Help offered to find ex-Eurotex workers

Federal Ombudsman James Benedetto has offered his assistance to the Garment Oversight Board and the Office of the U.S. Trustee in locating nearly 300 former workers of the bankrupt garment manufacturer Eurotex (Saipan) Inc. who are owed money by the company and entitled to share close to $100,000.

Benedetto said he has already informed GOB chair Timothy H. Bellas and Office of the US Trustee Region 15 bankruptcy analyst Anson T. Okimoto that he could be able to assist them in locating these workers.

Benedetto disclosed that he has two lists that contained much of the contact information of these workers. He said the Ombudsman’s Office assisted these ex-Eurotex workers when the factory in San Vicente closed in 2000.

Former Attorney General Pamela Brown, who was the first federal ombudsman, had the foresight to collect contact information from each of these workers, including their mailing addresses and telephone numbers in the People’s Republic of China, Benedetto said.

Benedetto e-mailed Bellas and Okimoto their two lists that contained over 340 workers. He explained that he included the second list because it contains names that are not on the first list.

“It is my hope that all the workers you seek will have current information on one of the two lists,” the federal ombudsman said.

Yesterday, the Honolulu-based Okimoto expressed appreciation to Benedetto for his help.

“We hope to use your information to pay the former employees any unpaid wages for the 90 days prior to bankruptcy,” said Okimoto in his e-mail to Benedetto.

Benedetto said the workers may also contact his office at tel. no. (670) 322-8036 and fax no. (670) 322-8040.

On Wednesday, Bellas disclosed that the United States Trustee contacted him to assist them in locating about 300 former Eurotex workers.

“There is a certain amount of money, which is not a huge amount, but it is almost $100,000. And they [Trustee] are having trouble locating the workers and they actually have the money and they want to pay the money out to the workers,” Bellas said.

In 2000, Chinese workers of Eurotex staged protest marches from their factory in San Vicente to the U.S. Labor’s office in Garapan to demand payment of wages that had not been given them for three months.

On Oct. 20, 2000, Eurotex filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. District Court for the NMI. In September 2000, U.S. labor officials disbursed partial payment of back wages to 300 factory workers of Eurotex amounting to $600,000.

The settlement was made after some of the buyers and retailers of the factory reportedly sent money to ensure the continued shipment of goods.

At that time, negotiations were still ongoing and that labor officials were still trying to obtain the whole payment in the amount of $900,000 for payment to the workers.

In October 2000, the Department of Labor granted all nonresident workers of Eurotex permit to transfer to seek permanent employers.