“There’s a lot of unemployed local residents now both young and retirees who are dependent on their pension benefits,” he said.
Companies on Tinian should give opportunity to local workers, he said, and these include Telesource Inc.
He said locals are not “undisciplined” and they used to work for Telesource.
“My dad used to work as an operator. Telesource used to be run by local workers,” he added.
Hofschneider said he has nothing against guest workers but local residents should be given an opportunity to work on their own island.
“That’s the problem with privatizing government entities — they are taking away job opportunities from local residents,” he said.
Telesource is Tinian’s sole power provider under an agreement with the government’s Commonwealth Utilitiies Corp.
Telesource earlier said that it was hiring local residents for special projects.
Hofschneider commended FPA Pacific Corp., a construction firm, for cross-training and employing local residents.
He said the government should give priority to FPA when awarding contracts.
