Doromal issued the statement in support of a legislative inquiry into the Department of Labor.
On Aug. 8, Reps. Edward T. Salas, R-Saipan, and Tina Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, asked Labor to reply to their inquiries within 10 business days from receipt of the communication.
The two lawmakers wanted clarification regarding the repatriation or the denial of temporary work authorization of guest workers with pending labor cases; the issuance of notices by publication as a first resort; and allowing appeals to be heard by the same hearing officer who denied the original case.
Doromal said she has been raising similar issues with Labor Secretary Gil M. San Nicolas and Labor Deputy Secretary Cinta Kaipat but neither of them even acknowledged receiving her letter.
“I am extremely pleased that Representatives Sablan and Salas have sent this letter and have requested a reply within 10 days of the letter,” said the former Rota teacher. “I am also raising these same issues and others in the status report I am preparing for federal officials based on my recent visit to the CNMI.”
Doromal said hundreds of guests workers have been repatriated even though they have outstanding cases and are still owed a considerable amount of money by their employers.
There are also workers who were denied TWAs even though they have outstanding cases or unpaid judgments, she added.
For over a year, she said, she has been protesting the practice of publicizing notices in the papers rather than serving employees and employers with notices of hearings and official actions.
The new policy of telling workers to collect their own judgments through small claims court, rather than Labor or the AG’s office enforcing the administrative orders, is another example of a “flawed, unjust system,” Doromal said.
“Under some current practices of DOL, workers are routinely denied due process. Unconstitutional or unlawful practices seem to multiply as policies are changed and refined to further suppress rights of workers,” she added.
Sablan and Salas also asked San Nicolas about the nature and propriety of attorney Deane Siemer’s services as a department volunteer.
Siemer is the wife of the governor’s special legal adviser, Howard Willens. Both oppose the federalization of local immigration and have urged the governor to take the federal government to court.
According to Sablan and Salas, Siemer has acted in various capacities officially representing the department, serving as a hearing officer, developing and implementing the department’s policy, handling confidential documents, and providing legal counsel.
However, they added, it is not clear what are Siemer’s actual and official duties and responsibilities.
“Siemer has also been known to act as a legal counsel for the governor, and has assisted in the drafting of legislation for the Legislature, including the bill that would become P.L. 15-108,” the two lawmakers said, referring to the CNMI’s new labor law.
Doromal said there should be no place in a federal guest worker program for “biased personnel who denounce the federal system and laud the faulty DOL system, and volunteers with political motives.”
