Labor authorities in the United States have ordered contractors in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to pony up a total of $13.9 million in back wages and damages to 2,400 workers who came from China to build the Imperial Pacific Resort.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) announced that four China-based construction contractors—MCC International Saipan Ltd. Co., Beilida New Materials System Engineering Co. Ltd., Gold Mantis Construction Decoration, and Sino Great Wall International Engineering Co. LLC—were found to have paid its workforce “less than the minimum wage and overtime pay” required by the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division said the Chinese workers contracted by MCC, Beilida, and Gold Mantis were brought to Saipan under the tourist visa waiver program, noting that these “tourists” worked on the casino development site without the proper work visas.
The employees had to pay for their own airfare and recruitment fees, resulting in at least $6,000 of debt, according to the U.S. labor department officials.
MCC was the main contractor of Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings (IPI), but the two had a falling out in 2017 after it was revealed that the contractor employed a significant number of illegal aliens. IPI hired Guam-based contractor Pacific Rim Constructors to replace MCC, ensuring it meets construction deadlines on the Imperial Pacific Resort.
Bryan Jarrett, acting administrator of Wage and Hour Division, said the settlement order negotiated by the department’s Office of the Solicitor sends “a strong, clear message to other employers” that anyone the U.S. government will level the playing field “regardless of where work is performed in the U.S. or its territories.”
“Employers who evade the law in an attempt to reduce expenses must not gain a competitive advantage over those who play by the rules,” Jarrett said in a statement.
