Governor Says Minimum Wage Hike Means End Of Garment Industry
(Saipan Tribune)
Governor Benigno Fitial says approval of a hike in the U.S. minimum wage, which now includes the Northern Marianas and American Samoa, means an end to what's left of the Saipan garment industry, the Saipan Tribune reports.
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Fiital, in an interview with the newspaper, said U.S. approval of the progressively rising minimum wage "would fast track the deminse of the local garment industry." Fiital is a former executive with Tan Holdings, which used to be the Northern Marianas' largest garment manufacturer. It ended garment manufacturing on Saipan late last year.
Northern Marianas legislator Ray Yumul says he'll introduce legislation to give tax breaks to local businesses, to try to offset the rise in the minimum wage.
Under the legislation passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, the U.S. federal minimum wage would rise from its current $5.15 per hour to $7.25 an hour over two years. Many states already have minimum wages higher than $5.15 per hour.
The Northern Marianas minimum wage is $3.05 an hour. Local workers at that level will see a rise in their hourly pay to $3.55 an hour in 60 days, and an increase to $4.05 an hour 10 months later. After that, the Northern Marianas minimum wage will continue to rise 50-cents an hour every year until the local rate matches the U.S. federal minimum wage.
Fitial and most Northern Marianas business leaders opposed the wage hike, saying it would hurt a commonwealth economy already devastated by a contracting garment industry and collapsing tourism sector.
http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=68875&cat=1
