U.S. Senate Delays Wage Hikes In Samoan Tuna Industryff

Source: Samoa News

StarKist Co. is “pleased” to learn that the U.S Senate approved last Friday a further delay in the minimum wage hikes in American Samoa, while the company’s local cannery operations are currently shut down for their annual two week Christmas holiday.

The delay in minimum wage hike was included in the Insular Area Act, now with the U.S. House for consideration and if the bill is approved, the hikes will be further delayed until 2015.

“...we are hopeful that the [U.S] House will also approve the legislation soon,” said StarKist spokesperson Mary Sestric responding to Samoa News questions. She also said that company president and chief executive officer In-Soo Cho spoke with Congressman Faleomavaega Eni yesterday “to express his thanks for the Congressman’s work on this important initiative.”

As the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) verified in their report published in June 2011, “the erosion of the advantages American Samoa previously enjoyed and the increases in minimum wage are detrimental to a unique, isolated island economy dependent upon a single industry — an industry that has become extremely competitive on a global basis,” said Sestric via e-mail from the company’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pa.

“A three-year delay in the wage increases is a critical factor in StarKist’s ability to keep its American Samoa operations competitive,” she points out. “Equally important to StarKist’s success is an improved infrastructure in American Samoa, and we look forward to finalizing our plans to build a freezer for our American Samoan operations.

She also said that the company is “pleased to receive renewed support” from Gov. Togiola Tulafono, the American Samoa Government and the community as a whole while the StarKist Board of Directors and executive team were on island recently for their board meeting.

Cho along with Dongwon Industries board chairman Jae-chul Kim, emphasized during a news conference two weeks ago the importance of continuous collaborative efforts between the two companies and the territorial government as well as the local community in order for American Samoa be more competitive in the global tuna processing industry.