THE mayors of the CNMI unite to join the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and the business community across the Marianas to advocate and express their support for the passage HR 1420 which seeks to delay the “touchback” requirement. The touchback provision under the NMI U.S. Workforce Act of 2018 mandates CW-1 permit holders to leave the CNMI for at least 30 days before applying for their third renewal.
NMI mayors believe that this rule, combined with extensive processing times, is creating uncertainties for businesses in the CNMI which is significantly disrupting labor availability and economic stability.
“While the CNMI has made great strides to train our local workforce to reduce reliance on foreign labor, the fact is, there are significant number of positions that remain unfilled due either to lack of skilled labor or human resources to fill critical positions in the service industry which are vital to our tourism industry and our economic sustainability” stated the mayors in a joint statement.
“We need to have a common-sense approach to this critical issue based on data which compares the human resources needs of various industries versus the actual availability of an employable market pool. The business sector is the backbone of our economy, and they are telling us that this current requirement is impacting project timelines and increasing cost of doing business. We are also hearing from the public sector that this rule is having an impact on the delivery of critical health care services.
View the full Marianas Variety article here:
https://www.mvariety.com/news/nmi-mayors-united-on-need-to-amend-touchback/article_9e148b1e-3b6e-11ee-af04-c78d839f643a.html
