Business leader backs 3-year stay limit

Claiming that this is the only way to stave off federalization of minimum wage and immigration, Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Kerry M. Deets yesterday said she now favors the imposition of a three-year limit on the stay of non-resident workers.

In an apparent change of heart, Deets urged the Chamber members to reexamine their position so that they can help the CNMI government in making a decision on whether they would allow the Northern Marianas to be dependent on non-resident workers.

“We have a very important social decision to make. Are we going to focus on objecting a three-year limit locally because it saves us a few dollars or should we work on a long term goal by being more concerned with staving off a federal takeover,” said Deets.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has yet to act on the bill imposing a three-year limit on the residency of guest workers which was approved by the Legislature. The Chamber had severely criticized the proposed legislation saying it would result in the death of businesses which have been severely hit by Asia’s financial crisis.

If the Northern Marianas businessmen insist on taking the a short-term view of the problem, she said they might now get any support when they present their case in the U.S. Congress.

The recently held 902 negotiations bogged down after the federal government and the CNMI panel failed to reconcile their differences in addressing problems concerning local labor and immigration policies.

While he recognized the efforts made by CNMI government to carry out reforms, Edward B. Cohen, representative of U.S. President Clinton, lashed out at the labor abuses committed on guest workers on the island and their lack of mobility.

He also expressed concern on the growing number of guest workers who have stayed here for a long time and still cannot participate in the economic and political system of the Northern Marianas.

Since they are not convinced that CNMI officials can carry out labor and immigration reforms, Cohen said Washington will draft a new legislation that would put all these functions under a federal authority.

“If we are trying to follow the federal system, then the three-year-limit bill that has been introduced last year makes more sense,” Deets said. However, if the Chamber will try to design local initiatives that reflect the federal program, she said they have more chances of thwarting a federal takeover.

Said Deets: “So the membership has to decide which direction do we want to go? Also, the community-at-large has to make a decision on what kind of society do we want for the CNMI. Do we want a society that requires the use of guest worker program? And if so, how do we address the needs of the guest workers.”

She noted that the CNMI government can provide a permanent resident category for non-resident workers who choose to stay on the island for a long time and a different status for those who will stay here for a short period. For example, a guest worker who will stay here for only five years would fall in the short-term program.

“We are definitely at a crossroads right now. We need to take a look at the issue regardless of where we go from here. We will have to go through the needed transition period that will take us where we want our society to be 10 years from now. The question is do we move forward together under their (federal) direction or do we move on our own,” Deets said.