Congresswoman Aumua Amata, has introduced the American Samoa Jobs Protection and Expansion Act, which she says will do a great deal to assist American Samoa in retaining and attracting new businesses to the territory.
The bill would amend a law now in place which requires American Samoa to increase its minimum wage until it is on the same par as the federal minimum wage.
The amendment establishes a Special Industry Committee under the direction of the US Department of Labor to review and set local wages. This is how local wages were set prior to 2007 when Congress included American Samoa in the federal minimum wage law.
The previous system allowed American Samoa companies to maintain an equal footing with foreign competition who have no minimum wage at all.
The congresswoman said that for too long, the federal government has placed American Samoa on the same economic playing field as the states, which lie halfway across the vast Pacific Ocean. This has caused many issues regarding the territory’s ability to attract new investment in the island, and “has in fact caused many businesses to leave.”
She said, “While American Samoa loves the United States and cherishes its relationship with the United States, it is extremely irresponsible for the federal government to say that American Samoa should become more self-sustaining, while at the same time forcing burdensome regulations on the territory such as the federal mandate for a minimum wage, and the closing off of large swaths of the ocean which our people have utilized for centuries.”
She pointed to the closing of Samoa Tuna Processors last year and said her bill will go a very long way in making sure that the remaining cannery, Starkist Samoa, continues to call American Samoa home for many years to come.
