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‘Work hour cuts a go for government employees’
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Posted on Mar 06 2006
Government employees are urged to brace for hard times as Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has decided to proceed with implementing a work hour reduction.
The 32-hour workweek would affect all government employees who earn over $20,000 a year and who are not working at the five exempted agencies: the Department of Public Health, Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections, Public School System, and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
Press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said the work hour reduction would become effective “as soon as possible.” The Financial Relief Task Force was now drafting a specific plan to implement the eight-hour cut, he said.
“People need to brace themselves and plan their fiscal affairs accordingly. We appeal to the public’s patience, consideration and understanding. It’s something we need to do,” Reyes said.
He said the employees would be given appropriate notice when the reduction would become effective. “We just wanted to make sure that people are constantly aware of what is going on,” he said.
A government employee, in a letter to the Saipan Tribune, maintained that the work-hour reduction was “not fair.” The letter writer maintained that civil servants had sacrificed enough, having not received within-grade pay increases for the last five to six years.
He suggested that the government stop renting office space and use instead the vacant buildings on Capitol Hill and in Lower Miha. “Please find other ways to correct the economy without further hurting those who have not received their entitlements,” he said.
The proposed work hour reduction comes as part of the government’s efforts to cut costs.
The Fitial government has implemented austerity measures, freezing all travel and hiring, controlling government purchases and vehicle and office space leases.
Government-paid mobile phones were banned and all agencies were instructed to use a centralized telephone system and to reduce or cancel extra phone features.
The salaries of Cabinet members are also expected to be slashed by 10- to 20-percent.
The administration has revised the CNMI government’s revenue projection for fiscal year 2005, from $213 million to $198.5 million.
