The Coalition of United Workers, NMI and the Human Dignity Movement have joined the campaign to write letters to the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security, the Interior, Labor and Justice, as well as the U.S. House and Senate resources committees.
The United Workers Movement, NMI headed by Rabby Syed is also supporting the campaign.
Human Dignity Movement president Rene Reyes said the leaders of guest workers on Rota and Tinian are expected to join their counterparts on Saipan this Sunday to finalize the drafting of letters.
The group, Reyes said, will help translate the letters of Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Chinese, Indonesians, Vietnamese, Koreans and Thais.
“We believed that this move will send a strong message to our friends in Washington that everyone in the beautiful islands of the CNMI are expecting a superb change that will help the local economy to recover — and this is through the granting of improved status to guest workers,” Reyes told Variety.
Reyes said resident, friends, and employers of foreign workers and other members of the community can join the campaign.
Doromal, a former Rota teacher now based in Florida, said the goal of the letter writing campaign is to put a face on the foreign contract workers and other nonresidents who call the CNMI their home.
“The [federal] officials drafting regulations are thousands of miles from the CNMI and have not met with these people directly. The letters will give them a chance to get a clearer picture of who the people affected by the [federalization law] are, the contributions that they make to the community, and why they call the commonwealth home,” Doromal said.
Reyes said their group is very optimistic that their concerns will be considered by federal officials.
On Sunday, he said, their group will meet at the Kilili Beach Pavilion from 7 a.m.
For more information. Call 285-1820 or 789-0311.
