Micronesian Telecommunications Corporation, Petitioner/cross-Respondent v. National Labor Relations Board, Respondent/cross-Petitioner

I

OVERVIEW

Micronesian Telecommunications Corp. (MTC) petitions for review of an NLRB order directing it to bargain with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1357. The NLRB has filed a cross petition for enforcement of its order.

II

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

The Northern Mariana Islands are the sixteen northern-most major islands in the Micronesian Chain. Saipan, the largest of these islands, lies 3900 miles west of Honolulu, and 5600 miles southwest of Los Angeles. Guam is 45 miles south of Rota, 135 miles south of Tinian, and 150 miles south of Saipan.

Saipan has a population of approximately 17,000 inhabitants; 87% of the total population of the Northern Marianas. The dominant ethnic group within the Northern Marianas population is the Chamorros, who are of the same origin as the indigenous Guamanians.

The Japanese ruled the Mariana Islands from the beginning of World War I until the United States invaded Saipan in June of 1944. From then until 1947, when the United Nations designated Micronesia as a Trust Territory, these islands were an American possession. From July 1947 to November 1986, the United States administered the Northern Mariana…