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Interior searching for Benedetto’s replacement
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Posted on Oct 28 2008
The federal government has begun searching for a successor to former labor ombudsman James Benedetto, who resigned last month.
The U.S. Department of the Interior is advertising the position on the federal government’s official jobs website, and will accept applications until next Friday, Nov. 7, 2008.
According to the job announcement, the DOI is looking for candidates who have “a strong background in managing an office and supervising others and extensive knowledge of labor, immigration, civil rights and or criminal law.”
Appointments to the position will be for two years, with possible extensions of up to a total of four years. The salary range is from $68,625 t $105,420 a year, plus a cost of living adjustment of up to 25 percent.
The position has been vacant since Sept. 15, 2008, when Benedetto resigned to join the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Commonwealth.
The U.S. Congress created the Federal Ombudsman’s Office in 1998 amid unfavorable news stories documenting labor and human rights abuses against alien workers in the CNMI. The office provides assistance to the Commonwealth’s approximately 20,000 nonresident workers with labor and immigration complaints. Specifically, it screens worker complaints to determine whether there may be violations of the CNMI and federal labor laws.
In 1999, attorney Pamela Brown was appointed to become the first federal ombudsman. Benedetto succeeded her in October 2002, and in November 2007, the Interior Department extended his contract for another three years.
