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Senate eyes broader lifting of moratorium’s coverage
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Posted on Feb 03 2005
The Senate intends to broaden the coverage of the proposed partial lifting of the moratorium law for nonresident workers, supposedly addressing not only the concerns of the garment industry but the entire private sector in the Commonwealth.
House Bill 14-282, authored by Rep. Oscar M. Babauta, which originally wanted to allow garment companies to hire certain workers to help them compete globally amid the worldwide lifting of quota restriction, has been amended at the Senate and is now tentatively titled, “To amend and reform the Commonwealth Code relating to the private sector nonresident employment contracts.”
Senate legal counsel Michael Ernest confirmed yesterday that senators have moved to amend the original bill.
In particular, he said the Senate version offers to reduce the proposed increase “of not more than 50 percent above the [garment sector’s] moratorium on foreign workers.”
“The Senate version is nowhere near that. It’s much lesser,” Ernest said, but he declined to specify, saying that the bill continues to be amended on daily basis.
Besides, he said, the issue on raised cap “is a small portion of the bill.”
“It makes amendment to the whole nonresident workers thing, not just the garment [sector],” he said.
He said the Senate substitute bill would be “a little of everything for everyone,” meaning workers, garment manufacturers, small businesses, “and the Labor Department would benefit from it.”
He said senators have been involved in the proposed amendment in their efforts “to do what is right and what is fair.”
He said the substitute bill would address the various concerns by employers and employees alike—from hiring and replacing of workers to runaway workers, and delayed processing of documents at the Department of Labor.
He said the bill would be ready for Senate action in the next session set on Feb. 16.
Babauta’s original bill aims to allow the local garment industry to hire more workers, specifically, cutters, sewers, trimmers, and pressers.
Under the moratorium law, the CNMI apparel industry is only allowed to keep 15,727 nonresident workers.
