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5-percent salary hike for CPA civil service employees
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Posted on May 17 2012
The Commonwealth Ports Authority board approved early this month a 5 percent, across-the-board salary increase for its employees.
The board, at its May 4 meeting, discussed the proposed salary hike in an executive session and unanimously approved the proposal when it reconvened the regular session.
CPA executive director Edward M. Deleon Guerrero disclosed that the motion to increase the salary was raised at the board’s Feb. 9 meeting. However, this was not included in the meeting agenda “so the motion couldn’t really be made public.”
When asked how many employees will benefit from the increase, Deleon Guerrero said, “Quite a big number.”
He noted that the date and funding source for the salary hike have yet to be identified.
He said Wednesday that the board instructed him and comptroller Derek T. Sasamoto to look into the agency’s finances and determine when the salary increase will be implemented.
Deleon Guerrero pointed out that the salary increase will be applied only “for those Civil Service employees who are eligible.”
“There’s no exact time yet as to when to implement it,” Deleon Guerrero told Saipan Tribune. “It will be up to me and the comptroller based on the analysis of our financial strength and then we can do the across-the-board salary increase.”
While CPA has yet to complete its financial analysis report, Deleon Guerrero said they are counting on the additional revenue that will be brought in by Saipan Air.
Saipan Air will be the first national carrier of the CNMI. It will launch its inaugural flight on July 1. The company, owned by Tan Holdings, will initially provide daily flights to Narita in Japan and four-times-a-week service to Beijing, China. By Aug. 1, it will offer additional daily flights to Osaka and thrice a week flights to Shenyang.
“We’re very hopeful that we will be able to do the salary increase but not at this time. We will make the determination as soon as we have the resources available to CPA,” added Deleon Guerrero.
In February, the board renewed the employment contracts of Deleon Guerrero and Sasamoto and raised their salaries by $5,000.
