WHAT came first, the chicken or the egg? If you can’t answer that one, try this one: What came first–-the hardworking, dependable Chamolinian, private sector wage earner or decent wages?
Far too much of our politicians’ time is spent worrying about wages for our foreign workers and not enough time is being spent figuring out how to get local people into decent paying private sector jobs.
Wow! Our legislators have proposed a 22-cent an hour increase in the minimum wage! With this incredible increase in wage, after eight hours of work in one day, a worker will be able to buy an issue of the Marianas Variety AND a soft drink and have 76 cents left over to put away for his kid’s college education! In a week’s time, the worker will accumulate enough to buy TWO bags of potato chips from his extra wages-–maybe.
Consider this: The lowest paid CNMI government worker—the bush cutter man—gets paid between $8 and $10 per hour, plus benefits, even if he barely graduated from high school.
How many local workers in our major hotels earn as much per hour as bush cutter man? When we can level this playing field then we have a chance of making some progress. Wage sectors and wage boards are not going to solve the problem because they address foreign workers only. What is the sense of a local person going to college if upon graduation he/she cannot earn as much working in a major hotel as bush cutter man does working for the government?
Can Chamorros and Carolinians do anything else except work for the government, rob poker rooms and mom & pop stores or join the armed forces? Do we leave this state of affairs up to the Chamber of Commerce, the garment association and the hotel association, the same organizations that can be counted on to oppose any wage increase, even this paltry 22-cent an hour increase? Why should this administration take these people seriously?
The only hope for large-scale private sector employment for locals is in the tourism industry and the logical choice to start is with our large hotels. When we walk into these hotels we should see many, many Chamorro, Carolinian and other local faces. We should see them at the front desk, at restaurants and behind the scenes.
Some should be full-time workers, some part-time workers and some should be students working their way through college. These hotels (some on public land) are our tourism family jewels, yet most guests don’t know what a local looks like. Have you ever gone into a hotel in Hawaii? All the people working there are locals! Can you believe it? It can be done. We must start pretending to be Hawaii.
The administration should inform the Hyatt, Dai-Ichi, Nikko, Hafa Adai, Diamond, Aqua Resort, Plumeria, Grand and PIC that they will not be allowed to bring back any of their alien workers who were released during the economic slow-down. Instead, these hotels will have to hire locals and be prepared to pay them three times as much as their former workers. They will have to be given on-the-job training and benefits so they can survive and have a future in the industry.
Unfortunately, our hotel industry has to be force-fed. During the last 15 to 20 years when these hotels were getting their CRM permits and expanding, all of them promised to hire at least 20 percent locals. Only the Hyatt has tried. The excuse has always been that they can get very experienced workers cheaper from the Philippines and locals are lazy and undependable. Now, it is time to make them keep their promises by requiring them to hire 80 percent locals. One incentive can be no room taxes if a hotel has more than a certain number of local workers earning $10 or more per hour.
So, the new administration should stop listening to the people who want even more foreign labor here. The Chamber now exists to serve the garment industry and anyone else that wants to bring in large numbers of foreign laborers. Let’s put as many locals to work as possible in large hotels and then decide how many non-resident workers we really need for other jobs. Are there locals willing to work? I urge our leaders to visit family court on “Dead-beat Dad Day” which is on Thursdays. There are plenty of locals who need and want work. If they are not supporting their kids, the court can make them work.
In my opinion, the only person in the CNMI government who has enough clout to actually “order” the manager of a major hotel to hire a local person is the governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. Locals looking for good paying hotel jobs should contact the CNMI’s new private sector employment officer, namely Gov. Juan N. Babauta! Contact your senators and representatives, too.
So, pick up the phone and call them. Tell them you want a good paying job at one of our fine hotels and you are willing to work hard, be dependable, not disappoint them and make them proud to have helped you. What have you got to lose? Gently remind these elected officials that you are one of the many Chamorros and Carolinians out there who will work well if someone just gives you half a chance by paying you decently.
By the way, the answer to the riddle in the first paragraph is decent wages. It always is.
KENNETH L. GOVENDO
Dandan, Saipan
