Local
Friday, August 14, 2009
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
Barry Hirshbein, a Labor administrative hearing officer, is now both the acting Labor Secretary and acting Labor Deputy Secretary.
This developed after Labor Deputy Secretary Jacinta M. Kaipat became the acting Labor Secretary after Labor Secretary Gil M. San Nicolas took a leave of absence.
Kaipat, however, took a temporary leave last week after the Election Commission certified her candidacy for the Senate.
Saipan Tribune learned yesterday that on July 29, Kaipat, as then acting Labor Secretary, appointed hearing officer Hirshbein as acting Labor Deputy Secretary.
“No budgetary authority will be expended on this position as this appointment is temporary. Mr. Hirshbein holds a permanent appointment as a hearing officer and will be compensated only in that capacity,” said Kaipat in a letter appointing Hirshbein.
In June, Kaipat removed Hirshbein as Labor director and transferred him to his previous assignment, Labor administrative hearing officer.
Hirshbein, who is a former prosecutor, served as Labor director for one year and six months.
Kaipat also recently appointed Labor administrative hearing officer Jerry Cody as acting director of the Labor Administrative Hearing Office.
“No budgetary authority will be expended on this position as these duties will be consolidated temporarily with hearing officer duties,” she said.
Kaipat said Cody holds a permanent appointment as a hearing officer and will be paid only in that capacity.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Fitial asks garment trust fund to help displaced workers
Friday, August 14, 2009
Local
Thursday, August 13, 2009
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial yesterday asked the Garment Workers Trust Fund to reconsider its decision not to provide compensation to former garment workers who have prevailed in their labor cases but who have not been paid because both the employer and the bonding company have gone out of business.
The governor's letter came over two months after the trust fund announced that it still has $600,000 available to help former garment workers who are still on Saipan and are facing hardships.
The trust fund also earlier said it intends to donate its remaining funds to charity.
In yesterday's letter to Garment Workers Trust Fund chair Timothy H. Bellas, Fitial said “if the Trust Fund can make a donation to a charity, then it would seem also possible for the Trust Fund to make a donation to each qualified worker.”
Fitial said a distribution from the trust fund to each worker with proven claims that remain unpaid seems the best way to carry out the original intent of the litigation that created the fund. He said the distribution may be in an equal amount.
He said there is no need to make any attempt to make the workers whole on their claims or to pay any “wage” as such.
Bellas, in a phone interview yesterday, said he reserves any comment to the media until he responds directly to Fitial's letter.
He also said he will be sending a copy of the governor's letter to two other members of the Garment Workers Trust Fund. They are former Washington State Supreme Court chief justice Richard Guy and former California Supreme Court justice Cruz Reynoso.
Fitial cited a list of individuals claims on behalf of 213 former garment workers totaling some $700,000 that was provided by the Department of Labor to Bellas' office in May.
At the time of the release of the list, Kaipat had said the claims were from the information provided by those who registered with Labor at the Garapan Central Park last summer and include those who registered with the federal ombudsman's office in the summer of 2007. Kaipat's list includes workers who were employed by garment industry subcontractors.
“Some of these workers would like o return home, but do not have enough savings for a ticket and there is no employer or bond to tap for the ticket,” Fitial told Bellas.
In his letter, the governor also said the CNMI “has made great strides in improving its guest worker program.”
“Making a donation to qualified workers would help close the books on the past. I hope that you will be able to support this proposal,” he added.
The former Garment Oversight Board, then chaired by Bellas, established the trust fund after settlement money in the form of checks originally distributed to the workers came back or were not cashed.
The board was set up pursuant to the landmark $20 million settlement agreement in the class action against Saipan's garment industry.
Since March, Saipan has completely lost its once mighty garment industry due to the lifting of world trade rules. The industry used to employ some 20,000 workers, most of them from Asian countries such as China and the Philippines.
Earlier, Bellas said the trust fund is still accepting applications from former garment workers to avail of the funding until Aug. 15, 2009.
Local
Thursday, August 13, 2009
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial yesterday asked the Garment Workers Trust Fund to reconsider its decision not to provide compensation to former garment workers who have prevailed in their labor cases but who have not been paid because both the employer and the bonding company have gone out of business.
The governor's letter came over two months after the trust fund announced that it still has $600,000 available to help former garment workers who are still on Saipan and are facing hardships.
The trust fund also earlier said it intends to donate its remaining funds to charity.
In yesterday's letter to Garment Workers Trust Fund chair Timothy H. Bellas, Fitial said “if the Trust Fund can make a donation to a charity, then it would seem also possible for the Trust Fund to make a donation to each qualified worker.”
Fitial said a distribution from the trust fund to each worker with proven claims that remain unpaid seems the best way to carry out the original intent of the litigation that created the fund. He said the distribution may be in an equal amount.
He said there is no need to make any attempt to make the workers whole on their claims or to pay any “wage” as such.
Bellas, in a phone interview yesterday, said he reserves any comment to the media until he responds directly to Fitial's letter.
He also said he will be sending a copy of the governor's letter to two other members of the Garment Workers Trust Fund. They are former Washington State Supreme Court chief justice Richard Guy and former California Supreme Court justice Cruz Reynoso.
Fitial cited a list of individuals claims on behalf of 213 former garment workers totaling some $700,000 that was provided by the Department of Labor to Bellas' office in May.
At the time of the release of the list, Kaipat had said the claims were from the information provided by those who registered with Labor at the Garapan Central Park last summer and include those who registered with the federal ombudsman's office in the summer of 2007. Kaipat's list includes workers who were employed by garment industry subcontractors.
