SGMA presents documentary to counter attacks vs. CNMI
Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association executive director Richard Pierce yesterday presented before the Saipan Chamber of Commerce the 19-minute video documentary that depicted the real conditions prevailing in the garment factories in the Northern Marianas.
Bishop Tomas Camacho, House Speaker Diego T. Benavente, Labor and Immigration Secretary Mark Zachares, Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Kerry M. Deets, Hyatt Regency Hotel general manager Mustafa Issa, David Burger, director of Burger & Comer, P.C., local resident managers and nonresident workers in the garment industry were featured in the documentary distributed to various media organizations in the U.S. mainland.
“We are very concerned that the American public until now has been getting only inaccurate representation of the real situations in Saipan just like what was presented in the 20/20 television program,” said Pierce.
It was not only meant to show the prevailing working conditions in the garment factories, Pierce said, but also provide an overview on the possible effects once the union and litigators become successful in destroying the garment industry, now the island’s biggest source of revenues.
Pierce has recently visited Seattle Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Gannet Wire Services, Women’s Wear Daily, San Antonio Express, Washington Times where he presented the documentary to the editorial boards. He intends to visit the media offices in the West Coast, mainly the California area this month.
The Western Pacific Economic Council has also expressed satisfaction on the video production because it could at least help counter the negative attacks on the CNMI.
WPEC is comprised of the Hotel Association of Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan Chamber of Commerce, CNMI Contractor’s Association, Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association and the Saipan Bankers Association.
SGMA has hired Curt Worden Group, a production company with offices in new York, Boston and Washington DC, to produce the video. It will also be used for consumers who want to see where and how their apparel and clothes are manufactured.
