Holes in the umbrella

Okay, Over 80 percent of guest workers to get umbrella permit, according to the Marianas Variety.

How about 'almost 20 percent of guest workers won't get umbrella permits', instead? That's a lot of slippage.

Some of those presently in the system may have already departed the Commonwealth, Deanne Siemer is supposed to have explained to the reporter. Well, that certainly makes me feel better. They're in control.

Somebody is. Siemer is described as "Labor’s part-time hearing officer" in this story; it's usually "volunteer legal adviser". Why is this part-time volunteer so often the 'spokesperson'? (It's not the newspapers' fault. Has anyone seen her business card to clear this up?)

It bothers me that the percentage is that high. Are one-in-five guest workers here illegally? Are they going to try to hang on illegally for a few more years? Maybe that many people have given up on trying to find work and just want to go home. And, yes, I'm sure some have already left.

Urban legend visas

Or maybe they're the people Jaime R. Vergara was talking about in his opinion piece Stragglers under the Commonwealth umbrella. It's a must-read for anyone in denial about the very large group of exploited workers.

Yes, they're "incredibly gullible", he says, "a docile population of foreigners exploited by their own kind, oblivious of any political rights, and reliant on fortune tellers and fast-buck schemes..."

They're about to pay for their mistakes, or pay later if they go back underground for awhile. A lucky few might find an advocate and take their exploiters down with them. The people who gamed the system will move on, looking for another scam. The people who created the system will try to rewrite history: 'Not Our Fault.'

I've still been hearing about 'tourist' and 'sponsor' schemes this year. It hasn't stopped. Vergara says "I saw copies of identical pleadings for a waiver addressed to no less than Labor’s celebrated volunteer asking that the waiver be granted to an overstaying tourist and a jobless consort so that they may be allowed time to seek other partners, apply for an Immediate Relative status, and qualify for the umbrella permit!"

According to Vergara, "Shanty dwellings with their ubiquitous satellite dishes house many aliens who expect the feds to start handing out urban legend visas come December." Sad, but I have to agree with him.

I was pulling up to YCO Hardware this morning and saw a flyer for a Black Friday Sale on Nov. 27. Wow, I thought, they really don't like the feds. Oops, the day after Thanksgiving is supposed to be the start of the Christmas shopping season. My bad, I hadn't seen anybody use it out here

And how absurd is it?

I've been having a hard time writing about Saipan lately.

It's just that things have gotten so absurd that it isn't funny. Except that it is. I can picture some late-night comedian saying "it's so ridiculous that...."

The Governor proclaims a State of Emergency because the Power Plant may blow up.

The U.S. Congress adds a special 'CNMI only' labor category because the local government says existing rules will Osterize our economy-- and the Governor wants to sue because no other U.S. jurisdiction has to put up with these onerous requirements.

The closed-door meeting to push for his suit has to be postponed because of a power outage.

The public is brought into the discussion when the Governor posts his talking points on You Tube.

My son asks me if it's true that the (new) Public Utility Commission is to blame for our power problems as the Governor claims.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation has more liabilities than assets but the Legislature wants to require a minimum bid for privatization.

Questionable hiring practices have plagued CUC, but the Legislature wants to ensure jobs are "protected" during privatization.

There's no money in the budget for retirement contributions but the Retirement Fund is being asked to risk its dwindling reserves investing in CUC.

The government is bloated (also see retirement contributions) but is trying to argue that there just aren't enough local workers to staff private businesses.

CUC keeps promising to train local workers this time if they just get another extension to hire contract workers.

The Northern Marianas College's director for institutional advancement moves over to shaky private Emmanuel College.

That's just off the top of my head. Now, what did I miss?

The Windmill Power Revolution

If the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation got some windmills up, maybe some of our leaders would stop attacking the federal government.

Hard on the heels of Oscar Rasa's impassioned (and shrill) appearance on the John Gonzales Show* Gov. Benigno R. Fitial paid for a special edition to announce he may sue the feds over the new labor law. The Saipan Tribune has the story; it must have been past the Marianas Variety's bedtime.

Acting Labor Secretary Cinta Kaipat and "Special" Legal Counsel Howard Willens rounded out the show, with a special guest appearance by Mel Gray of Immigration.

The Governor's not suing, mind you, just jetting off to ask a law firm if he should. I believe the stock answer is "Where's the check?" Gonzales, to his credit, did ask how much this was going to cost, but Willens didn't really answer. All of the 'panelists' sounded like they were lobbying against a proposed bill.

