The governor wrote to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, chairman of the Senate’s labor committee, asking him and other U.S. lawmakers to postpone the May 2010 wage increase for one year.
Tulafono, in a letter dated 12 May, explained to Kennedy that Chicken of the Sea International plans to close its COS Packing plant at the end of September, laying off 2,172 workers.
Chicken of the Sea is due to move its tuna-processing work to Vietnam, where the hourly pay is less than 70 cents, he said.
The governor said the territory’s other cannery, StarKist Samoa, which is owned by Dongwon Enterprise Co. of South Korea, plans to eliminate 20 full-time salaried positions and trim hourly workers to cut costs.
The continued operation of the remaining fish processor in the territory is highly doubtful, Tulafono said.
The minimum wage rates in this U.S. territory and the CNMI used to be much lower than federal standards.
But the U.S. passed a law in 2007 mandating the wage rates to incrementally increase until they match the federal rate.
Since last year, the rate in American Samoa has been climbing by 50 cents every six months. It will stop rising when it hits $7.25.
In American Samoa, minimum wage rates vary by industry, ranging from less than $4 to just over $5.
