By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

IN response to the Dekada rally on Jan. 5, another group consisting of concerned community members will also stage a rally on Jan. 26 to demand that the federal government consult first with the CNMI before extending federal wage and immigration laws to the islands.
The community-wide rally was set for the next austerity Friday after office hours but the location has yet to be finalized, according to Kodep Ogumoro-Uludong, moderator for the group which calls itself an informal coalition of community members.
In a statement yesterday, the group said the rally is in response to the U.S. Congress’ plan to “unilaterally” impose federal minimum wage laws in an “expedited time frame” and to federalize the CNMI’s labor and immigration laws.
“No federalization without consideration is our theme. Whatever economic decision the federal government makes affects us and so whatever they do, they should consider our present economic state,” Ogumoro-Uludong told Variety yesterday in a phone interview.
The meeting on Monday night at the Carolinian Utt focused on the group’s appeal to the federal government to consider and consult with the CNMI before enacting any legislation that would severely affect CNMI culture and the economy.
The rally will be photographed, filmed, and distributed to members of the Senate Energy and Resources Committee, under whose jurisdiction the CNMI falls. This information will also be provided to other federal officials who play a role in the federal government’s plans for the CNMI, the group said.
“The group’s intention is to provide a forum for the voice of our community to be heard in Washington, D.C., stressing the need for a dialogue between the people of the CNMI and policymakers in the U.S. It was also agreed that regardless of varying opinions regarding the cause of the CNMI’s present economic condition, the group would spearhead a community project to ensure CNMI resident faces are seen and voices heard in Washington, D.C. prior to any laws being enacted that affect the CNMI,” Ogumoro-Uludong said.
Ogumoro-Uludong said the group is not totally opposed to an increase in the CNMI’s minimum wage of $3.05 an hour, so long as the CNMI’s concerns are heard before any change in the wage rate.
The group believes that “the minimum wage needs to be increased but this decision must be ours,” and that the CNMI “can work together with the U.S. Congress to improve its immigration system.”
“We are all on a sinking ship so we have to work together on this,” Ogumoro-Uludong told Variety.
Other points that the group wants to convey include its belief in the CNMI’s Covenant with the United States; in the rights and representation of all CNMI residents; that the federal government’s economic decisions affect CNMI residents and our economy in a unique way; and that any change to the CNMI’s labor and immigration laws should consider the current economic state.
“We believe that our leaders past and present must be held accountable,” the group said in e-mails to community members.
Rally organizers have also invited individual community members and groups, including the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, to take part in the peaceful rally.
The rally comes at a time when a CNMI delegation headed by Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez is in Washington, D.C. to present the islands’ concerns with respect to any proposed federal takeover of CNMI wage and immigration policies.
Dekada, which consists of long-term alien workers in the CNMI, held a peaceful rally on Jan. 6 in front of Horiguchi Building in Garapan to renew calls for improved immigration status for long-term alien residents, and to support the passage of California Rep. George Miller’s bill raising the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, which will also be applied to the CNMI where he said labor abuses have been rampant. Some 500 individuals joined the Dekada rally.
The new group expects the same or a greater number of people to join next Friday’s rally.
“ The group will release further information about the upcoming rally, as well as volunteer opportunities, in the coming days,” it added.