Saipan’s Commonwealth Casino Commission has opened an investigation into another contractor of Imperial Pacific International (IPI) suspected of illegally hiring Chinese workers.
The Singapore-based company cmcmacau.com has produced baccarat tables for IPI’s soon to be opened Imperial Pacific Resort casino, however as reported in Marianas Variety it is not a registered business or employer in the commonwealth. The company’s workers are also claiming they are yet to be paid.
Commonwealth Casino Commission Executive Director Edward Deleon Guerrero said, “when [cmcmacau.com] came out here, they [were not] employers but … representatives of a contractor that constructs tables [for the casino].”
Workers interviewed by Marianas Variety told the newspaper they were employed by cmcmacau.com or MCC, another IPI contractor. They also said they were owed between two to six months’ worth of wages and were planning to stage a protest on Thursday.
The construction of IPI’s new Saipan resort has been shrouded in controversy following the death of a 43-year-old Chinese national after falling from scaffolding on site on 22 March. FBI agents later raided the offices of one of those contractors, MCC International, where it arrested two people for employing 189 illegal workers.
Last week, 92 Chinese workers who also claimed to have entered the island as tourists returned home after finally receiving months’ worth of unpaid wages from contractor Gold Mantis
In April, IPI released a statement declaring its opposition to the employment of illegal workers by companies involved in the construction of Imperial Pacific Resort.
“Imperial Pacific unequivocally states that it does not endorse illegal labor or immigration practices,” the statement said. “It is a requirement and condition of employment that all employees of Imperial Pacific must comply with immigration laws and regulations.
“Imperial Pacific is under strenuous obligations and will continue to enforce company policies and implement measures that comply and further strengthen its compliance with local and federal laws and regulations, especially those that govern and promote legal labor and immigration practices.”
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