Where’s the beef?

More than two years and seven months after the U.S. District Court approved a $20-million settlement in the class action against garment companies, some workers who stand to benefit from the deal complained that they have yet to receive a penny, even as their days of stay in the CNMI may be numbered.

A group of workers formerly employed by Sako Corp., which was a party to the settlement, complained yesterday that they have been following up on their share in the proceeds of the settlement for more than two years but have not received any amount yet.

Of the $20 million settlement amount, only about $5.8 million is supposed to be expended as direct cash payments to the workers. With the high number of workers, each stands to receive less than $200.

One of the workers, Marlyn Yabut, said the last time she has spoken with Joyce Tang, one of the workers’ attorneys, about her share of the settlement amount was in September 2005.

“Tang said the date of disbursement of the funds remained uncertain, but the checks were being processed,” said Yabut, who claimed that she has been following up on the proceeds since 2003. The Saipan Tribune contacted Tang’s office on Guam, but a staff said the attorney was not in the office but would be there today.

A group of former Sako workers trooped to the Saipan Tribune’s offices yesterday to air their concerns. This was the same group that was represented by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a lawsuit against Sako that ended in a $1-million judgment in their favor. Despite this, they have also not received a penny of this amount as no asset of Sako has been garnished to satisfy the $1 million judgment.

Ex-Sako worker Emelita Maga-yaga, who is under pressure to find a job by Dec. 23 under a CNMI Department of Labor order, said their efforts—both in the EEOC suit and the class action suit—seemed to have become futile.

“We are expecting the settlement money because nothing happened with the EEOC action. We were expecting to get something, no matter how small the amounts are, but we are not getting anything,” Magayaga said.

She said she has not found a new employer since Sako did not renew her employment due to her national origin.

Another ex-Sako worker, Emma Escobar, said, “I still don’t have a job.”

The workers also expressed concern that they could not avail of food assistance from Karidat or the Attorney General’s Office anymore, now that the Labor Department have terminated all memoranda authorizing them to seek employers with the granting of a 45-day transfer relief that would expire after Dec. 23.

“We don’t expect to get any food assistance because the memoranda are needed as requirements, according to the Philippine consulate,” Magayaga said.

On April 23, 2003, Chief Judge Alex R. Munson approved the settlement and dismissed consolidated class actions against the garment firms, except for a complaint against Levi Strauss & Co. Tang had said then that 12 of the estimated 30,000 class members chose to exclude themselves from the settlement.

The combined settlement fund of nearly $20 million allots $500,000 as payment to the claims administrator of the distribution fund.

The settlement also provides for the creation of a repatriation fund for nonresident garment workers, which would be allotted some $400,000. Some $4 million would go to a monitoring fund to prevent the harm previously caused by the industry on the workers. Over $565,254.80 would go to a cy pres trust fund that would be administered by the non-profit Tides Foundation for the court action before the California Superior Court.

Garment Oversight Board chairman Timothy Bellas said only $380,000 in repatriation fund went to the board, which was tasked to conduct an oversight on settling companies to abide by the terms of the settlement. Bellas said the GOB has so far disbursed some $179,000 under the fund, which is being used to compensate workers under the Disappointed Expectation Fund.