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HANMI: Stay limit could dampen workers’ morale
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Posted on Mar 10 1999
The Hotel Association of Northern Mariana Islands has assailed the implementation of the three-year residency limit on non-resident workers despite the strong opposition of the business community.
Ron Sablan, president of HANMI, said members of the association are disappointed that the governor and members of our legislature ignored their concerns together with the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and other members of the business community.
“This is just one more damaging move for our business community during the worst possible economic times,” said Sablan.
In criticizing the implementation of the law, HANMI said it has always believed on the sound business philosophy which says an employer should reward and give incentives for — not punish — loyal, continuous length of service.
Although the measure was envisioned to encourage businesses to hire more local people, it however failed to infuse money for their education and training, Sablan said.
“I am worried about morale among our alien staffs. What this means is that within three years, we’ll end up with a lot more labor cases and a mass exodus of some of our best employees all at one time. The service level in the hotel industryt will go way down,” he added.
Hotel employees need to work 365 days a year and are required to have diverse skills from housekeepers to gardeners, waiters and waitresses to power plant technicians to name a few.
“I’m not convinced that our young people will be interested in these jobs as careers, no matter what we pay or how much training we offer,” said Sablan. “Rather than increasing the costs of doing business and further damaging the investment climate, it would be more effective for our government to create positive incentives for local hiring.”
Some 1,700 non-resident workers are employed in the hotel establishments that belong to HANMI. With the plunge of the tourism economy, occupancy rate of hotels in the CNMI declined by 50 percent.
In order to survive, small Korean-owned hotels have been offering rooms for as low as $40 just to stay open.
