THE commonwealth should adopt a tiered-wage system before the federal government institutes a wage system that could be detrimental to the CNMI’s economy, Gov. Juan N. Babauta said on Friday.
During a presentation at the House of Representatives, Babauta and Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio said the minimum wage issue must be settled “once and for all.”
“We must come to a consensus on this issue. If we don’t do it now, then U.S. Congress will do something about it. We have to come to some agreement—we have to put in place a minimum wage that is going to have stability and predictability. We must put the issue behind us and move forward,” Babauta told lawmakers.
Babauta said the “most critical question in the CNMI now is what do we want and where do we go from here?”
Tenorio said the minimum wage hike measure introduced by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., may become law.
“This is a major predicament that we are going to face. This is a very very serious concern. Without providing protection to save our economies here, we are going to subject them to conditions that would make it impossible for them to survive,” Tenorio said.
Kennedy’s bill, S. 964 or the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2001, would raise the U.S. minimum wage, which is currently $5.10 an hour, by $1.50 in three phases.
The bill would also raise the CNMI rate, which is currently $3.05 an hour, to federal level.
The CNMI government has to come up with a measure on tiered wage system, according to Tenorio.
Adopting the American Samoa model means that the CNMI wage legislation would have to be incorporated in the Federal Labor Standards Act and should be introduced in the U.S. Congress.
Under the model, minimum wage on an industry per industry basis are determined by a special industry wage committee whose members are appointed by the secretary of labor.
Tenorio said a federally designed minimum wage would not clip the Legislature’s power to legislate local wages.
In 1992, due to concerns in Washington, D.C. regarding local labor and immigration policies, the CNMI enacted legislation to gradually increase the minimum wage rate. But this law was repealed in early 1996.
