It should be also clear now to guest workers who are still hoping against hope that these regs will not improve their status. Federalization’s aim is zero guest workers, and starting on Nov. 28 several restrictions will be imposed on their presence here.
True, the federalization law requires Interior to submit a report to the U.S. Congress regarding guest workers, but the hoped-for upgrade in status, if recommended by Interior and the CNMI governor, still requires legislation introduced in Congress, passed by both houses and signed by the U.S. president. How long will that process take, assuming that Interior and the CNMI governor support improved status? Meanwhile, what will happen to the local economy when it can no longer hire or retain the workers it needs? Do we really expect that CNMI government employees who have enjoyed high salaries and benefits for little or no work will be willing to transfer to restaurants, hotels, gas stations, etc? What prevents them from joining other locals who have already moved to Guam or the states? Why then will new investors do business in a place with a shrinking labor pool and consumer base? And what guarantees do current guest workers have that their employers can remain afloat in this dying economy in the next two or three years? Will there be any guest workers left when Washington — assuming it will — finally acts to improve their status?
Federalization’s immediate and direct impact will be felt by guest workers and their employers. The next to complain will be CNMI government employees. DPS personnel are already up in arms over the austerity measures. Soon, there will be more public sector workers staging rallies on Capital Hill. Eventually, they will realize the connection between the existence of their jobs and the presence of guest workers, but by then, it may be too late to do anything about it.
An economy in shambles cannot pay for the needs of the CNMI government, the main employer of local residents. It was this guest worker-dependent economy that helped fund the salaries of government employees, retirement benefits, scholarships, healthcare, homesteads and other goodies that were taken for granted by residents.
How can the government afford all this if there is no economy to speak of? It can’t.
But, some say, at least the “abuse” of guest workers will finally end. They’re right. The “abuse” will end because, in the long run, under federalization, there will be no guest worker left.
Under the current system, for every guest worker who arrived here for a job that didn’t exist and who was shafted by his employee, there were a lot more who were lawfully employed, were so satisfied with living and working here that they had created families and raised U.S. citizen children born on an island with a beautiful environment and, despite the burglaries now and then, a way lower crime rate than these workers’ home countries. For every “abused” guest worker, there were several others who were able to buy their dream houses in their countries, send their siblings and kids to good schools and improve their families’ lives.
But their stories were not as sensational and heart-rending as the few who were abused by their employers. Moreover, the guest workers who have remained here for so long wanted more. They believed that federalization should give them more than just their jobs in the CNMI. They assumed that improved status was a given once the U.S. Congress passed the legislation. So they resorted to in-your-face advocacy which, however, was considered insensitive, ungrateful and disrespectful by the local people — the same folks whose support and lobbying could have helped secure improved status for guest workers.
For their part, CNMI government officials, who should have known better, decided to cast their lot with one of the nation’s two major political parties in an attempt to fend off federalization in the early 1990s. By alienating the other party, which was in the minority then, the CNMI won the battle — while ensuring that it would lose the war once the political cycle in D.C. turned. And it did, beginning in the 2006 U.S. elections.
Instead of relying on D.C. lobbyists, CNMI politicians should have raised awareness in the community about why the private sector must be able to hire and retain its workforce, and why guest workers should be provided a more permanent status. Through patient consultations with residents and nonresidents, common ground could have been established. But it was way easier to postpone making hard decisions and give in to short-term political needs.
Federalization, to be sure, is good. But not for guest workers. And not for CNMI government employees. It is good because the islands will revert to an economy, government and population comparable to what they had in the TT days. And how good was that?
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