Hiring of displaced workers approved

Garment manufacturers have been allowed to increase their cap by hiring displaced workers from the three factories that closed down since the beginning of this year.

Pursuant to the hiring moratorium law, each garment factory operating in the CNMI is given a maximum number of nonresident workers they are allowed to employ.

But in a June 9 letter to the garment manufacturers, acting Labor Secretary Dean O. Tenorio said the Department of Labor has reallocated the garment labor pool to allow companies to increase their nonresident worker allotment by employing workers from Sako Corp., Mariana Fashions Inc., and La Mode Inc.

“If a manufacturer requests additional workers and an increase in their cap, but is not hiring [temporary work authorization] workers or has an insufficient number of TWA workers to fulfill their workforce requirements, they may hire workers from Sako Corp., Mariana Fashions, and La Mode whom are on island in order to increase their cap,” said Tenorio.

Yesterday, Tenorio and other Labor officials met with representatives of 12 garment companies to discuss the procedures for hiring the displaced workers, who originally numbered approximately 1,000. About 200 of them have reportedly been repatriated.

The factories represented in the meeting were Sam Marianas Inc., Rifu Apparel Corp., Michigan Inc., Neo Fashion Inc., Onwel Garment Manufacturers, Jin Apparel Inc., Grace International Inc., Express Manufacturing Inc., Uno Moda Corp., Mirage Saipan Co. Ltd., Commonwealth Garment Manufacturing, and Marianas Garment Manufacturing.

Kevin Lynch, assistant attorney general for Labor, said the meeting was mainly informational and aimed to clarify the hiring procedures to the garment firms.

Lynch, who represented Labor at the meeting along with Tenorio and acting Labor director James Ulloa, said the garment factories seemed to be more interested in hiring workers on a TWA basis, rather than employing them under a one-year contract.

He noted that a TWA, which is valid for only up to 90 days, gives employers more flexibility than a full year contract.

In Tenorio’s letter to the garment companies, he said garment manufacturers, who have temporary workers from the three defunct firms, may submit applications to employ the workers on a permanent basis.

“In this particular case, the cap position goes with the worker and the employer’s nonresident worker allocation will be increased by the number of workers hired,” Tenorio said.