Pula: Prevailing wage study key to NMI economic recovery

No less than the director of Office of Insular Affairs acknowledged the importance of conducting a prevailing wage survey in the CNMI.

In his testimony at a House subcommittee hearing on the Public Law 111-229, OIA director Nikolao I Pula Jr. said a prevailing wage study is another important project stakeholders of the Forum of Economic and Labor Development identified during their conference last year.

“A prevailing wage rate is required as part of the procedure for obtaining a foreign labor certification from United States Department of Labor prior to applying for an H nonimmigrant or employment-based permanent immigration status for an alien employee,” he told the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs early Friday morning on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C.

He said OIA assistant secretary Tony Babauta has held several discussions with Gov. Benigno R. Fitial on how to best address the need for such a prevailing wage survey.

“The assistant secretary and the governor agree that the survey is vital for the CNMI economy’s recovery and growth. Both also agree that delay in completing the survey is detrimental to the business community as well as to the efficient implementation of federal administration of immigration in the CNMI. Governor Fitial has submitted a request for funding such a project to the United States Department of Labor and is awaiting its determination,” said Pula.

In the meantime, Pula said that preparations are underway both in the government and private sector to undertake the survey with a targeted completion date of September this year.

Currently, Pula said, due to the lack of such a prevailing wage rate in the CNMI, the Department of Labor requires employers to compensate alien employees at the nearest market rate in which the occupational category is utilized.

“In the CNMI’s case, this is usually the Guam prevailing wage rate, which is much higher than the wage rate currently paid by most CNMI employers for any worker, alien or otherwise,” he said.

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan, meanwhile, said that while he would like U.S. citizens to be employed to the “greatest degree possible and on the best terms that the CNMI economy will allow,” he does acknowledge that importance of a prevailing wage survey to companies that want to obtain an employment-based visa for foreign workers.

“The requirement to pay prevailing wages as a minimum is true of most employment-based visa programs involving the U.S. Department of Labor. In addition, the H1B, H1B1, and E3 programs require the employer to pay the prevailing wage or the actual wage paid by the employer to workers with similar skills and qualifications, whichever is higher,” said Sablan.

He said these requirements are meant to ensure that that the hiring of a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers comparably employed.

“The new CNMI-only transitional worker rule has not yet been published, but we do know that the previous interim final rule concerning CW workers published on Oct. 27, 2009 did not contain a prevailing wage determination requirement,” he said.