Alien workers keep their jobs

Over a hundred nonresident workers in some government offices, including those at the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., can now breathe a sigh of relief as the bills extending their employment for one year to five years were signed into law yesterday.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta signed Senate Bill 14-98 yesterday afternoon, which grants the Department of Public Health five years or up to Sept. 30, 2010 to hire non-U.S physicians and dentists and two years or up to Sept. 30, 2007 to hire other health professional workers.

It also allows the DPH to offer nonresident physicians and dentists a two-year contract initially and one-year term thereafter. Other nonresident workers will remain at one-year contract terms with DPH.

The measure also gives the Department of Commerce two years to hire nonresident professionals and the Department of Public Works one year or until Sept. 30, 2006.

Likewise, the measure also allows the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to keep its nonresident engineers and power plant mechanics for two more years.

The Senate bill, a revised version of House Bill 14-344, earlier took out CUC Saipan office from the exemption. The original Senate measure only gave a two-year extension to CUC Tinian and Rota to keep its nonresident workers. The bill was amended and passed at the House of Representatives Thursday afternoon to include the entire CUC.

Vice Speaker Timothy P. Villagomez offered the amendment during the session yesterday, which covers not only Tinian and Rota but also CUC Saipan.

Villagomez authored H.B. 14-344. The law grants the CUC authority to contract a staffing agency for power plant mechanics.

“In addition, CUC may contract manpower services for power plant mechanics. However, no contract may be entered into pursuant to this subsection that provides for the termination of the contract after Sept.30 2007,” part of the bill reads.

CUC, which has over 300 employees, currently employs 12 nonresident workers, most of whom are stationed at Power Plant Generation as engineers and mechanics.

DPH has over 130 nonresident workers while DPW and Commerce have a handful.

Had the bill not been signed yesterday, these workers would all have lost their jobs as a sunset provision in the laws allowing these agencies to hire nonresident workers stipulate that their contracts should end on Sept. 30, 2005.

The governor, in his transmittal letter to the Legislature yesterday, said he signed the bill into law despite some concerns “to ensure that critical public services are not interrupted.”

“I also note that I fully agree with the Legislature that the Commonwealth government must continue to develop a comprehensive education and training plan to replace all nonresident workers with local employees,” he said.

He said this will achieve the goal of providing more employment to the local workforce and reduce the Commonwealth’s reliance on nonresident workers.

Babauta noted that the new law, Public Law 14-91, retains the requirement that respective government agencies must obtain a certification from the Office of Personnel and Management that no resident professional is available to fill a position prior to entering any contract with a nonresident worker.

Meantime, the governor signed Thursday House Bill 14-329, which gives Northern Marianas College authority to hire nonresident staff for another five years. This bill became Public Law 14-89.

This measure aims to amend 3 CMC section 4434 to extend the hiring of nonresident workers at the college and to mandate a manpower training and educational plan.

It also mandates the college to compile and distribute lists of its graduates upon each graduation semester to government entities and interested businesses “to bridge the gap between NMC graduates and viable employment within the CNMI.”

NMC currently employs six nonresident workers: two Japanese language instructors, two nursing instructors, and two scientists for NMC- Cooperative Research Education and Extension Services.

In his transmittal letter to the Legislature, Babauta noted, though, that although he understands the need to provide sufficient information about students to NMC to monitor compliance with the law, “I ask that the Scholarship Office implement this provision in a manner that is in conformity with the students’ right to privacy as guaranteed by Article 1, section 10 of the NMI Constitution.”

He also agreed that NMC must continue to develop a comprehensive education and training plan, as mandated by Public Law 12-34, to replace all nonresident workers within the next five years.