Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC senior vice president of Public Affairs Tao Xing said they are extending the contract of some of their 260 workers under the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Program who want to stay. <\/p>\n
Xing said they hope that most of the CW workers will stay and then they will reopen the casino soon. <\/p>\n
Xing shared IPI\u2019s plans about their CW workers in response to Rep. Ivan Blanco\u2019s (R-Saipan) question during Tuesday\u2019s House of Representatives Gaming Committee\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n
Asked by Saipan Tribune yesterday how many of those 260 want to stay and will be renewed, Xing he can\u2019t tell as it\u2019s an ongoing process and that anyone can inform IPI about their future plans.<\/p>\n
At a recent Commonwealth Casino Commission meeting, IPI Human Resources director Redie Dela Cruz said she can safely say that, of their 260 CW workers, about 95% of them are on furlough status.<\/p>\n
At Tuesday\u2019s House meeting, Xing said they\u2019re still trying to figure out what would be the best time for them to reopen. \u201cRight now we\u2019re under the requirement of the government to close the casino,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The IPI official said the 260 CW employees fall into three categories: the ones who volunteered to leave or resign, ones that want to finish the full term of their contracts but are leaving, and the ones who want to stay.<\/p>\n
For the first category or for those who volunteered to leave or resign, Xing said that three-fourth of their salaries is guaranteed and will be paid before they leave at the end of September 2020. <\/p>\n
For those who want to go through the full term and leave around the end of September 2020 and don\u2019t want their contracts to be extended, Xing said that IPI will pay them right after the end of September or by the start of October. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll schedule the payment and we\u2019ll pay for their repatriation cost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For the last category or those who want to stay, Xing said at this point they\u2019re extending everybody\u2019s CW contract.<\/p>\n
He said they will pay them at the end of their current CW cycle. Xing said hopefully they will get the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services\u2019 approval of their extension. \u201cAnd hopefully, by the end of this year or early next year, we\u2019ll open the casino,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Xing earlier clarified to Saipan Tribune that it\u2019s a legal requirement to pay three-fourths of the CW contract no matter what. \u201cWhether we extend their CW or not, we need to pay the three-fourths for this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said if they extend CWs and don\u2019t open soon, it will be a burden for the company to pay the three-fourths next year. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe new three-fourths will start on Oct. 1. So the later we open, the bigger the burden. Regardless, the three-fourth rule [is applicable] to both this year and next year,\u201d Xing said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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