Managers,\u201d \u201caccountants,\u201d \u201cindustrial engineers,\u201d and \u201cteachers\u201d are being hired for the CNMI\u2019s minimum wage of $5.05 an hour, the same rate offered to \u201ccommercial cleaners\u201d and \u201cadministrative assistants\u201d despite stark differences in the nature of these jobs.<\/p>\n
Other employers impose requirements that don\u2019t seem to match the job or the salary offered\u2014they either inflate or deflate the qualifications. For example, \u201ccommercial cleaners\u201d are required to have at least 20 years experience.<\/p>\n
These are just examples of the thousands of job vacancies advertised in different media\u2014newspapers, television, radio, and online\u2014since September to comply with the law that employers must try to hire U.S. workers first before filling up these vacancies with foreign workers.<\/p>\n
Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan (Ind-MP) said yesterday that he has already spoken to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services representatives and \u201chave asked that they investigate any legitimate allegations of companies violating hiring preferences under U.S. law.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Fitial administration and other lawmakers claim that some employers are \u201cintentionally making it difficult\u201d for U.S. workers to be hired for jobs they could qualify.<\/p>\n
Rep. Tony Sablan (R-Saipan) and two other House members also pre-filed yesterday a resolution asking Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Delegate Sablan to request USCIS and the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office \u201cto look into reports of possible violations of U.S. Public Law 110-229 by CNMI employers.\u201d That law placed CNMI immigration under federal control.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome employers\u2026are inflating job qualifications with very low hourly wages. Some employers are implementing job interviewing processes intended to ensure that U.S. worker applicants are rejected,\u201d Rep. Sablan said in his House Resolution 17-75.<\/p>\n
Rep. Sablan, a former CNMI immigration director, will be introducing his resolution in today\u2019s House session. <\/p>\n
Delegate Sablan said that \u201chiring preference should not be used as a tool to harass law-abiding companies, but it is equally important that the letter and the spirit of the law be honored and that qualified United States workers be first considered for any job to be filled by a CW worker [Commonwealth-only worker].\u201d<\/p>\n
He said employers are going to need to attest to federal officials that no qualified U.S. workers are available to fill any position for which a CW worker is sought. <\/p>\n
\u201cSigning a fraudulent attestation or otherwise not complying with Public Law 110-229 could subject an employer to severe consequences. I expect that the appropriate authorities will work to enforce all applicable federal laws and regulations,\u201d Delegate Sablan told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
Press secretary Angel Demapan said the Fitial administration, through the CNMI Department of Labor, has already come out publicly to forewarn employers that they should not be \u201cinflating\u201d minimum qualifications in an attempt to prevent U.S. citizens from qualifying for available jobs.<\/p>\n
Demapan said the governor has yet to see Rep. Sablan\u2019s newly pre-filed resolution \u201cbut this is certainly a matter that he is concerned about.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe administration has been a strong advocate of job creation for U.S. citizens and will certainly look further into such questionable practices that are alleged to be taking place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rep. Fred Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan), in a separate interview, said employers who are circumventing local and federal laws should be dealt with.<\/p>\n
Deleon Guerrero, chair of the House Committee on Foreign and Federal Relations, said his office is also open to those who feel they have been a victim of unnecessary job qualifications imposed by employers. <\/p>\n
[B]\u2018Registration system\u2019[\/B]<\/p>\n
Rep. Sablan\u2019s resolution also asks the governor to order the CNMI Department of Labor to set up a registration system for U.S. citizens who have submitted job applications for available job positions advertised by CNMI employers.<\/p>\n
He said this information should be made available to USCIS \u201cto ensure that U.S. citizen job applicants are not unjustly denied employment opportunities\u201d in violation of the intent of P.L. 110-229.<\/p>\n
HR 17-75 says PL 110-229 intends to phase out nonresident employees and allow U.S. workers to fill skilled, professional, and other specialized positions within the CNMI.<\/p>\n
It says any employer found in violation of PL 110-229 \u201cshall be penalized to the fullest extent allowed by law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both the CNMI departments of Labor and Commerce recently held separate job fairs for U.S. workers, bringing together in one place all private employers needing new or additional workers so that U.S. workers can apply for these jobs. Hundreds participated in these job expositions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Managers,\u201d \u201caccountants,\u201d \u201cindustrial engineers,\u201d and \u201cteachers\u201d are being hired for the CNMI\u2019s minimum wage of $5.05 an hour, the same rate offered to \u201ccommercial cleaners\u201d and \u201cadministrative assistants\u201d despite stark differences in the nature of these jobs.<\/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-156535","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\/156535","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=156535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156535\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}