Suing to sue or suing to negotiate? Doesn't matter, does it? Just stop. The law has passed; deal with it. Have at amending it. Dig in when the regulations are being written.

(Cutting) In the same vein

Oh, we can't forget Rep. Stanley M. Torres and his resurrected proposal to "reexamine" the Covenant.

It's a good thing the Commonwealth is flush, otherwise it would be upsetting to see these gentlemen trying to flush money away.


* Two questions: Am I reading too much into the tone of his questions? It sounds like the Covenant Party has a Washington Delegate candidate after all; and, I haven't read the law in 20 years, but is it legal for Gonzales to hold down both jobs?

Here it comes

Who'd have guessed it? Hard on the heels of S.2739 being sent to President Bush, the Governors of American Samoa and the Northern Marianas are asking to put off this month's minimum wage increase--or for $15 million each.

S.2739 would extend U.S. immigration and some labor laws to the Commonwealth. The CNMI and American Samoa minimum wage will jump fifty cents to $4.05 on May 25.

The money's a good idea, if they can get it, even if it's frittered away as usual.

But really, I'm amazed they're still trying to block the minimum wage. Now they're on the other side, particularly in the Senate. They not only need a majority, they need a large majority to make any changes. It just...won't...happen.

Maybe it's in their contracts with the Saipan and American Samoa Chambers of Commerce.

And they have to bring up that tired, worthless Department of Labor report again.

Pshaw.

Guess worker

I heard a rumor today that S.2739 had passed the House, bringing us one step closer to the wonderful world of U.S. Immigration and Labor laws. Not true, of course, but it made me decide to tie a string around my blog with the box in the upper left of this page. We won't be fooled again.

A salesman friend told me the story; we've been having a running conversation about the feds for about 18 months and he hears some hilarious hokum on the coconut telegraph. My view: he was hearing tales from liars or dreamers. Wishful thinking.

He'd even heard that illegal ('Out of Status' in U.S. newspeak) workers would get a break as soon as the bill was signed. That was my chance to be boring at great length about existing contracts, transition periods and the arcana of proposing and finally promulgating regulations. I predicted a complicated and uncertain time for legal workers. When his eyes unglazed, I said the others had no chance: it wasn't in the bill and the No Amnesty crowd in the mainland would crucify anyone who added it to the regulations.

The only prediction I would make at this point is that nobody will like what INS, Labor and their pals come up with. Not enough for guest workers, too much for large businesses and a paperwork blizzard for small businesses. Large processing fees. Residents will have to wait a year, or five, for things to settle down. More pocket money, sure, but energy costs are forcing businesses to raise prices and higher labor costs just add a percentage to that percentage. Expect to run if you want to stay even.

Think of it as methadone, weaning the CNMI from its addiction to unlimited cheap labor.

Nobody's Fault But Mine

Oh, I ran across John Bowe's website while I was checking on the bill. You might remember him as the author of Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy. I recommend the book, the Saipan section is pretty good. If you haven't bought or borrowed it you can get a pretty good synopsis by puttering around in the stories and links.


And...an update: over on Unheard No More there's a link that says there will be a vote on S.2739 next Tuesday (Wednesday afternoon here).

Fed up

Let's blame the feds. “Federalization” is the Marianas' new code word for everybody's dreams and fears. A bastardized modifier that is usually made meaningless by being used as a subject.

Everything will get better if we federalize. Or worse. Federalize what? The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation? Some people are so confused by the constant demagoguery that they actually expect that to happen. Okay, the real subject, when opportunists and obfuscators aren't trying to score points, is U.S. control of local labor and immigration laws.

Sure, I expect this to work about as well as the pacification of Iraq. But who's to blame?

The feds didn't chase Japan Airlines away, they didn't let Continental Airlines abandon us for Guam. They didn't mortgage Saipan's (and the CNMI's) future for the notoriously fly-by-night garment industry.

Look a little closer to home. It's popular to blame the factories, and I wouldn't even attempt to explain their well-documented abuses away. But they're businesses. They buy cheap (including malleable politicians) and sell dear (the bag we're left holding). They use loopholes like Headnote 3(a) and they push laws and regulations to the limit—some beyond the limit if there's no enforcement. They lobby to keep wages low.

