Slave labor on Guam

Interesting how in recent years Guam played the role of a critic against the NMI about labor abuses. It didn’t hold back at all, capitalizing on unintentional developmental problems, to blindly push its Commonwealth Quest. It played the role of the biblical passage of Cain and Abel which entails how the former back stabbed the latter.

We took the blows in stride while Guam simply never did its homework to find out how this mess emerged: The NMI was left to fend for itself, thus the dysfunctional family to which Uncle Tom did nothing but play the role of a bigger critic. However difficult a journey, we made progressive strides to strengthen an area we somehow overlooked during the boom years.

How interesting too that “Where America’s Day Begins”, fully equipped with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service for more than 50 years, there reportedly exist slave labor where alien workers receive low wages and left to endure poor living conditions. “Guam’s H-2 workers receive $500 per month, but required to work 10 hours per day, six days per week and may be given 20 extra work hours.”

“Therefore, the worker is putting in 294 hours per month and earning only $1.70 per hour”, far removed from both local and federal wages. And this “doesn’t include deductions for housing, food and recruitment charges. The workers are from mainland China whose problems have been under the watchful eyes of the Guam Chinese Association.

Perhaps Governor Carl T.C. Gutierrez and Guam’s Delegate Robert Underwood have an explanation for the existence of slave labor “Where America’s Day Begins?” This apparent black eye has turned “Where America’s Day Begins” to “Where Slave Labor Rises at Dawn”. And it must necessarily wrestle with this thorny issue forthwith.
Perhaps, too, it may wish to invite the US Department of Interior’s OIA chief to work up a deal for a complete federal takeover of a juvenile territory.

Too, it seems our southern neighbor is reportedly drowning in the sea of confusion and alleged deceit and corruption as demonstrated in the controversial gubernatorial election of last November. Now it must contend with the existence of slave labor. Well, may justice prevail for both the Guam voters and the Chinese workers who had to endure slave-like conditions “Where America’s Day Begins!”