Inflammatory Quotes, Wrong Conclusions...

Tuesday August 7, 2007
Letters to the Editor
Tuesday, August 07, 2007


Inflammatory quotes, wrong conclusions about labor reform bill


The Saipan Tribune recently gave front-page space to inflammatory quotes from a labor organizer about HB 15-38, the labor reform bill that passed the House. It is evident that Ms. Wendy Doromal, the labor organizer who provided the inflammatory quotes, never read the bill. Her conclusions are wrong and have no support whatsoever in the provisions of the bill that passed the House.

Exit provisions continue past practice. The Commonwealth had an exit provision covering all foreign workers that was allowed to expire. The three-year exit was never enforced, and the provision was allowed to expire although it was clear that this would lead to calls for green cards from foreign workers. For Ms. Doromal's edification, there is nothing strange, inhumane, or immoral about an exit provision. In fact, the United States has a similar exit provision. For example, even foreign doctors who have trained in the U.S. for 10 years, married, had children, and completed their education, are required to leave for one year before they can be readmitted to continue working. The U.S. requirement of a one-year absence has been in effect for decades. The Commonwealth softened this requirement to six months.

Planned travel does not adversely affect children. It is just inflammatory to suggest that a six-month leave adversely affects the children of guest workers. Military families move from place to place as often as once a year. Workers in U.S. companies who are transferred overseas take their children out of school and pay tuition in a foreign country. Foreign workers here in the Commonwealth support children in the Philippines. The important factor is not the move, but time to prepare for the move. The bill provides three years to make the necessary arrangements.

Workers depend on free education. Ms. Doromal suggests that foreign workers in the Commonwealth depend on the free education offered their children by the Commonwealth. It is certainly true that free education is a substantial benefit, and perhaps one that the Commonwealth should reconsider. Children of foreign workers pay tuition in many places in the U.S., whether they are U.S. citizens or not. School districts in the U.S. make individual choices about the fees that they charge and the basis on which fees are charged. Perhaps we should look at those precedents.

Replacements with local workers. We in the Legislature have an obligation to provide job opportunities for our citizens. Foreign workers are a supplement to our labor force. Jobs for them should not be protected at the expense of job opportunities for our local citizens. The periodic exit provision will cause employers, in some instances, to try out a local citizen for a job opening. It is true that if the local citizen is qualified and works out, the employer will not re-hire the foreign worker.

Help for the economy. Your article quoted a lawyer who represents foreign workers to the effect that the bill “has nothing whatsoever to help the economy.” That lawyer either hasn't read the bill or doesn't know anything about the Commonwealth's economy. For example, the bill softens the impact of the moratorium on businesses so that local businesses that have opportunities to expand can readily find workers. For another, the bill provides better bonding of employers for their obligations to foreign workers so that this burden does not come to rest on the taxpayers. For another example, the bill provides improved education of foreign workers and airport screening to prevent exploitation. For another example, some of the most common labor paperwork will be moved to the Internet for easier, cheaper access by businesses. For another example, each foreign worker will be covered by medical insurance making the payment of CHC's bills much more certain. I could go on at some length about the economic benefits that will result from this bill.

Support from the business community. The Chamber of Commerce supports passage of the labor reform bill. They have urged some changes, as have many other people, but they do not oppose the bill as a whole. This bill has been handled responsibly by the Legislature. We had a task force that worked for over a year to forge practical compromises. We held public hearings. We had educational sessions for the legislators. After the bill passed the House, the Senate leadership has allowed a month for additional comments and proposals for change. The labor bill has to balance the interests of citizens, businesses, and foreign workers. It does that. The labor reform bill is an excellent piece of legislation.

Rep. Jacinta M. Kaipat
Chair, JGO Committee
15th Commonwealth Legislature

Click here for the Tribune page.

Open Letter On Labor Reform BIll (HB 15-38)

Click here for the actual Tribune publication of my Open Letter on the Labor Reform Bill.

Thanks to the Tribune for publishing this letter right away.

Congresswoman Kaipat's June 17 Letter to House and Senate Members

June 17, 2007

To The Honorable Members of the House and Senate:

SUBJECT: HB 15-38: THE COMMONWEALTH EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 2007

Within the next few days or so, each of you will be asked for your vote to pass H.B. 15-38: The Commonwealth Employment Act of 2007 without any amendments. A few weeks ago, we gave you a slide presentation on the proposed revised version of the draft labor reform bill. We made a detailed record of all of your comments and suggestions at that session. Since then –

*We have held a public hearing to get additional input from the people of the community.

*We have considered and implemented the recently-released recommendations of the Office of the Public Auditor and the private-sector Jobs Study Committee as to jobs for which citizens and permanent residents should be afforded employment preferences.

*We have consulted with the Chamber of Commerce and HANMI to get input from the business community.

*We have requested and received comments from the Federal Ombudsman, from lawyers representing foreign national workers in the Commonwealth, and from the Philippine Counsel General.

*And we have worked extensively with the lawyers from the CNMI Department of Labor to get the bill into final shape.

I think nearly everyone realizes that we can and should do better in providing a practical, fair legislative framework for employment in the Commonwealth. Nearly all of the comments we have received have been offered in this spirit – of improving what we have and making a fair balance with respect to the interests of citizens and permanent residents, businesses, foreign national workers, and the government agencies with enforcement responsibilities.

