Workers cap should be all inclusive: Solon

If the CNMI government agrees to lift the ban on hiring foreign manpower, it should cap the number of workers who can be employed in all industries operating on the island, according to a legislator.

Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez said a proposed cap on the local garment industry should be extended to other sectors, including tourism and construction, to control the size of the alien worker population.

“Personally, if we have to do something on (the nonresident workers), we can lift the moratorium up to a point where we cap the number,” he told in an interview.

The restrictions could be applied on each industry, not just the garment factories as proposed under a pending bill that seeks to put in place a quota on their work force, according to Villagomez.

Likewise, Senate Floor leader Pete P. Reyes also expressed support on the lifting of the hiring ban, but agreed that capping the number of nonresident workers will help address concerns on local labor and immigration.

“If the government is going to be responsible and focus on the state of our economy, the most prudent thing to do is to lift the moratorium and let the free enterprise system work,” he said.

Reyes, however, stressed that restricting the number of alien workers should not impede potential expansion of each industry as the island needs to sustain economic growth.

He maintained the proposed garment cap could work out once the hiring by factories of those illegal workers seeking the current immunity offer of the government has been completed.

“There should be a mechanism to allow them to increase their workforce because they will absorb (these amnesty-seekers,” Reyes pointed out.

Under a proposed measure passed by the House of Representatives, the government will cap the number of alien workers employed in the garment industry at 15,727 — a level opposed by some leaders who have considered it an addition, rather than reduction, of its current size.

The bill is pending in the Senate following uproar on the proposal which was recommended by a special legislative committee on garment tasked to draw up the plan with leaders of the sector.

Meanwhile, Reyes took exception to an appeal made by some garment manufacturers to exempt them from the proposed cap, saying the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association do not support the idea.

“This kind of statement is not an accurate representation of their position,” he explained, warning that this “grossly unfair information” may draw ire of the federal government critical of the local labor and immigration situation.

“This is the kind of things where careful review should be made and extra efforts should be considered,” Reyes said.