CUC Saipan gets brief reprieve

The nonresident engineers and power plant mechanics at the Saipan branch of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. are being allowed to keep their jobs for two more years, based on the amendments made by the House of Representatives on a bill yesterday.

The House amended and passed Senate Bill 14-98 yesterday to include CUC Saipan among the government agencies that were allowed to continue hiring nonresident workers. Other agencies that were granted the authority to do so were the departments of Public Health, Public Works, and Commerce.

The Senate bill initially excluded CUC Saipan. With the insertion of the amendments, the bill now goes back to the Senate for similar adoption.

Vice Speaker Timothy P. Villagomez offered the amendment during the session yesterday, extending the exemption not only to Tinian and Rota but also to CUC Saipan.

“It covers everything now,” said Villagomez.

The amended bill provides that the exemption will be granted to “CUC engineers” for two more years. At the same time, the amended bill grants the CUC authority to contract a staffing agency for power plant mechanics.

“In addition, CUC may contract manpower services for power plant mechanics. However, no contract may be entered into pursuant to this subsection that provides for the termination of the contract after Sept. 30 2007,” part of the bill reads.

The Senate is believed to hold an emergency session today, most likely on Rota, to pass the bill and other urgent measures.

The governor has only until today to act on the Legislature-approved bills.

Under the existing law, government agencies with nonresident workers are only allowed up to today to hire nonresident workers.

Officials from affected agencies, including CUC officials led by executive director Lorraine A. Babauta and DPH Secretary James U. Hofschneider, attended the House session yesterday.

Board of Education and Public School System officials also attended the session to lobby for their $50 million budget. In the end, the House passed the PSS bill, which now gives them a higher funding of $54 million.

CUC’s Babauta said yesterday that there are 12 nonresident workers at the utility firm. Saipan has an accounting officer (1), information technology analyst (1), engineers (3), trades technician (3) including one for CUC’s Geological Survey Well Drilling section and two for power generation as power plant mechanics; the rest are hired by a staffing agency working for the power plant.

CUC Rota has two nonresident plant mechanics. The nonresidents, according to Babauta, provide on-the-job training to resident workers.

S.B. 14-98 aims to grant the DPH five years or up to Sept. 30, 2010 to hire nonresident physicians and dentists and two years or up to Sept. 30, 2007 to hire other health professional workers.

It also allows the DPH to offer nonresident physicians and dentists a two-year contract initially and one-year term thereafter. Other nonresident workers would remain at one-year contract terms at DPH.

The Senate bill gives the Department of Commerce two years and Department of Public Works one year or Sept. 30, 2006.