Jesse Aquiningoc claims the company has refused to pay him his salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Northern Mariana Islands.- A few weeks after\u00a0resigning as IPI’s construction team leader<\/a>,\u00a0Jesse Aquiningoc\u00a0<\/strong>has told Mariana’s Variety that the company still owes him his salary plus $4,000 in paid time off accumulated over two years. Aquiningoc also accused the company of wanting him and 15 other workers to continue working on a reduced salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to the lack of payments, the former IPI worker says had to borrow money and go into debt with family and friends. He said the company had asked him not to speak to the media but that he had to do so to make visible the damage caused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aquiningoc led a team of construction workers tasked to remove the remaining tower cranes still on top of IPI\u2019s unfinished casino-hotel building in Garapan<\/strong>. The company\u2019s management said it was waiting for the US Department of Labour to release $250,000 in bail to pay IPI\u2019s workers and remove the tower crane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aquiningoc said: “How many illegal acts does IPI have to do for government officials or the CNMI governor to come to the rescue of all IPI employees that have suffered the same as I did?\u00a0I have called the Office of the Governor to schedule a meeting with the governor\u2026but nothing has been done to schedule a meeting.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n IPI has bought itself more time thanks to a ruling in its favour that postponed the hearing to decide whether its casino licence will be permanently revoked.\u00a0Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona<\/strong>\u00a0issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) from holding\u00a0the hearing scheduled for May 24<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In her report, Manglona explained that the damage IPI could suffer from the cancellation of the licence far outweighs the possible damage to the CCC. In addition, she ordered the regulator to appear at a hearing on June 2<\/strong> to explain why a preliminary injunction should not be issued.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCNMI Court postpones CCC hearing on IPI casino licence for second time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n