IPI extending contract of CW workers who want to stay

Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC senior vice president of Public Affairs Tao Xing said they are extending the contract of some of their 260 workers under the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Program who want to stay.

Xing said they hope that most of the CW workers will stay and then they will reopen the casino soon.

Xing shared IPI’s plans about their CW workers in response to Rep. Ivan Blanco’s (R-Saipan) question during Tuesday’s House of Representatives Gaming Committee’s meeting.

Asked by Saipan Tribune yesterday how many of those 260 want to stay and will be renewed, Xing he can’t tell as it’s an ongoing process and that anyone can inform IPI about their future plans.

At a recent Commonwealth Casino Commission meeting, IPI Human Resources director Redie Dela Cruz said she can safely say that, of their 260 CW workers, about 95% of them are on furlough status.

At Tuesday’s House meeting, Xing said they’re still trying to figure out what would be the best time for them to reopen. “Right now we’re under the requirement of the government to close the casino,” he said.

The IPI official said the 260 CW employees fall into three categories: the ones who volunteered to leave or resign, ones that want to finish the full term of their contracts but are leaving, and the ones who want to stay.

For the first category or for those who volunteered to leave or resign, Xing said that three-fourth of their salaries is guaranteed and will be paid before they leave at the end of September 2020.

For those who want to go through the full term and leave around the end of September 2020 and don’t want their contracts to be extended, Xing said that IPI will pay them right after the end of September or by the start of October.

“We’ll schedule the payment and we’ll pay for their repatriation cost,” he said.

For the last category or those who want to stay, Xing said at this point they’re extending everybody’s CW contract.

He said they will pay them at the end of their current CW cycle. Xing said hopefully they will get the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ approval of their extension. “And hopefully, by the end of this year or early next year, we’ll open the casino,” he said.

Xing earlier clarified to Saipan Tribune that it’s a legal requirement to pay three-fourths of the CW contract no matter what. “Whether we extend their CW or not, we need to pay the three-fourths for this year,” he said.

He said if they extend CWs and don’t open soon, it will be a burden for the company to pay the three-fourths next year.

“The new three-fourths will start on Oct. 1. So the later we open, the bigger the burden. Regardless, the three-fourth rule [is applicable] to both this year and next year,” Xing said.