Senate tries cure-all bill for garment woes

The Senate will likely introduce at least two new legislation to replace pending proposal which seeks to limit foreign work force of the local garment industry following failure to agree on its size, lawmakers said.

Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez is drafting his version of the proposed measure to address fears by some CNMI leaders that the initial bill, which will impose a cap of 15,727 guest employees, will open up the industry to allow entry of more factory workers from abroad.

The move comes on the heels of another proposal from Senate Floor leader Pete P. Reyes which will address concerns by the governor on alleged additional hiring of 600 employees on top of the current size of the garment sector.

With the two forthcoming Senate measures, House Bill 11-315 may be junked by senators and vote on any of the new proposal. “That bill won’t go anymore,” Villagomez told in an interview yesterday.

He said his proposal will include provisions dealing with pending applications for work permits by three garment firms which have been issued license by the CNMI government before the current moratorium took effect in 1996.

But it will also respond to what could be a violation of the Garment Moratorium Act when companies absorbed the employees of another firm in a buy out of its licensed operations, according to Villagomez.

Passed by the House of Representatives last month, HB 11-315 has drawn opposition mainly from Speaker Diego T. Benavente who has slammed the measure as another attempt to increase the size of the garment sector despite mounting federal pressure on local labor and immigration policies.

But House members have defended the move in view of the worsening economic crisis in the Northern Marianas. The tourism industry, the lifeblood of the island economy, has plunged in the last few months due to the year-long financial turmoil in Asia.

Reyes earlier had lashed out at the critics of the initial measure for raising fears of continued influx of mostly Asian workers here, saying that it is trying to account for the errors committed by the previous administration.

He said that his bill will incorporate Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio’s concerns and provide leeway to garment firms which will hire alien workers who have sought the current immunity offer of the government.

“By allowing the factories to tap into the available labor pool opened by the amnesty, a law will have to allow them to increase its size so long as the additional workers are those from seeking immunity,” Reyes pointed out.

Members of the legislature met last week with Tenorio to work out a compromise on the number of garment workers, but no consensus had been reached, according to lawmakers.