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‘Tempest in a teapot’
Mr. Ambrose Bennett is mistaken that the National Labor Relations Act applies and extends jurisdiction for collective bargaining to the teachers of the CNMI Public School System. If we are missing the point, Mr. Bennett should cite the provision of law that allows public employees their collective bargaining rights under the National Labor Relations Act. Second, if Ambrose Bennett finds any CNMI law that permits collective bargaining for public employees in the CNMI, we would appreciate knowing what that is. Third, a teacher representative member of the CNMI BOE comes as a representative of the members of a collective bargaining unit. Since, absent of collective bargaining for teachers in the CNMI Public School System, does it matter that a collective bargaining unit must first exist for the constitutional mandate to take effect? How can a teacher represent the members of a collective bargaining unit within PSS if collective bargaining law does not exist, allowing public employees to negotiate collective bargaining contract with jurisdictional employers within the CNMI government?
Mr. Ambrose Bennett’s argument is all “tempest in a teapot.” Mr. Bennett mixes confusion with obfuscation, and it is often his lack of knowledge about public sector employees’ collective bargaining laws and public policy that triggers idiosyncratic pretenses he had mastered harnessing what he does not know about.
Francisco R. Agulto
Kannat Tabla, Saipan
