By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

ANOTHER employer has abandoned foreign workers who were promised janitorial service jobs and several of whom paid $400 to $800 last year to have their work permits processed.
Only one of these 39 individuals actually worked for the company and that same employee worked for 26 weeks without receiving any pay from the employer, Variety learned.
The rest waited for weeks or months to be provided work only to learn that the employer — Pantaleon B. Valenzuela of Valenzuela Janitorial Services —left Saipan on Aug. 8, 2006, while his wife Teresita departed the island on Oct. 1, 2006.
The Valenzuela couple has not returned to Saipan since then, according to government records.
Between 2006 and 2007, the workers filed separate complaints with the Department of Labor, saying that Valenzuela Janitorial Services failed to provide them with work, abandoned them, and collected $400 to $800 from many of them for the processing of their work papers — all in violation of labor laws and regulations.
Yesterday, most of the workers showed up at Labor for an administrative hearing on their cases.
But the scheduled 9 a.m. administrative hearing was delayed by 45 minutes because U.S. Senate staffers Allen Stayman and Josh Johnson, along with Office of Insular Affairs congressional liaison Stephen Sander, were in a meeting with Department of Labor officials at their office in San Antonio.
The workers, according to Department of Labor senior investigator Dean Tenorio, admitted that they were “desperate” to find a new employer last year so when they heard that Valenzuela Janitorial Services was hiring workers, they applied for a job.
The workers were nearing their 45-day transfer deadline last year when they asked Valenzuela Janitorial Services to hire them.
If they failed to have a transfer employee file an application with Labor within the 45-day period, then they would have been ordered to leave the CNMI.
About half of them admitted to paying $400 to $800 for the processing of their papers, after they were made to believe by Valenzuela Janitorial Services that they would be reimbursed once they started working.
Valenzuela Janitorial Services submitted applications to Labor to hire these employees. While some were given conditional grants of employment, their applications were all eventually denied because of deficiencies. This continued for months until the employer left Saipan.
In one instance, an employee signed a contract with Valenzuela Janitorial Services even after Valenzuela had fled Saipan.
Department of Labor investigations found that Valenzuela Janitorial Services “violated the numerous CNMI labor laws, regulations and/or breached valid employment contracts” by not providing work to the employees, by collecting $400 to $800 from at least 15 of them for processing fees, by employing one worker through an illegal subcontract arrangement with Pacific Trading, by continuously submitting employment applications after failing to comply with numerous deficiencies resulting in the denial of most applications, and by fleeing the CNMI.
“I paid $700 for the processing of my papers. Mr. Valenzuela said once I start working, they would give me back my $700,” said a 33-year-old worker who applied for a job with Valenzuela Janitorial Services in August.
The worker expected that she could start working by October but she learned that her supposed employer had fled Saipan and was never heard from again.
“I am not hoping that I’ll be able to get my $700 back. All I want is to be allowed to look for another employer,” she told Variety.
Labor Hearing Officer Barry Hirshbein, during yesterday’s hearing, said he intends to provide 45-day transfer relief to the workers but repeatedly asked half of them if they also wanted to admit that they paid hundreds of dollars so that their work papers could be processed.
“Did you pay the fees to be employed? It’s wrong if the employer tells you to pay. It’s also wrong for you to pay,” said Hirsbein.
Only one raised his hand during the hearing, saying that he also paid $600 for the processing of his papers, in addition to the other 15 who earlier admitted to Labor to paying for their paper processing.
Tenorio, who represented Labor Director Robert Magofna at the hearing, said what makes this case controversial is that during the investigation, workers said they did not pay for the processing of their papers and later changed their stories, admitting that they did pay.
When Hirshbein said he intends to give 45-day transfer relief to the workers, except those with special circumstances, Tenorio suggested that a “strong” order be given to workers, especially those who had already been involved in labor cases, and admitted that they were desperate to find a job so they agreed to pay for the processing fees, among other things.
None of the workers raised his hand when Hirshbein asked whether anybody wanted to go back to their country of hire. Most of the workers are from the Philippines.
With over 30 workers present in the hearing room, Hirshbein took the opportunity to remind the alien workers to be careful when applying for jobs.
He said workers should come to Labor if they are not paid for several pay periods instead of waiting for months or years when it is no longer possible to recover the money owed to them by their employers. He cited as an example a driver at Valenzuela Janitorial Services, Daniel Q. Andaya, who also worked as office worker and personal assistant for 26 weeks without getting paid.
“To work without pay for 26 weeks…there’s something very wrong with that. If you don’t come forward, it makes me suspicious of the relationship (between employee and employer),” said Hirshbein. “It’s better to come to Labor and ask for transfer (relief) instead of working without pay.”
In an interview after the hearing, Andaya said he relied on the promises of the owner of Valenzuela Janitorial Services that he would be paid once they got new janitorial service contracts.
“Mr. Valenzuela is old. He’s 77. And I could see that he was really working on getting these workers’ applications filed with Labor. It’s just that he had a personal problem at the time. He told me that he was coming back. I believed him because he said he was going to buy uniforms for employees and take care of other things,” said the worker.
But the other interviewed employees said the expected janitorial service contracts, including one with Fiesta Resort & Spa, did not materialize, until the Valenzuela couple left Saipan last year.
A 46-year-old worker said she applied to Valenzuela Janitorial Services in June of last year, and expected to start working sometime in October but this did not happen when the employer left Saipan.
Like many of the workers, this employee said she thought the company would bag the janitorial service contract for the new Department of Public Health building.
Also present at the hearing were representatives from bonding companies and the federal labor ombudsman’s office.
Stayman said yesterday afternoon that in his meeting with Labor and Division of Immigration officials, he was given a presentation on the improvements made by both agencies in dealing with labor and immigration matters, and these will be taken into consideration as they draft a bill federalizing CNMI immigration. Stayman said there will be a hearing on the bill, providing the CNMI with an opportunity to present their formal position on the measure.