DOL cites rampant labor abuses on Guam
Wednesday, 03 February 2010 01:55
by Jennifer Naylor Gesick | Variety News Staff
GUAM Department of Labor receives an average of 500 labor complaints a year, but many of the foreign workers seem unaware of their rights under the law, according to department director Maria Connelley.
Many of the foreign workers abandon their posts after filing a complaint with the department. “For whatever reason, when H2B workers come to us they fear to go back to work, so it is our responsibility to let H2 workers know that they have the same benefits and privileges of other U.S. workers," Connelley said.
Complaints include employers allegedly nonpayment of wages, withholding overtime pay and discrimination, but the percentage of cases resolution is not available as of press time.
Labor advocates warn of a possible increase in the number of labor abuse cases with the influx of H2 workers who will come to Guam for jobs related to military buildup.
To curb incidents of labor abuses, Connelley said the labor department offers educational classes to employers.
"At least once a year,” Connelley said, “we have a summit or a conference for all the employers with H2B (workers), and we bring in different administrators and speakers to address the local law and federal law,” the labor chief said in an interview with Variety after her presentation before the Rotary Club of Northern Guam at the Hyatt Regency Guam on Monday.
"We will continue to offer those courses, so that employers will continue to understand their obligation and requirement,” Connelley said.
Recently, five H2 workers from the Philippines filed a complaint against their employer, Prime Pacific Builders, alleging they have never been paid since they came to Guam in November.
“We told those five people to return to work, and we need to continue to emphasize that these foreign hires were brought here as guests,” Connelley said.
“When they didn’t return to work, the employer had the responsibility to report to the DOL. When these employees did not return to work, they have become illegal and they have to return home," she said.
When the employees came to the labor department, Connelley said she subpoenaed the employer and asked for the employees’ records.
“We were working with the employer to make it a win-win situation. However they didn’t return to work and then it became a separate issue from the wage and hour issue and it becomes an immigration issue," she explained.
The five workers, Ysrael Espinosa, Jhaniel Perez, Alejo Ongotan, Ernesto Maglaque and Benedicto Calaguas, Jr. paid their own way to come to Guam. They each paid between $1,500 and $2,000 for labor processing and plane tickets.
Their H2 visas were good until l October.
Connelley said the labor department is now investigating the workers’ employer, Noel Calaguas.
"It means that if these employers continue to violate or commit an infraction and in the future they submit a request to bring in temporary workers we may not endorse their request because they need to take care of their workers while they are there," the labor director said.
Showing posts with label H2B Program. Show all posts
Showing posts with label H2B Program. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
RP group likely to grow further
RP group likely to grow further
Tuesday, 29 December 2009 04:10
by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff
FOREIGN workers hired under the H2B program to fill the workforce void during the military buildup are likely to stay behind and make Guam their home, according to the draft environmental impact statement.
Based on multiple interviews with construction contractors familiar with Guam projects, it is expected that a large proportion of H2B workers will originate from the Philippines.
Furthermore, since two-thirds of Guam’s foreign-born population is from the Philippines, it is expected that most “stay-behind” workers and related future population growth would originate from there, stated the report.
Increased migration
The immersion of the migrant worker into the Guam population will further encourage increased migration, resulting in a population boom on island, the study said.
Many working immigrants are younger people who have children over time, so that their population impacts accrue gradually, the buildup planners stated in the report.
Typical to socioeconomic impact assessment and assumed in this analysis is the assumption that migrant households have an average household size either like the place where they come, or the place where they are going, in this case, Guam, which captures the probable long term population size.
The “out-migration” of these populations is also an issue. The question that remains to be answered is whether the temporary H-2B worker population will leave Guam when their time of employment ends. The report assumes that the H-2B population will leave as military construction concludes. However, there is a concern that out-migration might not be so prompt.
While employers of H2B workers are required to prove that workers have left Guam once the particular project the worker was brought in for is completed, there are anecdotal reports of “stay-behind” H2B workers who have married Guam residents and in that way become permanent residents.
’Stay-behind migrants’
There are also concerns that migrants from freely associated states and the CNMI who come to Guam for construction-period jobs but either do not become employed or lose those jobs may stay on Guam as well, according to the report.
FAS and CNMI migrants have the status of U.S. citizens and can migrate within the U.S. without constraint. Developing an estimated number of “stay-behind” H2B workers is problematic because the factors involved are each difficult to measure and produce ambiguous results. Nonetheless, studies do show that stay-behind workers can be expected.
Finally, the Guam Department of Labor has concerns that immigration flows stemming from temporary workers can generate more immigrants than there were visas originally allocated.
It was also noted that U.S. immigration policy can inherently lead to increased immigration over-time, wherein family members apply to have relatives immigrate, increasing the number of immigrants.
Tuesday, 29 December 2009 04:10
by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff
FOREIGN workers hired under the H2B program to fill the workforce void during the military buildup are likely to stay behind and make Guam their home, according to the draft environmental impact statement.
Based on multiple interviews with construction contractors familiar with Guam projects, it is expected that a large proportion of H2B workers will originate from the Philippines.
Furthermore, since two-thirds of Guam’s foreign-born population is from the Philippines, it is expected that most “stay-behind” workers and related future population growth would originate from there, stated the report.
Increased migration
The immersion of the migrant worker into the Guam population will further encourage increased migration, resulting in a population boom on island, the study said.
Many working immigrants are younger people who have children over time, so that their population impacts accrue gradually, the buildup planners stated in the report.
Typical to socioeconomic impact assessment and assumed in this analysis is the assumption that migrant households have an average household size either like the place where they come, or the place where they are going, in this case, Guam, which captures the probable long term population size.
The “out-migration” of these populations is also an issue. The question that remains to be answered is whether the temporary H-2B worker population will leave Guam when their time of employment ends. The report assumes that the H-2B population will leave as military construction concludes. However, there is a concern that out-migration might not be so prompt.
While employers of H2B workers are required to prove that workers have left Guam once the particular project the worker was brought in for is completed, there are anecdotal reports of “stay-behind” H2B workers who have married Guam residents and in that way become permanent residents.
’Stay-behind migrants’
There are also concerns that migrants from freely associated states and the CNMI who come to Guam for construction-period jobs but either do not become employed or lose those jobs may stay on Guam as well, according to the report.
FAS and CNMI migrants have the status of U.S. citizens and can migrate within the U.S. without constraint. Developing an estimated number of “stay-behind” H2B workers is problematic because the factors involved are each difficult to measure and produce ambiguous results. Nonetheless, studies do show that stay-behind workers can be expected.
Finally, the Guam Department of Labor has concerns that immigration flows stemming from temporary workers can generate more immigrants than there were visas originally allocated.
It was also noted that U.S. immigration policy can inherently lead to increased immigration over-time, wherein family members apply to have relatives immigrate, increasing the number of immigrants.
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