He says Commonwealth Legislature should raise the minimum wage
Delegate Gregorio 'Kilili' Camacho Sablan is pleased by the Bank of Hawaii's decision to raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour beginning Monday and praised the corporation for showing leadership.
The bank said the money it saved from the new federal tax law allows the increase. The $15 per hour amount is considered to be a “living wage” in Hawaii and will be paid to employees in the Northern Marianas and other locations where the bank has branches, including Guam.
The bank also announced a $1,000 cash bonus for 2,074 of its employees, 95 percent of the bank’s total workforce.
Sablan said he did not want to compare the Bank of Hawaii cannot be compared to a small local businesses, but suggested that it would be good policy to push larger CNMI businesses to raise wages to a living range level.
Governor Ralph Torres has testified that the Commonwealth Legislature plans to raise the CNMI minimum wage and that a higher wage will bring more local residents into the workforce and help reduce the need for foreign workers.