldn't have any standing to tell you what to do. None of your other assumptions are relevant to this and besides I wasn't making them. Filipino employees are exploited because they have very little in terms options to resist signing such contracts. It's akin to victim blaming.

onezeronine2 10y ago

Filipino here. My father is a seaman and have been working for that job for more than 20 years. He does not have health problems and received a good pay that helped me able to graduate from college. Despite his age, he still continues to work because he still needs to sustain the family expenses. Most of the Filipinos sees working overseas a special opportunity to bring good fortune to their families. But sometimes reality strikes hard for some and are lured into abusive employers. This is one of the reasons why we have a government body to handle such cases. Most of these problems happen on non-specialized jobs such as domestic helpers, waiter and care givers since they are the most vulnerable to abuses compared to engineers and nurses.