“Some of these workers would like o return home, but do not have enough savings for a ticket and there is no employer or bond to tap for the ticket,” Fitial told Bellas.
In his letter, the governor also said the CNMI “has made great strides in improving its guest worker program.”
“Making a donation to qualified workers would help close the books on the past. I hope that you will be able to support this proposal,” he added.
The former Garment Oversight Board, then chaired by Bellas, established the trust fund after settlement money in the form of checks originally distributed to the workers came back or were not cashed.
The board was set up pursuant to the landmark $20 million settlement agreement in the class action against Saipan's garment industry.
Since March, Saipan has completely lost its once mighty garment industry due to the lifting of world trade rules. The industry used to employ some 20,000 workers, most of them from Asian countries such as China and the Philippines.
Earlier, Bellas said the trust fund is still accepting applications from former garment workers to avail of the funding until Aug. 15, 2009.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Kaipat says passport surrender policy not new
Tuesday, 04 August 2009 00:00 By Junhan B. Todeno - Variety News Staff
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FOREIGN workers who just arrived on Saipan said the Division of Immigration asked them to surrender their passports upon their arrival at the Francisco C. Ada International Airport and only got them back after they underwent the mandatory orientation seminar at the Department of Labor.
Division of Labor officer Israel De Leon briefs guest workers who just arrived on Saipan during a mandatory orientation program. Photo by Junhan B. Todeno
Division of Labor officer Israel De Leon briefs guest workers who just arrived on Saipan during a mandatory orientation program. Photo by Junhan B. Todeno
But Labor Deputy Secretary Cinta Kaipat said there is nothing new to this policy.
“Workers must complete certain processing, including orientation, in order to enter the Commonwealth. The Immigration Division holds passports until all processing is completed,” she said.
She said even the U.S. applies the same policy when admitting foreign workers.
She said every guest worker arriving in the Commonwealth must attend the orientation. If they fail, they could be immediately repatriated.
The labor official said all guest workers should be aware about the local labor policies, particularly the mandatory, orientation seminar.
The local labor laws were modified on Jan. 1, 2008.
Kapat said they haven’t received any complaints about the orientation process, and “many guest workers have expressed their thanks for the very informative way the Commonwealth welcomes new workers.”
In some cases, she added, employers attend the orientation session along with the workers. She said some employers even praise the local labor system for adopting the mandatory orientation policy.
The Labor Department holds orientation seminar in three languages—English, Chinese and Korean—though a videotaped program.
Kaipat said they will soon have Filipino and Japanese versions despite budget constraints.
She said each new guest worker received basic information on their rights and responsibilities under Commonwealth and U.S. law.
The employment of each arriving guest worker is checked to ensure that an actual job is available and the employer is financially capable of paying the required wages, she said.
“All these new steps, put into place by Public Law 15-108, have substantially reduced the number of labor disputes and complaints involving recently-arriving workers. The program is working as the Legislature intended,” Kaipat said.
But Kaipat said the numbers of arrivals of guest workers have declined this year compared to the previous years.
She cited the contributing factors: the Labor Department vigorously enforces the U.S. citizen workforce participation requirement and regulation changes that have greatly narrowed the available exemptions; the Governor barred entry of unskilled workers; and the Labor Department enforces a secondary preference for on-island workers as it is much more efficient for the Commonwealth government when
E-mail Print PDF
FOREIGN workers who just arrived on Saipan said the Division of Immigration asked them to surrender their passports upon their arrival at the Francisco C. Ada International Airport and only got them back after they underwent the mandatory orientation seminar at the Department of Labor.
Division of Labor officer Israel De Leon briefs guest workers who just arrived on Saipan during a mandatory orientation program. Photo by Junhan B. Todeno
Division of Labor officer Israel De Leon briefs guest workers who just arrived on Saipan during a mandatory orientation program. Photo by Junhan B. Todeno
But Labor Deputy Secretary Cinta Kaipat said there is nothing new to this policy.
“Workers must complete certain processing, including orientation, in order to enter the Commonwealth. The Immigration Division holds passports until all processing is completed,” she said.
She said even the U.S. applies the same policy when admitting foreign workers.
She said every guest worker arriving in the Commonwealth must attend the orientation. If they fail, they could be immediately repatriated.
The labor official said all guest workers should be aware about the local labor policies, particularly the mandatory, orientation seminar.
The local labor laws were modified on Jan. 1, 2008.
Kapat said they haven’t received any complaints about the orientation process, and “many guest workers have expressed their thanks for the very informative way the Commonwealth welcomes new workers.”
In some cases, she added, employers attend the orientation session along with the workers. She said some employers even praise the local labor system for adopting the mandatory orientation policy.
The Labor Department holds orientation seminar in three languages—English, Chinese and Korean—though a videotaped program.
Kaipat said they will soon have Filipino and Japanese versions despite budget constraints.
She said each new guest worker received basic information on their rights and responsibilities under Commonwealth and U.S. law.
The employment of each arriving guest worker is checked to ensure that an actual job is available and the employer is financially capable of paying the required wages, she said.
“All these new steps, put into place by Public Law 15-108, have substantially reduced the number of labor disputes and complaints involving recently-arriving workers. The program is working as the Legislature intended,” Kaipat said.
But Kaipat said the numbers of arrivals of guest workers have declined this year compared to the previous years.
She cited the contributing factors: the Labor Department vigorously enforces the U.S. citizen workforce participation requirement and regulation changes that have greatly narrowed the available exemptions; the Governor barred entry of unskilled workers; and the Labor Department enforces a secondary preference for on-island workers as it is much more efficient for the Commonwealth government when
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