Kaipat: New Law Will Improve Labor System

CNMI News

Thursday February 28, 2008

Kaipat: New law will improve labor system

By Raquel C. Bagnol
Variety News Staff

THE islands’ economic hard times were among the considerations behind the enactment of Public Law 15-108, according to Deputy Labor Secretary Cinta M. Kaipat.

Some businesses believe that the law will make things more difficult for companies to survive the CNMI’s economic slump.

During yesterday’s meeting with legislators, Kaipat said the law aims to make the labor system more efficient.

“We know we were in for prolonged economic hard times, and there was nobody who can lend us money to bail us out of the depression, hence we (want) to lower costs for businesses and speed up the process so citizens can take advantage of job opportunities,” Kaipat said.

She said they remain optimistic that the CNMI economy will soon recover.
“We needed a law that will work for us both in good times and in bad times,” she said.

As a House member in the previous Legislature, it was Kaipat who introduced the bill that became P.L. 15-108.

She said the old law had to be changed.

“The labor law passed in 1983 was outworn and outmoded – it had undergone a patchwork of amendments over the years and just couldn’t serve us well anymore,” Kaipat said.

The implementation of the new labor law will help prevent the occurrence of more labor violations, she said.

P.L. 15-108 was signed by Gov. Benigno R. Fitial on Nov. 9, 2007 and took effect on Jan. 1, 2008.