Long said the prevailing wage rates are different from the hourly minimum wage rate of the CNMI, which effective today should be $4.55 an hour as mandated by the U.S. Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007.
The federal wage rate of $6.55 an hour will be increased to $7.25 effective July 24, 2009.
The CNMI rate, however, will become $7.25 in 2015.
Long said Guam employers who sponsor foreign workers under the H-visa system are required to pay them the prevailing wage rates according to their job categories.
For instance, a carpenter or a brick layer with an H-visa must be paid $16.72 an hour on Guam whereas in the CNMI they are paid the hourly minimum wage or better.
Long said Tinian, which envisions to construct major hotels and casinos in the coming months with the anticipated military buildup in Guam, won’t be able to compete with the territory’s prevailing wage rates.
“We cannot afford it,” he told the Variety in a phone interview.
He said the business community on Saipan and the rest of the Northern Marianas would like to hear from the U.S. Department of Labor how the prevailing wage rates would be applicable to the commonwealth.
The department’s office in Saipan could not be immediately reached for comments.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is poised to take over the commonwealth’s immigration system on Nov. 28 under the Consolidated and Natural Resources Act of 2008.
The rules and regulations that will govern the presence of foreign workers and investors in the CNMI are still in the drafting stage.
The CNMI hosted more than 16,000 documented foreign workers as of last year.
