Private translators behind ‘copycat’ complaints

Some private translators are responsible for the “copycat” complaints being filed by hundreds of workers with the Department of Labor, federal ombudsman Jim Benedetto said.

According to Benedetto, these private translators charge as much as $300 to file a frivolous complaint on behalf of a worker and to get him or her a temporary work authorization.

The filing of complaints is a way for some nonresident employees to “work the system,” Benedetto explained. By alleging minor violations against their employer, the workers are able to take advantage of the lengthy adjudication process at the Labor Department and work under a TWA that is renewed every 90 days until their case has been decided.

A typical “copycat” complaint accuses employers of being mean, serving cold food, or providing a lumpy bed, among other things.

“Some workers find this desirable because it is easy for them to transfer to employers who are paying overtime, or to leave factories where the conditions are less than desirable,” Benedetto said.

But while he stressed that some of the complaints could be serious violations, the problem that leads the Labor Department to believe that they are not sincere complaints is the fact that hundreds of workers file exactly the same complaint at a few days interval.

“Once the first person comes in and says, ‘My food had a fly on it one time and my bunk is lumpy,’ and that person gets a [TWA], the next day there are 30 people there having the exact same complaint,” Benedetto said. “Obviously, not everybody had that same problem. I think Labor is targeting certain private translators who are basically xeroxing the same complaint, so they can get memos.”

Earlier, Labor hearing officer Linn H. Asper denied the request of a nonresident worker for transfer relief and an award of unpaid wages.

In her complaint, Wang Qing Yun said her work was too stressful due to a high quota; she said she had to work 15 minutes a day without pay and that her supervisors yelled at her.

She also maintained that the food and living quarters provided by the company she was working for were of poor quality, and that she had to pay a large recruitment fee that she has not yet recouped on Saipan.

Asper noted that Wang’s complaint was identical to hundreds of other complaints filed by nonresident garment workers with the assistance of an agent/interpreter named Leung Kuan.

“It appears to [me] that the employee has been exploited by agent/interpreter Leung,” Asper said.

No translators

According to Benedetto, the Labor Department should hire its own translators to help avoid cases like these from taking place.

Nonresident workers currently rely solely on the translator services available at the Federal Ombudsman’s Office, as the department has no translators on board right now.

Last year, Labor Secretary Joaquin Tenorio issued a public notice telling workers that they do not need to hire a translator to obtain a TWA.

“If you need assistance in filing a complaint, advise the Labor staff that you need assistance. A translator will be provided free of charge. The CNMI Department of Labor does not charge a fee for a memorandum or TWA. There is a small fee ($20) for filing a complaint, which can waived for indigent persons,” Tenorio said.

“People can get advice at the ombudsman’s office. It’s free,” Benedetto said. “But if they come and say, ‘My oatmeal is cold and my mattress is lumpy,’ we would tell them it’s not a violation of their contract or the Nonresident Workers Act. We’re not going to help people file a complaint like that.”

Recruitment fees

Still, the federal ombudsman qualified that alien workers filing such complaints are “a small minority.”

Benedetto noted that many others, particularly Chinese workers, prefer not to “rock the boat” while working on island for fear that they might lose their jobs and have to return to their country.

The main reason for this, he added, is the exorbitant fees that recruiters in China charge the workers.

According to Benedetto, there are regulations on mainland China that allow recruiters to collect 12.5 percent of the contract amount from a Chinese worker that’s coming to the CNMI.

This “general fee” comes on top of a deposit of 20 percent of the contract amount that is collected and supposedly refundable if a worker successfully completes his or her contract. There are also separate fees for passport, health clearance and criminal history, as well as the cost of transportation that is paid in advance.

“All of these exceed 50 percent of the contract amount, and ensure that most workers will not rock the boat when they come to the CNMI… because they know that if they file a complaint, they’re not going to be able to repay the people that their family borrowed money from to get them here,” Benedetto said.