LABOR and Immigration Secretary Joaquin A. Tenorio will join Gov. Juan N. Babauta in his meeting with top U.S. government officials in Washington, D.C.
Tenorio who left the CNMI yesterday said his attendance would be needed as the meetings will deal with local labor and immigration issues.
“This has long been scheduled. We’ll be holding meetings that are crucial to our programs here,” Tenorio said.
Babauta and Tenorio, together with Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio, will meet with Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Ha.
Babauta, in an earlier interview, said he would give Akaka an update on local labor and immigration policies.
The DOLI secretary said the minimum wage in the commonwealth and related issues will be discussed with Akaka.
The Babauta administration is pushing for a tiered-wage system which calls for a different wage level for each industry.
Babauta will ask Akaka to introduce enabling legislation in the U.S. Congress.
Since visiting the CNMI in 1996, Akaka has been critical of local labor and immigration policies that have allowed the entry of foreign workers paid below the federal minimum wage rate and, because of their one-year contracts, are vulnerable to abuse.
Alien workers, moreover, now outnumber local residents.