Joint legislative session: These are the principal changes we implemented with respect to the comments we got at the informal joint legislative session:

* Devised a better system for health insurance for foreign national workers

* Worked out a better system for bonding of employer obligations for foreign national workers

* Limited the exceptions to the preference for citizen employment in the government

* Implemented compliance with the Resident Workers Fair Compensation Act

*We also accommodated nearly all of the very good suggestions for smaller changes that we got at that session.

Local resident workers: This is what we did with respect to the concerns of citizens and permanent resident workers expressed at the public hearing and in other comments we have received:

*Implemented the Public Auditor's recommendations with respect to job categories in which citizens and permanent residents get an employment preference. This expands the private sector preferences significantly

*Expanded the preference for government hiring of citizens and cut back on government hiring of foreign national workers

*Improved the functionality of the existing moratorium on hiring foreign national workers

*Provided for the right to sue if a qualified citizen applicant is turned down in favor of a foreign national worker

Local businesses and employers: This is what we did to accommodate the concerns of local businesses and employers expressed in our meetings with the Chamber, HANMI, and others:

*Provided flexibility to employers to make hiring, termination, and exit decisions

*Eased the regulatory burdens on small businesses employing fewer than 10 full-time employees

*Provided incentive exemptions to regulatory requirements for employers who exceed the 20% requirement in categories of jobs as to which citizens and permanent residents are available and are most likely to consider as attractive opportunities

*Provided affordable options for health insurance and bonding so that small businesses and employers of domestic helpers are not adversely affected

Foreign national workers: This is what we did to improve the fair employment conditions for foreign national workers:

*Provided better, more practical protections against exploitation by recruiters and employers so that every worker who comes to the Commonwealth will have a clear understanding of their rights and responsibilities under our system

*Accommodated the comments received from the Philippine Counsel General

*Accepted certain recommendations of the federal ombudsman with respect to inspections and enforcement

*Reduced fees for filing a labor complaint or appeal to make it less costly to access the administrative hearing system

The CNMI Department of Labor: This is what we did to get better performance from the Department of Labor:

*Added dispute-avoidance and early dispute resolution provisions to cut down on the caseload of labor complaints

*Improved the inspection powers of the Department with respect to the places where foreign national workers work and live

*Provided clear criteria for the decisions that are made within the Department and flexible regulatory power to meet new circumstances in the future

*Reduced the Department's paperwork burden to accommodate the problem of reduced resources to operate the Department under current economic decisions

In the end, every legislative enactment involves a balancing of competing interests. This is especially the case with respect to a labor reform bill. I believe that, as the result of more than a year's work and the participation in our labor task force of many busy people, the balance we have achieved is an outstanding bill that will be a credit to the Commonwealth. No one got everything they wanted, but no one was slighted or left out, and the bill provides a net benefit for everyone affected by it.

Since that first slide presentation, I invited each and every one of you to attend the final presentation last Monday, June 11, to discuss the final proposed version of the bill. I feel that the JGO Committee has made every effort to educate everyone on this important bill. I strongly believe that this is a very, very good bill, and I hope we can all act on it quickly.

Thank you, Si Yu'us Ma'ase yan Olomwaay.

/s/ Representative Jacinta M. Kaipat
Chairwoman,
Judiciary and Governmental Operations
15th Commonwealth Legislature

LABOR REFORM BILL SUPPORTS GROWTH IN THE VISITOR INDUSTRY

The Committee took account of the comments and suggestions at the public hearing with respect to support for the visitor industry. The new bill recognizes that the Commonwealth needs to support the visitor industry, help it grow out of the current economic slump, and make sure it prospers in the future. Without a successful visitor industry, the Commonwealth will not have the good jobs for citizens and permanent residents in other sectors.

The new bill helps the visitor industry in four principal ways.

Room to grow under the moratorium. A business in the visitor industry that has met the 20% requirement for employment of U.S . citizens and permanent residents earns an exemption under the moratorium. This means that businesses in the visitor industry can hire new foreign national workers as replacements for existing foreign national workers or for new positions. New businesses in the visitor industry are given a grace period of one year to meet the 20% requirement. This recognizes that it may take a new business some time to recruit and train local residents.

A major new development involving an investment of $1 million or more is allowed an exemption from the moratorium to allow for large construction projects.

Incentives for filling good jobs with citizens and permanent residents. A business in the visitor industry that substantially exceeds the 20% requirement for local hiring in professional, managerial, human resources, office or administrative assistant, secretary, cashier, front desk receptionist, tour guide, boat captain, and sports and recreation positions can earn an exemption from the 20% requirement for other jobs such as room cleaner, janitor, custodian, security guard, gardener, dishwasher, waiter and waitress, and other unskilled jobs. This system promotes hiring of local residents in good jobs and allows businesses substantial flexibility in hiring for unskilled jobs so that they can remain competitive.

Incentive reductions in paperwork. A business in the visitor industry that has met the 20% requirement for local hiring over the previous two years is presumed to be doing a good job of local hiring and is exempt from the requirement to provide a manpower plan.

Speedier and less costly processing for foreign national workers. The new bill also includes provisions to make the processing of foreign national workers speedier and less costly. The Labor Department will gradually shift over to a system of on-line filing of the necessary paperwork