The federal government noticed. So we trundled off to Washington and said, look we know the wage is low, but we fixed it ourselves. No need for “federalization”. The law was unpassed as soon as the immediate crisis was over. We lied to the U.S. Congress.

Plan B was a doozy too. Let's abandon our bipartisan support in Washington and hook up with the sleaziest lobbyist we can find. As a reward, we can read about Saipan sweatshops every time we Google Jack Abramoff. Trips, cash and skyboxes for a few well-connected now-discredited panderers thwarted the will of Congress.

A dangerous game, and they play hardball in the big leagues. Like my beloved San Francisco Giants, our steroidal superstar is gone, with nothing left but swelled heads and shrunken gonads. Oh, and Grand Juries.

So there was an election, the roadblocks disappeared and the legislators who were played and blocked re-introduced their bills. They don't believe our promises and they don't trust our lobbyists. They certainly don't expect our politicians to do anything.

Who can blame them?

Now we can talk

Those pesky Washington folks are gone, so the spinmeisters can get back to business as usual.

Govt, biz sector united on immigration issue(Saipan Tribune), for instance. Sed who? Said the SEDC*, I think. It's co-chairpersons are the only sources quoted in the Front Page article press release, but the only attribution is a teeny PR at the very bottom of the jump page.

"In a meeting with the Strategic Economic Development Council Tuesday, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial agreed with the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, and other business organizations to develop a joint position that will press for continued use of the economic tools provided under the Covenant." Sed who? OK, you get the point.

In case you're just a local or alien worker, don't worry, your concerns are being addressed too. After all, "continued use of the economic tools" couldn't be about anyone else.

Let's flip over to the Marianas Variety and see if we can solve this mystery. Sure enough, Administration: No to wage, immigration federalization, and this from Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. Helpfully, the Variety also has the same quotes as the Tribune and says they're from a SEDC* statement.

Reyes went on to mention "a fear that local people would be disenfranchised". Wow. How could I have missed that? You mean the feds are planning to take away the vote, or U.S. citizenship? How does enfranchising one group disfranchise another? Maybe he means their vote will be diluted.

That's a troubling idea, and I think the Chamber of Commerce should look into it. After all, it's the Saipan CoC, and foreign investors should pay dues for ten or twenty years before they're allowed to vote. We wouldn't want to disfranchise local businesses.

* SEDC, the Strategic Economic Development Council. Everybody knows what it is: a group of local businesspersons, according to the Marianas Variety.

Well, that's not quite right. It's The Office of the Governor’s Strategic Economic Development Council, according to the Saipan Garment Factory Association, and they really seem insistent about that.

It's obviously important because DUE TO LACK OF QUORUM SNILD cancels session again (Saipan Tribune).

Let's go to the source. A Front Page Press Release printed in the Saipan Tribune, says that SEDC is comprised of private sector industry leaders and top government officials working toward CNMI economic development. I'm glad we got that cleared up.

Nisei for a new century?

Somebody please tell me I'm wrong.

I just pulled up the Pacific Times on the internet, realizing I keep forgetting it's around. It's easy to do, because I can't take that rag very seriously. You know, the people who thought things were Pretty Darn Good before the gubernatorial election and let the voters convince them that they were Pretty Darn Better instead. It seems a broadsheet can make an excellent weathervane.

But if you want to know the Covenant Party Line there's probably no better place in print.

The headline 'America will be just'* caught my eye. Normally I don't pay much attention to politicians' speeches at a soldier's funeral. They're meant to be a comfort to the family, and I hope they are. And, of course, no one is cynical enough to try scoring political points:

"Our boys will continue to fight and die for American policy objectives in Iraq and around the world, wherever they may be called into action. And I do know that our local community will continue to support our troops as loyal and patriotic Americans, in much the same way that second generation Japanese-Americans served during World War II," Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said in a speech during a solemn mass held at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral.

The emphasis, of course, is mine. Did the U.S. declare war on the Commonwealth? Maybe I'm reading too much into that. Or maybe not:

He added, "And in the end, I believe America will be just and that the sacrifice of our boys will not have been in vain."

Is this where the administration is headed on labor and immigration issues?

*Sorry, you have to navigate to it through the Local News tab, none of the stories link. Well, Maybe they do. One of my browsers helpfully shows a choice of titles like 'most read story' with an identifying number, but that looks like the sort of thing that's temporary.