by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - The Department of Labor doesn't believe the governor should remove the continued certification of foreign labor at the Guam Shipyard. The request was recently made by Vice Speaker B.J. Cruz, who has been critical of the H2b workforce at the Guam Shipyard.

Department of Labor Alien Labor and Processing Certification Division administrator Greg Massey says the department was aware the Shipyard is cutting hours in certain shops due to a lack of work from the Navy, but he disagrees that revocation is necessary. "To revoke a labor certification, you would have to have extreme grounds to do that. When a company brings in H2 workers and the work that they said they have falls through then we ask them to send home workers. And the Shipyard is sending home 13 workers. They reported that today. They're cutting the H2 workforce," said Massey.

Massey says his division will analyze the h2b worker situation and ensure the shipyard is not overstaffed with foreign workers. He stresses the division is very critical of the requests for H2 workers saying there is a stringent process in place to ensure the local workforce isn't passed up for available jobs, but Massey notes that many residents do not apply or do not meet the requirements for a number of jobs being advertised.

Vice Speaker Cruz has been critical of the department saying more scrutiny is needed to ensure the island's unemployed are given jobs before they are given to foreign laborers.