‘No money, no passport, no work’

MCC International workers protest with signs while chanting “MCC pay us!” The workers have refused to work for two weeks and demand to be paid their wages from February to April before being sent home at the expense of MCC. (Erwin Encinares)

About 50 MCC International construction workers broke into protest last Friday over alleged unpaid wages of up to three months.

The contractor of Imperial Pacific International’s casino project in Garapan has allegedly failed to give their construction workers wages of up to three months, leaving them with no money to use for their everyday necessities.

According to a protester, they have been on Saipan working for MCC since January 2017 and since then have yet to receive their wages. Another protester claimed he first paid an amount of $5,000 to an agent in China. He said the same agent failed to educate the workers on proper employment procedures in the CNMI.

Another protester claimed they were promised $1,742 (¥12,000) monthly, only to be disappointed with a monthly salary of $1,016 (¥7,000).

Most of the protesters have already stopped working for two weeks.

During the protest, a letter in Chinese was handed to CNMI Labor Secretary Edith DeLeon Guerrero, demanding that MCC return the workers’ down payment of $5,000, the workers’ full payment of their unpaid wages, and for the purchase of a return ticket to go back to their home country.

The protest was held right next to the ongoing construction site. Protesters were yelling, “MCC! Pay us!”

According to the protestors, about 191 workers are affected.

When protesters were asked whether they had any sort of interaction with MCC project manager Yuqing Zhao, who was arrested by federal authorities last April 3, the protesters declined to comment. Zhao and MCC electrician Pei Ruan were charged with unlawful employment of aliens and bringing in and harboring certain aliens.

Local gears rotate

DeLeon Guerrero, one of several government officials present during the protest, told a translator for DFS T Galleria, courtesy of T Galleria president Marian Aldan-Pierce, that CNMI Labor would make sure to get every one of the workers’ wages.

“We will make sure to calculate your unpaid wages and we will make sure you get paid every penny you worked for,” assured DeLeon Guerrero to the group through the translator.

DeLeon Guerrero collected the names of each protester.

“What we gathered from the interpreter is that the protesters wanted to take back their passports and go home. Another of their concerns is that they have been working in the CNMI as tourists and have been unpaid for more than three months,” she said.

DeLeon Guerrero even added that MCC’s provided lodging for the workers are “non-conducive for living, which is our primary concern.”

According to DeLeon Guerrero, she would be reaching out to both government entities and non-profit organizations to provide assistance.

“My primary concern is to address the serious issue of unpaid wages, food concerns, lodging concerns, and the fact that they all came in as tourists without a valid work visa—obviously that is not something appropriate to do here in the CNMI—and for the workers to reclaim possession of their passports,” she said.

Rep. Ed Propst (Ind-Saipan) was also present and gave out bread to the protesters after finding out that they did not have enough money to fund for their own necessities.

“No money, no passport, no work,” said Propst, referring to what the protesters told him as he passed by the area.

“I am deeply concerned,” he added. “There were numerous complaints about illegal activity going on—they were all ignored and that it was out of our jurisdiction. How so? We have the Department of Labor and we have an administration. We have to wait, as usual, for the federal authority to intervene. I asked for an oversight hearing to investigate the accidental death of a worker and what happened? I got rejected by [House Speaker Ralph Demapan (R-Saipan)].”

“This is deplorable, shameful,” he added.

MCC legal counsel speaks up

MCC legal counsel Mark Scoggins believes that workers are concerned about the timing to which they would receive their payments. According to Scoggins, MCC has been in touch with the U.S. Department of Labor.

“My office has been in close contact with the USDOL in California and Hawaii. One of those two offices—I am not sure which—sent one of those attorneys here. We talked to him on the phone and we haven’t actually met him yet, but we will,” he said.

Scoggins believes the workers are primarily concerned about the timing of their wages. According to Scoggins, his office has reached an agreement in principle with USDOL that “the workers are going to be paid and that they are going to be given a ride home.”

“Right now, it is our belief that they are going to wait a while before they get paid, but we are working… so we can get them paid on a more expedited basis,” he said.

Scoggins mentioned that an attempt to work out the wage issues of the workers with Bank of Guam was for naught due to the fact that it was Good Friday.

“We would be talking to them over the next couple of days to make this happen,” he said. “It’s partly going to be a matter of what the banks’ capabilities are, but we are working to get that addressed in the next few days.”

“At this moment, we are waiting for a representative from the U.S. Dept. of Labor because I believe that the workers a little skeptical about what our people have to say,” said Scoggins without clarifying what “our people” was pertaining to.

When asked about the issue of MCC withholding workers’ passports, Scoggins replied, “I am not going to address questions on that type of thing. Right now, we are working on getting them paid and getting them home.”

IPI: We are not complicit

In a statement released the same day, Imperial Pacific International stated that, “it does not condone the hiring and or employment of individuals by illegal means.” IPI also clarified that MCC is a separate entity from IPI and that MCC is merely the construction firm hired by IPI to construct the Imperial Pacific Resort.

“IPI is emphatic in its request to all of its contractors and subcontractors to follow all local and federal labor and immigration laws and regulations in the conduct of its business, including and in particular, the hiring of construction workers,” wrote IPI in a statement regarding the protest.

“Imperial Pacific International also implores all of its contractors and subcontractors to faithfully follow and fulfill its contractual commitments and obligations to its workers and Imperial Pacific International, and resolve all labor issues appropriately.”