IPI “firm in commitment” to CNMI
Sixty workers recently laid off from Saipan’s Imperial Pacific Resort gathered at the casino on November 23 to demand more information about their dismissals and complain about minimal severance packages. Imperial Pacific International, operator of the resort, said the layoffs were unavoidable following widespread damage from Typhoon Yutu, which struck the western Pacific island last month.
The workers gathered carried signs that said, “We need answers” and “Hear us!” A designated spokesman, Joseph Noel Napasaran, said the workers received no support from management after the typhoon, “then suddenly, this mass layoff of employees,” according to Marianas Variety. He added, “What really hurts is that after we have served IPI for a long-time, they did not even bother to give us an early notice that we were going to be laid off. Instead, they called us group by group on separate days so no one could complain.”
Napasaran said workers received a seven-day severance package and approved leave credits. “What will happen to us? Seven-day severance pay? It’s not enough.” For one employee, a mechanical engineer, the package amounted to $4,000. For another, a maintenance worker, the package came to $1,700. Since November 12, the workers added, more than 200 employees have been laid off and an additional 300 could follow.
Commonwealth Casino Commission Chairman Juan Sablan said IPI reduced its workforce to avoid the “worst-case scenario,” a total shutdown.
“The action is justified and understandable,” he said. “I am hoping that IPI and the other businesses recover quickly from this devastation, but recovery takes time. We do need the tourists to come here again, but we don’t want them to see junk everywhere. If I were a tourist, why would I come here to see nothing but debris and fallen trees? It will take some time before we can return to normal operations.”
He appealed to workers for understanding. “IPI did not anticipate this kind of devastation. I hope the workers understand the situation. Everybody is suffering now. Some areas on island still don’t have water and power. This storm is one of the strongest in U.S. history. At least IPI’s construction continues. They are still committed to finish the project and they have just re-opened the casino rather than closing it.”
On November 25, Imperial Pacific issued a statement saying the company has been “plagued with challenges but remains firm in its commitment to fulfill its obligations to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”
