Garment cap bill heads to Senate

A legislation limiting the size of foreign workers employed by the garment industry appears headed into a major showdown when it goes to the Senate for enactment this Thursday on the heels of strong lobbying against the proposal.

Senators yesterday began deliberating on the bill passed by the House of Representatives two weeks ago, but they have yet to reach an agreement on how to deal with the controversial issue.

Senate Floor leader Pete P. Reyes said he would push for the passage of House Bill 11-315 and drum up support from his colleagues as he reiterated the need to revive the local economy amid the serious financial shape of the island government.

“We are up to our neck and pretty soon the water will reach our nose and we will not be able to breathe,” he told reporters after the leadership meeting.

Reyes’ statement underlined what could be the focus of the argument — NMI’s faltering tourism industry due to the economic upheaval in Asia, its main source of tourists, and the continuous plunge of government revenues.

On the other hand, the garment industry, whose $800 million gross last year topped the half-a-billion dollar tourism business, has remained the only constant source of income for the commonwealth.

But the measure, which is seeking to impose a cap of 15,727 alien workers for all garment factories on the island, has drawn strong opposition from House Speaker Diego T. Benavente who failed to convince representatives to vote it down.

In an earlier letter to Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Benavente urged against passage of the legislation he considered betrayal of efforts to reform local immigration and labor policies amid increasing federal pressure.

He has argued that if it passes the legislature, the proposed law would allow hiring of additional 600 employees from abroad for the sector — a move that could send a devastating message to Washington.

“Senate members are discussing that this will not really affect our relationship with the U.S.,” Manglona said in an interview.

He added the bill is trying to address the problem on workers’ permit applications by licensed garment manufacturers pending long before the hiring ban took effect last April.

“The issue on the size of the particular industry is I think a local policy decision,” the Senate president explained. “The main concern in the Congress is control of immigration and so the legislature sees the need to put the cap. That’s what we need to be consistent.”

This will be the second attempt of local lawmakers to restrict operations of the garment sector on the island following the defeat of a proposed attrition measure reducing its size to about 10,000 guest workers.

“This is a controversial bill and each member is accountable for his action. If they don’t want to support this, so be it but we need to vote on this now,” Reyes said.