THE Northern Marianas Professional Firefighters Union- International Association of Fire Fighters-Local 5335 aims to establish a collective bargaining agreement with the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services and the Commonwealth Ports Authority.
“We are starting to educate the community about our organization and how it can benefit the CNMI,” said Local 5335 Vice President Edward Dela Cruz.
He and the other union officials, President Fire Capt. Paul Sasamoto and board member Fire Capt. Jesse Salas, met recently with U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.
“We had a first meeting with our … Congressman Kilili to introduce ourselves and educate him on how this union will benefit the fire service in the CNMI. It was a productive meeting. We thank Kilili for his time,” Dela Cruz said.
He also provided Variety with copies of the letters to the union from CPA and DFEMS.
DFEMS Commissioner Juan Pua, in a letter dated Jan. 22, 2024, said: “I am in receipt of your letter dated Jan. 22, 2024. Thank you for taking your time to outline your concerns. Like I mentioned on Dec. 15, 2023, I am unable to engage in collective bargaining agreement outside of that allowed by the CNMI law.”
“We must consider and take into account the serious financial constraints of the Commonwealth government affecting every civil service employee,” Pua added.
Still, he said, “we will continue to review and fine-tune the existing policies and procedures for the benefit of all DFEMS employees.”
“My office and the Office of Personnel Management are open to discuss with any DFEMS employee their concerns and views on improving the DFEMS organization,” he added.
In a letter to the union dated Feb. 8, 2024, Commonwealth Ports Authority Executive Director Leo Tudela said: “This is to acknowledge your letter dated Jan. 24. Please be advised that CPA is without a staff attorney. I am suggesting that we meet to discuss this after the staff attorney is in place around the first week of March 2024. Rest assured that CPA is always mindful of cooperating with your proposed new organization.”
Tudela earlier said that CPA could not determine whether the union represented all firefighters of the ports authority.
Northern Marianas Professional Firefighters Union board member Capt. Jesse Salas, Vice President Edward Dela Cruz, and President Fire Capt. Paul Sasamoto — not in photo — met recently with U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.
