IMPERIAL Pacific International intends to use the $250,000 security deposit it remitted to the U.S. Department of Labor on May 28, 2021 to pay its employees who are facing another payless payday on Friday.
According to a source from IPI, two payrolls remain unpaid and it is unlikely that workers will get paid this Friday.
The IPI source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said IPI “is anticipating payment from the U.S. Department of Labor. Meanwhile, the workers are struggling with their lives.”
A first amendment to the consent judgment issued by the federal court against IPI last year noted that “defendants paid $250,000.00 on May 28, 2021 to the [U.S.] Department of Labor to be used as a security deposit for the payment of current wages. IPI represents to the [USDOL] Secretary and to the Court that its payroll obligations are currently significantly smaller in part because of the stop work order on construction. Before the construction stop work order can be lifted, IPI will deposit an additional amount with the [U.S.] Department of Labor to ensure it holds at least three months of anticipated payroll.”
The consent judgment allows U.S. Labor to hold the funds for one year.
In an interview, Jess Aquiningoc, the team leader of the IPI construction workers tasked to remove the remaining tower cranes from the unfinished casino hotel, said they continued to work despite two unpaid payrolls, but last week, IPI asked them to stop working because it still had no money to pay them.
“Our bills are now piling up. The banks are calling us for unpaid dues. We can’t even buy basic things that we need because the prices are going up. We’ve been suffering already. This is going to be the third payroll for which we’re not going to get paid,” he said.
In last month’s payroll, he said 10 of his 14 construction workers got paid. In the following payroll earlier this month, none of them got paid.
He added that some of the 17 security guards had stopped reporting for work, leaving only a handful manning the casino hotel and the warehouses in Lower Base and San Antonio.
“I cannot blame them. Who can afford to keep going to work when not getting paid two payrolls already?” Aquiningoc asked, adding that he hopes U.S. Labor will consider IPI’s request to release the security deposit.
Aside from the 17 security guards and 15 construction workers, IPI also has eight administrative workers who have not been paid.
The IPI casino shut down in March 2020 amid the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
IPI is also facing several lawsuits in federal and local courts filed by former vendors, contractors or employees.
A construction worker leaves the site of the unfinished Imperial Pacific International casino hotel in Garapan earlier this month.
