HERMAN T. Palacios, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Labor and Immigration, will introduce a bill to either repeal or amend a law which he said adds financial burden to the government as it requires the Department of Labor and Immigration to spend for the repatriation and compensation of alien workers.
In an interview yesterday, Palacios, R-Saipan, said P.L. 11-66 makes the government “an indirect subsidiary” to the companies that closed shop and failed to fulfill their financial obligations to their nonresident workers.
P.L. 11-66 authorized the DOLI secretary to expend funds from the deportation fund to repatriate and compensate non-resident workers who were not able to collect damages that were awarded to them through administrative orders.
But Palacios argued that the only responsibility of the government should be the deportation expenses. This should exclude the payment of airfare and the employee’s compensation of $3,000 that should have been shouldered by the company.
“The government has no business in subsidizing a bankrupt company especially with the kind of financial turmoil that the CNMI is experiencing right now. It should be the responsibility of the company to shoulder the expenses of alien workers as stated in their employment contracts,” Palacios said.
Though he said that there is a provision in the law giving authority to the government to collect administrative awards on behalf of itself or the recipient, it nonetheless puts added burden to the government.
