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Soll calms fears of protesting workers
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Posted on Oct 02 2000
Attorney General Herbert D. Soll on Friday assured striking workers of Eurotex of getting their wages, but said it would take some time before they receive all payment due them.
Partial payment was made last week on some 300 workers of the garment manufacturing firm after U.S. labor officials began disbursing about $600,000 to pay their back wages.
But a group of Eurotex workers staged a protest march again last Friday in downtown Garapan on their way to the U.S. labor office to dramatize their failure to immediately get fully paid.
According to Mr. Soll, the move was apparently a result of some “confusion” on what their future would be and the workers wanted to get better understanding of the situation.
He said the local Department of Labor and Immigration is willing to grant them temporary work permit to find jobs in other factories, adding DOLI should have someone at Eurotex to ask these workers whether they want to remain on the islands or return to China.
“I have that impression [they want to go back home] with full pay. What I told them was that they didn’t have the right to just come in and ask for their wages that would be guaranteed by the bonds,” Mr. Soll told reporters in an interview.
He said there will have to be an adjudication of the case, the respondents will have to appear in the bonding company or the employee will have access to court and appeal.
“It could take a long time. I want them to understand that they can’t just come in and ask for it. The whole process has to be resolved before they can see any money,” explained the AGO chief.
The workers are expecting payment of close to a million dollars which represent their wages that have not been given to them by the factory for the last three months.
The Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association has suspended Eurotex following reports of non-payment of wages.
