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Congressman Faleomavaega announced today that on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, he met with officials from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), including Dr. David Gootnick, to discuss the GAO’s upcoming report on the impact of minimum wage increases in American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress.
“In 2009, as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Congress required the GAO to report annually on the impact of minimum wage increases in American Samoa and the CNMI,” Faleomavaega said. “The GAO’s first report was issued in 2010. The GAO’s second report is due in June 2011.”
“In our meeting, the GAO informed me that it will be sending out a copy of its new draft report next week to the Territorial governments and federal agencies for their comments. About three weeks after receiving their comments, the GAO will release its second report,” Faleomavaega said.
“Like last time, the GAO interviewed private sector and government employees and found that very few ASG employees were affected by minimum wage increases because most ASG employees were already being paid well above minimum wage rates.”
“In the private sector, it remains that minimum wage was only one of many factors that affected our tuna industry. Other factors include high cost of utilities and goods. The GAO also makes mention of the transformation the tuna industry has undergone to compete with Thailand’s wage rates of $0.70 cents and less per hour. For example, Chicken of the Sea, which closed its operations in American Samoa, is now following Bumble Bee’s model of outsourcing American jobs to foreign countries where fish cleaners are paid well-below federal minimum wage standards. Both Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee then have skeletal crews pack their foreign fish in Georgia, California or Puerto Rico in order to take advantage of duty-free treatment.”
“However, StarKist and Tri-Marine have chosen to do business the American way by cleaning their fish in America and paying their workers decent wages. As the GAO points out, only fish cleaned in America is eligible for U.S. government contracting and this is why StarKist Samoa is the only company of the three major U.S. brands that qualify for the USDA’s Buy America program. Tri-Marine will also qualify once production begins in American Samoa. So, I appreciate the GAO for pointing out the difference between the way tuna companies do business so that both consumers and Congress can know the difference between companies that outsource American jobs and those that don’t.”
“Once more, I thank StarKist and Tri-Marine for choosing to do business in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa and for paying our workers decent wages. As I have stated before, I am pleased that our tuna cannery workers have seen a 23% increase in their earnings as a result of three minimum wage increases. But, given the current state of the American economy and the continued competition from tuna companies like Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee which outsource American jobs and Thailand which pays workers $0.70 cents and less per hour, I am committed to doing what I can to hold off on further increases until our global and local economies stabilize.”
“I am confident that the updated information provided by the GAO in its new report will be very helpful to our efforts in Congress and, again, I extend my appreciation to the GAO for the work it has done to assist us the people of American Samoa,” Faleomavaega concluded.
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