Johns right - We dont need to wait around to find out what the Feds do. We should be training our people now and doing what we need to do to make sure we have a capable workforce and opportunities for good employment. And Edith is right - We need to ensure our citizens have employment. We have an obligation to do this. And our Congressman Kilili is right - We need to see a pathway to citizenship for those whove worked and contributed here for many years. Leveling the playing field will be beneficial to all workers. Regardless of what everyones individual beliefs about labor might be, in this instance, the goals are the same... to ensure that we have the adequate trained workforce we will need. And ensure that it is an empowered workforce that is a permanent part of this community, and is cared for by this community, and that is invested in this community. That said, until we accept that we will never maintain an adequate workforce without appropriate coinciding pay... we will always struggle to maintain that workforce. Lets be honest here... a trained electrician, who is a US citizen, is not going to work for too long for $5.50 an hour. Neither is a good mechanic, or a good welder, or a good roofer, or a good carpenter, or a good accountant, etc. This disingenuous excuse that the private sector has used for decades, that it is all about training, ignores the fact that Chamorros, and Carolinians and Micronesians, go to work in an assortment of jobs all over the US. I know some amazing auto mechanics, aircraft mechanics, accountants, large engine mechanics, print specialists, and hotel managers, all of whom grew up here, but dont work here. Why? Because for decades, enterprise here has not had to hire a citizen workforce at a realistic wage. That is it. If the wages were adequate, people would come out of the woodwork to seek training and apply for jobs. When the post office or TSA has a job opening, over one hundred people regularly apply for the jobs. When IT&E advertises for a position, theyre bombarded with applicants. Why? Because they pay an adequate wage. That is it. There is no magical formula. When the larger private sector pays an adequate wage, there will be no difficulty finding and keeping good resident employees. Its good to see many businesses hiring and training resident workers. Too many, however, continue to hold out for some hope that an avenue to low cost labor will remain available to them. It is time for this to end. Investing in our residents and paying adequately is long overdue. Empowering those whove labored for us for ten, twenty and thirty years is long overdue.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 09:49:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015