"Hundreds of Filipino workers stranded on island amid dispute with U.S. contractor,"

Hundreds of Filipino workers are marooned at a U.S. military base on an island in the Indian Ocean because of a dispute between their employer, a major American contractor, and the Philippine government over their wages, according to employees and Philippine officials.

The Philippine government alleges that Kellogg Brown & Root, also known as KBR, has canceled regular charter flights from the Camp Thunder Cove base on Diego Garcia to the Philippines since the start of this year as a form of “emotional blackmail.” Philippine officials, who have told KBR that it must raise employee pay to meet the U.S. federal minimum wage rate, say the company is pressuring employees to continue working at current wages.

The suspension of chartered flights, however, may not be the only, or even main, factor keeping some Filipino workers on Diego Garcia, located more than 1,000 miles off the southern tip of India. Several Filipino employees said they were reluctant to leave the island for home visits, fearing that either the company or their own government would prevent them from returning to their jobs if the wage disagreement was not settled.

In statements to The Washington Post, KBR denied that the suspension of flights was linked in any way to the wage dispute and said it initially “canceled the charter flights at the request of the U.S. government to help prevent COVID-19’s spread.” In a subsequent statement, the company said there have been no chartered flights since late last year due to a lack of demand from workers wanting to travel.

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“KBR has been preventing them from returning to the Philippines to be with their families unless they sign an extension of their contract based on the old minimum wage rate,” said Bernard Olalia, undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers. “In effect, KBR is employing emotional blackmail by making their return to the Philippines conditional on their agreeing to an onerous contract. Not only is this unlawful, but it also violates the basic rights of these Filipino workers.”

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