Taotao Tano's statement on Public Law 15-108

Letters to the Editor Friday, December 07, 2007

Finally, after months of aggressive advocating concerning the treatment of our people regarding priority in employment, we were finally heard. Public 15-108, a law that we supported since the day it was first introduced till the day it was passed and signed into law, has now become a reality. For years both local business community, non-business locals and nonresidents alike have availed themselves of the benefits of our labor and immigration loopholes and flaws. This law will correct all the problems that have plagued our island for years. If any of you recall, I addressed the issue of fairness in compensation and the closing of our vocational training at Northern Marianas College and why Public Law 9-71 was shelved before the Congressional Legislative Field Hearing chaired by U.S. Congresswoman Donna Christensen on Aug. 15, 2007. Today we have achieved what we aggressively fought for and the legislative body heard all of us Taotao Tano. Let me explain the contents of Public Law 15-108 and its benefits. The new labor law is an important issue that affects you! The Legislature passed PL 15-108, a good law aimed at full employment of citizens here in the Commonwealth. That is the Legislature's first responsibility: to take care of us, the citizens of the Commonwealth. Now we need to support what the Legislature has done for us. Foreign workers are marching against the law. They are interested in protecting their jobs. The new law aims to put a citizen in every good job now held by a foreign worker. Foreign workers who are replaced by citizens might have to go home. That is the heart of this dispute and these demonstrations. The Taotao Tano organization supports full employment for citizens. It should be one of our primary goals as people of the Commonwealth so that we can have a successful economy. This is what the new law does for us. First, it puts teeth in the requirement of 20 percent citizen employment. Every employer who has 10 or more employees must comply with the 20 percent requirement, and this requirement goes up to 30 percent in five years. Second, it gives the Secretary of Labor power to require every employer, no matter how small, to employ at least one citizen. This means the barriers will fall, and the Labor Department is now better equipped to push for citizen employment.Third, it provides citizens with a new way of helping enforce the law. We can now complain to the Labor Department if an employer refuses to hire a qualified citizen and hires a foreign worker instead. Now we can use the Labor Department hearing officers to hear our grievances just like the foreign workers can. This levels the playing field. Fourth, it requires employers who have foreign workers in good jobs to provide a manpower plan explaining how they will train citizens for these jobs. Employers have to work with WIA, and the College, and SWAT, and others who are trying so hard to get citizens employed in good jobs.Fifth, and very important, it requires all foreign workers to go home once every three years. You've heard a lot of argument about this provision, but it is perfectly sound. The United States imposes a similar requirement, but they make foreign workers go home for a year. This exit requirement will give our local people a chance at jobs that they never could hope to gain because these jobs are always occupied by foreign workers. When these foreign workers go home for a periodic exit, our citizens can apply for these jobs. They will be backed by WIA and other organizations sponsoring training for us. The Public Auditor's report points out how important it is for citizens to have access to these good jobs now held by foreign workers. Some of these jobs pay $10 an hour and more.The lawyers who make a living from fees paid by foreign workers are telling you that the law is somehow wrong and that we are racists for supporting it. Don't believe them. The Legislature studied this law for over a year. Cinta Kaipat, who pushed for this law, is a lawyer. Businesses in the Commonwealth had their lawyers look it over carefully. The lawyers for foreign workers talk about constitutional violations, but those are all a matter of how the law is carried out. We have some good people at the Labor Department now, and they will implement the law correctly. If they make mistakes, there's always an appeal to correct mistakes. The Legislature has passed this law to help us. It is now our responsibility to speak up and support what they did. We will benefit from it only if we make sure it is carried out and enforced. Taotao Tano is urging that when there is a reduction in force, the regulations require that foreign workers be laid off first and citizens be laid off last. We have other ideas to protect citizens within the good framework of this new law. All of us should help make the promise of this new law come true.
Gregorio CruzPresident, Taotao Tano CNMI Inc.