Rep. Joseph Palacios (R-Saipan) is urging private sector employers to follow standard U.S. labor requirements amid speculations that companies amplify job qualifications to make U.S. workers unqualified.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom what I heard, some of them tend to exceed the qualifications. I hope that they don\u2019t forget that they are at U.S. soil and comply with U.S. standards. Don\u2019t try to create your own,\u201d Palacios said during Wednesday\u2019s job fair sponsored by the CNMI Department of Labor.<\/p>\n
According to Palacios, employers should hire U.S. workers \u201cif they\u2019re qualified.\u201d If not, private companies are encouraged to work with entities such as the Workforce Investment Agency, which allows remunerated training for potential employees, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they are seriously serious about hiring U.S. workers, then compromise. Work with the government, work with them to really show that you\u2019re making an effort,\u201d said Palacios, adding that these employers should take advantage of available programs.<\/p>\n
Northern Marianas Trades Institute counseling and outreach coordinator Ray Alvarez, Jr. said their school is primarily focused on providing skills training for \u201chard hat trades\u201d such as construction, plumbing, and welding so that U.S. workers can also apply for jobs in these industries.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertification is key right now,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
CNMI Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan echoed Palacios\u2019 sentiment on the need to start training U.S. workers as CNMI-only transitional workers \u201care going to be zeroed out eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is the time to invest in U.S. eligible workers,\u201d Sablan told Saipan Tribune. \u201cBring them in and train them because they\u2019ll be your most important resource.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sablan also reminded U.S. workers about the importance of work ethics. \u201cEmployers need their workers to come to work prepared, on time, and to actually work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palacios also questioned some of the companies that participate in government-arranged job fairs only to show their involvement yet do not actually have positions available for U.S. workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally feel that they\u2019re just here because they just want to show that they\u2019re participating. But are they hiring?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Palacios warned employers \u201cthat tend to circumvent the law\u201d and \u201cintentionally\u201d make U.S. workers unqualified for available jobs, saying that \u201cthey will get in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBe in compliance, follow the requirements, be honest and fair,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rep. Joseph Palacios (R-Saipan) is urging private sector employers to follow standard U.S. labor requirements amid speculations that companies amplify job qualifications to make U.S. workers unqualified.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}