Rabby Syed, UMW president, said the proposed extension will cover skilled guest workers only.
The governor leaves for Washington, D.C. today to attend a conference of the nation’s governors and will meet with U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials to discuss his plan to extend the umbrella permits.
Syed said while there are still no regulations for the hiring of guest workers, they will ask the federal government to give nonresident workers status that will allow them to stay here even after the expiration of their umbrella permit.
“Can we really afford to continue the umbrella permit status? The CNMI and U.S. governments cannot even agree on what the status means and which government controls the workers under such permits,” he said.
The UWM also protested the omission of the guest workers’ testimonies regarding the CNMI Senate report regarding the future status of nonresidents, he said.
“We strongly believe that no one has any survey reflecting that the majority of alien workers in the CNMI are asking for FAS-like status,” Syed said in a statement to Variety.
He said the petition signed by over 7,000 people asking for green cards and a pathway to U.S. citizenship was omitted from the CNMI Senate report.
He said the Senate report also dismissed the “suffering and abuses” experienced by “ thousands of guest workers” in the CNMI.
“Thousands of workers without jobs hang on because they are owed money,” he said.
Their group, he added, will “protest the denial of our suffering and fact that there are millions of dollars in back wages owed to cheated workers.”
On Thursday, the UWM will march from the Kilili Pavilion to the multi-purpose center in Susupe where the Senate will conduct a public hearing on its recommendation to grant CNMI residency status to qualified guest workers in 2013.
Syed said the UWM will hold regular rallies, meetings, forums and marches to keep the issue in the forefront in Washington, D.C.
“As long as we are disenfranchised we will be second class citizens without a voice in our community,” he added.
The march will show unified support for workers’ rights, he said.
Syed said the UWM knew there are some guest workers on all three islands boycotting the hearings, arguing that only the U.S. Congress can decide on their immigration status.
He said the UWM respects all views because it wants all views to be recognized.
According to Syed, all alien workers want a stable status but most workers also hope for green cards and a pathway to U.S. citizenship.
“We know this because they have signed petitions, written letters and attended rallies calling for green cards,” he said.
He said most workers are hoping that the U.S. Congress will act quickly because the conditions of the workers are deteriorating.
“As the economy worsens, more workers are being cheated of wages,” he added.
