In order for our Port members to have an active collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the Governor must sign the CBA.  The CBA has been approved and signed by the Chairman of the Port Board of Directors and signed by the General Manager of the Port on November 5, 2012.  GFT ratified the agreement on November 16, 2012.  

GFT has been waiting for the Governor’s final signature since GFT officially submitted the CBA on January 22, 2013 to the Governor’s Central Office.  In March, the Governor’s representative, Troy Torres, informed GFT, via email, that the Attorney General’s Office needed to review the CBA.  In an effort to move the process, GFT delivered the CBA to the Attorney General’s office on March 19, 2013.  GFT representatives attempted several times to follow up with the Attorney General’s office but were denied access to any information on the Port CBA.  However, GFT received alarming news from the Marianas Variety which recently published an article stating that the Attorney General’s office has sent the CBA back to the Port GM on April 11.  The CBA should have been sent to the Governor’s office for his final signature rather than the Port GM as confirmed by Port Board Chairman, Dan Tydingco, in the Marianas Variety.  We thank Mr. Tydingco’s efforts in recognizing the error in the process and look forward to the final signature from the Governor so that Port members may work with the protection of a much needed CBA.