Over 50 construction workers engaged in a casino resort project on the Pacific island of Saipan protested on Friday, demanding payment. Their employer, MCC International Saipan, was found to have been using illegal Chinese workers who entered the country with tourist visas.
“MCC return my hard earned money”, read a protest banner.
MCC, a division of state-owned Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd., is the subcontractor hired by Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific to complete the construction of the Best Sunshine Live casino.
Imperial Pacific have issued a press release in which they strongly disapprove of the practice of employing workers by illegal means.
According to a court document, MCC and Beilida Overseas (CNMI) Ltd were charged by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on April 3 with illegally importing and employing Chinese workers, one of which died in March.
Imperial Pacific opened its new casino on March 31 but the adjoining resort remains under construction. There has been a large number of work-site injuries (over 100) ranging from fractures to crushings in the past year, according to a Reuters report.