tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6063328654415442005.post6451827908723097310..comments2023-10-24T02:46:47.361+10:00Comments on .: PL 15-108 Is Progress. Progress Is IncrementalCNMI Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09193469631130593974noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6063328654415442005.post-65368669696354160652008-01-28T12:10:00.000+10:002008-01-28T12:10:00.000+10:00Senator - I have never heard anyone group you with...Senator - I have never heard anyone group you with the bad guys here and many have only kind things to say about you. While this law has some strong points for the CNMI, the bad points are evil. 12k marched against this law and 130 marched for it even with free beer and the bad guys represented. The Senate will likely pass this within the week. Please reconsidered revisiting and revising this bill. Federalization will be passed regardless of what you or I think about it anyway. You must just ask yourself, "who will you stand with". My number is 233-1144 and they will give you my cell if you would like to discuss this further.<BR/><BR/>I will also leave comments made about this Willen article pasted from Wendy's blog.<BR/><BR/>Willens Misinterprets H.R. 3079<BR/><BR/>Howard Willens, the governor's special legal counsel, in a forum held at Bruce Bateman's Porky's Bar, claimed that the H.R. 3079 will force all foreign contract workers to leave after two years. Again, having just come from Washington, D.C. and having discussed this with staffers from the Senate and House Committees, I can only say once again this information is wrong. I suggest that he contact the committee staffers to clarify his misunderstandings. I assume he would have read this letter to Governor Fitial from Senator Jeff Bingaman, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. He could also contact Federal Ombudsman Jim Benedetto for clarification. In a recent letter posted here Mr. Benedetto made corrections to the same misinformation including these remarks:<BR/><BR/>"The Commonwealth will have a say in whether the Transitional Guest Worker Program is extended... The Bill provides that the U.S. “Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Governor of the Commonwealth, shall ascertain the current and anticipated labor needs of the Commonwealth and determine whether an extension, in up to a 5-year increment, of the provisions of this subsection are necessary to ensure an adequate number of workers will be available for legitimate businesses in the Commonwealth.” The transition period can be extended indefinitely if a genuine need can be demonstrated.<BR/><BR/>The Bill also provides that any alien “who is lawfully present and authorized to be employed in the Commonwealth pursuant to the immigration laws of the Commonwealth on the transition program effective date shall be considered authorized by the Secretary of Homeland Security to be employed in the Commonwealth” until their contract runs out, or two years after the transition period effective date, during and after which their employers may sponsor them for H visas, or they can participate in the transitional guest worker program.<BR/><BR/>Alien workers may also benefit from the CNMI’s exemption from the numeric caps on H workers. The rest of the country only gets a certain amount of H worker visas, so businesses must compete to get them. After the Bill passes, CNMI employers will be able to apply for all the H worker visas they need; the cap doesn’t apply to us during the transition period (which, as noted above, can be extended indefinitely if necessary). And, skilled workers brought in under H-1 visas can apply for lawful permanent resident (LPR) status after five years and get a “green card.”<BR/><BR/>Of course, one of the greatest benefits the Bill would extend to alien workers participating in the transitional guest worker program is the right to freely transfer from one employer to another, at will, as long as the new employer is also in a segment of the economy the Secretary has determined is in need of alien workers. So, if a worker isn’t being paid, he or she can simply go to another employer, without risking the loss of status and subsequent deportation the current law threatens them with.<BR/><BR/>The current law, on the other hand, ties each worker to a single employer, restricts workers’ right to complain to a very brief period, and threatens a worker who complains with loss of his or her claims and deportation if Labor finds the worker has committed any of a number of violations unrelated to the subject of their complaint.<BR/><BR/>For example, under the new law, if a guest worker files a complaint, he could be asked whether he had complied with all the provisions of his contract; if he had not, he could be denied transfer and sent home. He could also be asked whether he had engaged in any work during the period his employer wasn’t paying him, or after his employer had abandoned him; whether he had ever paid his own application fee or renewal fee; whether he had ever given any misleading information to Labor or any government employee, orally or in writing; and whether he had worked for his own employer before his contract had been approved, or after it had expired, even if he was being renewed and his employer told him it was legal to do so. If he answers “yes” to any of those questions, it would be “grounds for deportation . . . and forfeiture of all claims” under the new law. We should all be very concerned about whether these parts of the new law will have a chilling effect on a worker’s right to file a complaint."Ron Hodgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12681154034130186759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6063328654415442005.post-46729915940124094762008-01-27T11:13:00.000+10:002008-01-27T11:13:00.000+10:00I like your new turtleI like your new turtleAngelo Villagomezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00970383305205702533noreply@blogger.com