Chicken of the Sea Gets Samoans a Wage Hike

Chicken of the Sea Gets Samoans a Wage Hike

For the past six years, Congress has blocked scheduled minimum wage increases from taking effect in American Samoa. Under the federal minimum wage law passed in 2007, workers in the tiny South Pacific territory were supposed to get yearly raises of 50 cents an hour until they met the federal floor o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bloomberg businessweek (Online) p. 29
Main Authors: Wallbank, Derek, McMahon, Madeline, Duggan, Loren
Format: Magazine Article
Language:English
Published: New York Bloomberg Finance LP 12-10-2015
Subjects:
Canning industry
Colonies & territories
Federal legislation
Minimum wage
Wage & price controls
United States > US
American Samoa
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Summary:For the past six years, Congress has blocked scheduled minimum wage increases from taking effect in American Samoa. Under the federal minimum wage law passed in 2007, workers in the tiny South Pacific territory were supposed to get yearly raises of 50 cents an hour until they met the federal floor of $7.25. Rates went up the year the bill passed and in 2008, and again in 2009. Since then, the Samoan minimum wage has been frozen, most recently by a 2012 bill that scheduled increases every three years rather than annually -- a time frame that would leave wages in the Samoan tuna canning industry, a major employer, trailing mainland pay until 2027, according to a report by the US Government Accountability Office. For a while it looked like the wage hike that was set to take effect on September 30 would also die.
Bibliography:content type line 24
ObjectType-Feature-1
SourceType-Magazines-1
ISSN:0007-7135
2162-657X