Keep manpower firms

“I don’t know why it still continues,” said Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes. “I have often wondered why nurses from manpower services are not suing the government for unequal salary.”

Senator Reyes, a well known friend of the Filipino contract worker, is apparently quite dismayed by the government’s policy of employing manpower services. Evidently, he just can’t seem to understand why our local government insists on reducing its operational costs by employing temporary manpower firms for its professional service requirements.

The answer is really rather simple: to save the local taxpayers some money, good senators. At a time of dwindling government resources, our senators should be looking out for the interests of their employers: the voting local taxpayers who elected them in the first place. Our local senators certainly should not be encouraging nonresident workers to file baseless lawsuits against our cash-strapped local government.

After all, let’s not forget that hotel occupancy rates are currently at an all-time low. Hotel room tax collections are down–sharply. Even the once thriving local garment industry, which sustained us during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998, is suffering from significant export declines.

Indeed, some might even wonder: Exactly who does Senator Reyes represent in the first place? The FICA/Social Security tax exempted Filipino contract worker employed by a local manpower firm? Or the CNMI voter and taxpayer forced to pay US “Social Security” taxes?

Make no mistake about it: The CNMI manpower nurse has no legal case against the CNMI government. If they did, hundreds of unscrupulous, ambulance-chasing attorneys would already be handling their cases in court.

The temporary employment agency is nothing new, and it is perfectly legal. It is widely employed by prominent corporations in the United States. Private American companies save huge sums of money by hiring temporary employment agencies in the states. It is called subcontracting. Private companies do not always have to hire permanent workers.

Why should the CNMI government take Senator Reyes’ advice and increase its labor costs?

The manpower agency arrangement is a win-win situation for all involved parties. The government reduces its labor costs and alleviates the burden on its taxpayers. The contract worker makes much more than he or she could ever make back in their own home countries ($1 = 47 RP Pesos). And the local manpower agency is able to run a business, contribute to the economy, and pay taxes.