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Labor holds hearings for La Mode workers
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Posted on Apr 28 2005
The Department of Labor conducted a hearing yesterday for over 300 former La Mode (Saipan) Inc. employees, mainly to confirm the estimated $340,000 that the garment company owes its workers.
One by one, the La Mode employees registered with the Labor Department, providing personal and contact information, as well as the amount of their wage claim. La Mode had estimated that the company owed the workers a total of $340,000.
Separate booths were set up for workers requesting authorization to transfer to new employers and for those wishing to return to their country of origin.
“The big question here is the amount of back wages owed. We have a list of the information as to how much they’re owed. We’re confirming that so we know if the records we have are accurate. If they disagree with that, then we will have a separate hearing to establish the final amount of wages that a person is owed,” said Kevin Lynch, assistant attorney general for the Labor Department.
Some of the workers are not owed anything while others are owed as much as 3 pay periods worth of wages, Lynch said.
The administrative hearing will continue today at the Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.
The department is expected to issue administrative orders today that establishes each worker’s back wages, right to transfer within a 45-day period, and or repatriation right.
Lynch said the order would also likely give La Mode 15 days to pay the workers’ back wages.
If the company fails to comply with the order, Labor will make the demand to the bonding companies—Premier Insurance Company and Oceania Insurance Corp.
