SIXTEEN of the 28 Turkish workers of Imperial Pacific International who left the island on Monday morning said they had not received their “paid time off and other benefits.”
Reps. Celina Babauta, left seated, her husband, former Rep. Franklin Babauta, and Rep. Tina Sablan join the Turkish workers who were set to leave Monday morning during a farewell barbecue at the workers’ barracks in Chalan Laulau on Sunday night.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
The H-2B visas of Hasan Gokce and 15 of his fellow construction workers that IPI hired from Turkey expired on Jan. 30, 2021. They had 10 days to leave the island.
The rest who can remain on island until Feb. 19 are scheduled to leave next week.
On Sunday night, Gokce and his fellow Turkish workers hosted a farewell barbecue at their barracks in Chalan Laulau.
They invited some local friends, including Rep. Tina Sablan, Rep. Celina Babauta and her husband, former Rep. Franklin Babauta.
Gokce said they received partial payments of their salary in the past five months, adding that IPI still owes him $1,000 in “paid time off and other benefits.”
In one pay period, for example, he said he only received $250 while in another pay period he got $500.
He said they wanted to stay a little bit longer to seek full payment from IPI, but they did not want to overstay their visas.
Gokce said he and his colleagues are grateful to the members of the local community.
They said since the day they arrived on island, “we were treated very well — we were treated as brothers.”
Members of the local community were very helpful during their tough times, he added.
“We would like to thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts — without you it would have been much difficult for us,” Gokce said.
The 28 Turkish workers filed a formal complaint against IPI last year for not paying them their salaries. They also sued the casino operator for not paying them the minimum wage and overtime.
Gokce said some of them had not been paid salaries for five pay periods, others for six pay periods and two of them had not been paid for 13 pay periods.
He said they were able to survive thanks to the assistance of the local community on Saipan, including community groups that never got tired of helping them, he added.
