By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

GOVERNOR Benigno R. Fitial has directed Labor Secretary Gil M. San Nicolas not to grant any more waivers for the 20 percent local workforce requirement in the private sector and for the job vacancy announcement requirement to help foster the employment of resident workers.
The names of employers who don’t comply with these labor requirements, he said, will be published, among other sanctions.
The law requires that the workforce of private sector employers have at least 20 percent local workers. A majority of private sector jobs in the CNMI are held by nonresident or alien workers.
Fitial, in his State of the Commonwealth Address on Friday, also said that he has “no tolerance” for human trafficking of alien workers which has received extensive publicity recently, and wants employers involved in trafficking to be prosecuted.
Federal Labor Ombudsman Jim Benedetto earlier said there were some 40 identified victims of human trafficking in the CNMI.
“Let me be clear: I have no tolerance for any such activities. Our local officials who investigate and prosecute these cases have my full backing,” said Fitial in his 52-minute address in which he also said the CNMI was “still broke.”
He cited Immigration Director Melvin Grey’s implementation of new procedures at the airport in an effort to deter those local employers who seek to bring in alien workers for illegal purposes.
“It does not matter whether the employers are Carolinian, Chamorro, Korean, Chinese or Japanese. I want them to be prosecuted promptly to the fullest extent of law,” said Fitial.
The governor said in line with his high priority to provide work for local residents, it is necessary to expand the emphasis on job training and employment of locals by having government-private sector partnerships, among other things.
Fitial said the laws calling for 20 percent local resident employees and for effective skills training programs have not been rigorously enforced over the past decade.
“I have directed the secretary of (the Department of) Labor not to grant any waivers of the advertising requirements with respect to job vacancies so that citizens will know of all job vacancies. Similarly, there will be no more waivers of the 20 percent requirement,” the governor said.
He said Labor will also be instituting a new enforcement program to implement the 20 percent rule, including publication of the names of non-complying companies and persons who appear to be holding full-time jobs at more than one company, and other possible sanctions.
Fitial said he has also asked private sector employers to expand their training and recruitment efforts aimed at local residents, and commended the Workforce Investment Agency, the Public School System and Northern Marianas College for their efforts. He also noted the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs for supporting an NMC Tourism Training Curriculum and Tourism staff certification project.
He said the Legislature is working on a new omnibus labor bill.
“Such a bill should reflect our experience under the existing laws extending back to 1983, Public Law 3-66, and the new demands of our changing economy. It is time to schedule hearings and to work together to produce legislation that meets our current needs. Such legislation must continue to provide the basic safeguards of our current guest worker program,” he said.
In his address, Fitial also lauded Labor for closing nearly 3,200 labor cases over a period of six months. The backlog of labor cases was inherited by Labor from previous administrations.
As the labor hearings are concluded, said Fitial, the burden will fall increasingly on the director of the Division of Immigration and his officers.
“Our local laws with respect to ‘illegal’ alien workers have, in the past, been sporadically – an ineffectively – enforced. We are in the process of identifying with a high measure of certainly exactly which workers are no longer qualified under Commonwealth law to remain in our community,” he said.