THE administration and the Office of the Washington Representative are drafting legislation on local wages with the help of the federal government.
The legislation will be introduced in Congress by a U.S. lawmaker.
In an interview yesterday, Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio said he and Gov. Juan N. Babauta discussed wage legislation patterned after the “federally designed” American Samoa tiered wage system.
“That system involves setting wages for different industries designed and implemented by a commission that will be set up to review and determine the rates of minimum wages per industry,” Tenorio said.
He said the system “is working very well in American Samoa and it involves some degree of federal involvement.”
But he was quick to add that federal involvement is not tantamount to a “takeover.”
Tenorio said the system that would be set up would be “fair and responsive to the current trend and condition of the CNMI economy.”
U.S. lawmakers have already realized the “negative implication” of applying an across the board gradual increase in the local minimum wage rate, he said. He added, however, that the past performance of the Legislature on wage increase was “shabby.”
In developing a tiered wage system, he said the CNMI would be helped by the federal government in coming out with a measure “consistent with a practical and fair wage system that recognizes the strength and weaknesses of each industry.”
Tenorio, however, said the legislation “will not be done overnight as all stakeholders should be heard first.”
“A lot of brainstorming will be done and there also should be a reliable comprehensive study,” he said.
Under the American Samoa tiered wage system, minimum wage rates on an industry by industry basis are determined by a special industry wage committee whose members are appointed by the secretary of labor.
The American Samoa tiered wage law has become a part of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The special industry wage committee should be composed of “a number of disinterested persons representing the public, one of whom the administrator shall designate as chairman, a like number of persons representing employees in the industry and a like number representing employers in the industry.”
The committee is tasked to review minimum wages for various industries every two years. It investigates conditions in the industry or hear witnesses and receive evidence necessary to determine the wage rate for a specific industry.
The panel will recommend to the administrator the highest minimum wage rates for the industry but without giving any industry in American Samoa a competitive advantage over any industry in the U.S.
