United International Corp. and Onwel Garment Manufacturing have filed their notices of closure for Sept. 21 and Aug. 21, but William Fong, US CNMI Development Corp. manager, said they will “keep going on.”
“We’re hoping that the economy would get better,” he told Variety.
Another garment factory, Uno Moda Corp., will also continue its operations on island.
“We have a high quality ladies skirts and pants,” said Bak Won Gun, the factory’s general manager.
Their company, he added, is a supplier for the Talbots brand.
Uno Moda Corp.’s accountant Cai Yinnu said they have received new orders and have scheduled shipments to the U.S. and Canada up to the year’s end.
But she admitted that their operational expenses have gone up due to high cost of power and fuel and the federally mandated wage increase.
However, Yinnu said they were able to retain their 290 workers, including the 14 that transferred from Kyung Seung Saipan which shut down in May.
The workers, however, have limited over time work and have adopted austerity measures, which include conservation of power, Yinnu said.
At the US CNMI Development Corp. factory, Fong said the employees are still allowed overtime work depending upon the demand.
Like other establishments on island, he said, their company is aggressively conserving their power and gasoline consumption.
Last month, a fire broke out at the MGM garment factory in San Antonio and its 139 workers had to be temporarily housed at the barracks of its sister company, US CNMI Development Corp.
Fong said they do not know if the equipment and facilities of MGM are still operational.
He learned that some workers of MGM have already left the CNMI.
Since 2007, 16 garment factories on Saipan have already shut down due to their inability to compete with manufacturers in Third World nations where labor costs are much cheaper.
