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Labor urged to be fair
Labor and workforce issues are important and sensitive elsewhere and especially here where our reliance on nonresidents is an economic necessity. It is important to protect business and workforce interests so as a local business I welcome inspections to make sure I’m in full compliance with the local and federal laws.
I worry very much when the CNMI Department of Labor focuses almost entirely on small to mid-size businesses and not the large businesses. Recent events at a large construction site shows how relaxed the CNMI Department of Labor is in monitoring large businesses and this is not good for business, the workers, or for the CNMI.
I urge the CNMI Department of Labor to scrutinize all businesses in the same manner because this is not how it appears to the public.
I fully support our gaming industry and all the new businesses that have established here but there cannot be two sets of rules, one for small and mid-size businesses and another for the new and larger business interests. This two-fold approach will only create new problems for the government agencies, the public and the CNMI.
So I ask the CNMI Department of Labor to be fair in its inspection of businesses in the CNMI, do not favor on over another, and apply the rules evenly to everyone, big or small. To do otherwise is to compromise the CNMI’s long-term interest.
Juan S. ‘Santiago’ Tenorio
Airport Road, Dandan
