Sen. Galeai M. Tu’ufuli has come out publicly in support of Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga’s proposal seeking a federal subsidy to help fund the federally mandated minimum wage increases for American Samoa, and he has again insisted that the territory’s workforce deserves a hike in wages.

The Manu’a senator has been vocal in his opposition to several proposals and initiatives by the Lolo administration over the past several months but this time around, he is supporting a proposed federal subsidy move, telling Samoa News that “something has to be done by the government to help our people, our workforce, to address the increased cost of living.”

During last Friday’s cabinet meeting, the governor announced his plan to ask the federal government to pay a subsidy to help with the minimum wage hikes, with the next 50 cent increase set to go into effect on Sept. 30.  Lolo has instructed Commerce Department director Keniseli Lafaele to draft a proposal for review before submission to the feds. (See Samoa News edition Jun. 23 for details.)

“I applaud the governor for taking another stand on the minimum wage instead of completely ignoring the working class people of American Samoa,” Galeai said in a phone interview from Los Angeles, where he is visiting family. “At least the governor has come out publicly at last and revealed that they are doing something to assist our work force.”

“The cost of living has increased and you can’t control prices, because we — American Samoa — doesn’t have a price control board, which is something that cannot be established in our form of democratic society,” he said, adding that the current cost of living in American Samoa is “pathetic.”

“So, we have to give our workers something in order for them to increase their wages and in return, it will provide them with more buying power, to buy what they need to better their lives as well as for other family expenses,” he said.

Galeai then challenged all parties involved in the minimum wage issue — such as corporations, and the Chamber of Commerce — to find ways, or to come up with some new proposal that would benefit wage earners instead of maintaining the status quo, or opposing the wage increase.

“At least support some sort of wage hike — how about 25 cents per hour. We cannot continue to say that wage hikes are not affordable when the minimum wage workers are suffering,” he said. “There must be solutions.”

Asked if it isn’t too late for the local government to propose a federal subsidy for minimum wage, since the next wage hike is only three-months away, Galeai responded, “it’s never too late for the federal government. But at least submit something— a proposal— and have our federal partners, including the Interior Department, push it through.”

“Something must be done to increase minimum wage, which is a major issue throughout the United States where there is a major move to increase minimum wages,” he said and reiterated what he told reporters in April during a news conference, that “we owe these people — our workforce — something.”

(It was also during the same news conference that Galeai, a staunch supporter of the governor, said that he is looking for someone who is honest, who has the guts to stand up for the people and practice transparency as a candidate for governor in the next general election. See Apr. 24 Samoa News edition for details)

Meanwhile, Galeai, who is chairman of the Senate Government Operations Committee, says that he looks forward to the start of the new session of the Fono next month, so that he can request additional information on the administration’s federal subsidy proposal as well as get input from others in the community.

American Samoa is the only U.S. jurisdiction with 18 different industry categories, all with different minimum wages. The lowest minimum wage category is $4.18 per hour in the garment manufacturing industry, while the highest is $5.59 in the Stevedoring, Lighterage and Maritime Shipping Agency activities.

Samoa News should point out that the governor did not specify exactly how the subsidy would be applied — for government workers only or all workers; would it be direct ‘money’ payments to companies or workers, or in the form of a tax credit to companies or workers, and would it include the additional cost of FICA and Medicare deductions, employee & employer shares, as they are based on Gross Income.