By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

THE Saipan Chamber of Commerce yesterday expressed disappointment with the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage Wednesday of the federal minimum wage increase measure without conducting a hearing, but remains hopeful the U.S. Senate’s version of the bill will reflect the concerns of the CNMI private sector, including the creation of a wage review board and a provision for tax incentives. (See story in Nation section)
Newly installed Chamber president Juan T. Guerrero yesterday reiterated the business organization’s support for a gradual increase in the minimum wage for all workers in the CNMI.
A similar local law was enacted in 1993 only to be repealed two years later.
“We are greatly discouraged that this (federal) legislation was passed without any hearings to address the economic ramifications of hasty implementation of the new $7.25 federal minimum wage in the commonwealth without proper study or consideration,” said Guerrero in a statement.
The bill seeks to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over 26 months, which will also extend to the CNMI.
The bill would raise the wage floor in three steps. It would go to $5.85 an hour 60 days after signed into law by the president, to $6.55 a year later and to $7.25 a year after that.
The CNMI minimum wage has been $3.05 since 1996, while the federal minimum wage of $5.15 was last set in 1997.
The U.S. House vote was 315-116, with 82 Republicans joining Democrats to pass it.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Guerrero said the chamber will “definitely send a representative to Washington, D.C.” to personally air the group’s concerns about the proposed federal wage increase.
He added that the CNMI government should conduct a public education campaign on the implementation of a federal minimum wage in the islands.
“We’re told that the U.S. Senate version of the wage hike bill has a provision for tax incentives for businesses. We hope the U.S. Senate is more willing than the House to listen to our concerns first before passing it,” Guerrero told Variety.
The former senator also described as “truly un-American” the lack of CNMI representation in Congress.
“It is unjust that the people of the CNMI lack a non-voting delegate in the U.S. Congress to address our concerns on the floor of the House of Representatives. Democracy has failed in America when United States citizens in the CNMI have no representation and no say in a legislative process that directly affects their future. This is truly un-American,” he said.
The chamber continues to support local control of the minimum wage which, according to Guerrero, is a privilege granted to the CNMI by the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America.
The Covenant, however, also allows Congress to extend federal minimum wage and immigration laws to the islands.
Last week, the chamber signed a unified position paper with other members of the Strategic Economic Development Council calling for gradual increases in the local minimum wage following the creation of a federal wage review board similar to the one American Samoa has.