Diego: Labor Act still being ironed out

Acting Gov. Diego T. Benavente is optimistic that tension surrounding the proposed Alien Workers Act of 2004 would soon dissipate as efforts are being done to encourage the exchange of ideas to improve the measure.

Benavente said that, through deliberations, the Legislature would get information and recommendations that would correct the negative impacts the measure created after the public hearing by the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism chaired by Rep. Ray Yumul.

The acting governor said the issue was not discussed during the ceremony held Tuesday morning at the POLO Resource Center in Nauru for the CNMI-RP Friendship Week proclamation signing.

“It was not discussed but I hope that things would get better because these deliberations would improve the legislation,” said Benavente, who stressed the need to recognize the significant contribution of the Philippines to the CNMI’s skilled workforce.

During Tuesday’s ceremony, Philippine Consul General Wilfredo Maximo said the proclamation signing was a reaffirmation of friendship between the two governments, strengthened by shared culture and traditions. Also present during the ceremony were Special Assistant for Administration Tom Tebuteb, Special Assistant for Special Projects Galvin Guerrero, and members of various Filipino organizations on Saipan.

The proposed measure, House Bill 14-142, or the Alien Workers Act of 2004, seeks to amend an existing law to provide stricter enforcement, control and regulation of alien workers by developing labor policies based on reliable data collected.

Also, the proposal aims to require resident workers to be at least 10 percent of every employers’ management, supervisory, and non-supervisory workforce, which will be increased at least 2 percent annually. The move aims to control the issuance of temporary work permits and to increase job referral services provided to residents.

The bill hopes to:

* prohibit the transfer of alien workers from one employer to another;

* to repatriate nonresident workers to the point of hire each time their contracts are up, regardless if the employer wants to renew a worker’s contract or not.

* to prohibit the alien worker from working for more than one employer;

* to lift the moratorium on the hiring of alien workers except in the garment industry;

* to prohibit the transfer of an alien worker from one employer to another at any time.

* upon termination, non-renewal, or expiration of the employment contract, the alien worker shall exit the CNMI.

A task force is currently being established to conduct an impact study on the proposed measure. The detailed fiscal impact study will look into the effects of the proposed measure. Also, the task force would review other comments on the bill submitted by different agencies.