Efren Atalig, chief of staff of Mayor Melchor A. Mendiola, said the checks represented two weeks of work at $4.55 per hour.
Since Feb. 28, the nurses have been receiving the minimum wage rate although their actual rate ranges from $8 to $9.20 per hour.
SEAS president Jimmy Cruz said he was not informed by the mayor’s office about the release of the pay checks.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said.
Usually, it is SEAS that will pay its workers once the company gets paid by the government.
The Rota checks should have been released last Friday.
Atalig said they do not know if the 10 SEAS nurses can resume working for the Rota Health Center.
He said three directly hired nurses and assistant nurses continue to provide healthcare services at the center.
The SEAS personnel are no longer reporting for work due to a lack of a new contract.
On Tinian, Rep. Trenton B. Conner said the nurses hired by SEAS were able to get paid on Friday.
But he said they have yet to deal with the employment status of the nurses because there are “legal considerations” between SEAS and the government.
He said their main focus now is to secure funds for the nurses’ salary until the end of fiscal year 2010 on Sept. 30.
The employment status of the SEAS-hired medical personnel will be “under negotiation,” he added.
He doesn’t know whether SEAS will renew the contracts of the nurses or if the government will directly hire them.
