U.S.-based Tri Marine International, whose local operations include Samoa Tuna Processors Inc. cannery, says the company was surprised by Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga’s changing position on the minimum wage issue.

The governor in a June 30 letter to Congresswoman Aumua Amata, shared his preference on dealing with minimum wage, in which the federal government would provide a subsidy to help pay for the federally mandated wage hikes.

However, if it's not feasible, the governor said, he prefers the previous method, wherein local wages were determined by a special industry committee under the purview of the U.S. Labor Department (USDOL).

According to the governor, he had asked the canneries for an assessment of the financial impact of restarting the minimum wage hike — with the next one set for Sept. 30 — until the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour is reached.

The governor also requested from the canneries details of various strategies to be deployed to mitigate any negative impact caused by a wage hike in September, if the decision is made to rescind the current moratorium.

Responding to Samoa News inquiries regarding the issues raised by the governor, Tri Marine chief operating officer Joe Hamby said, “We maintain our position that any increase in the minimum wage at this time would have serious negative impacts on Tri Marine’s business, Samoa Tuna Processors (STP) and the larger economic security of the region.”

“We have consistently shared these concerns with the Governor’s Office and last week replied to his inquiry, respectfully noting that we were surprised to learn of his changing position on this issue,” Hamby said.

As Tri Marine has stated repeatedly in the past, “the global tuna industry is extremely competitive,” Hamby said. “Our strongest competitors are in Southeast Asia where the costs of production — including energy and labor — are much lower than ours.”

“In addition, we are also contending with a 50 percent decline in tuna prices which substantially reduces the value of our duty free advantage,” he said, adding that Samoa Tuna Processors now has almost 600 employees and “we are increasing employment as we slowly ramp up the volume of our production.”

“But prices are low and the contribution from the business is not yet enough to cover our significant fixed costs. We need more volume and that’s going to take some time,” he pointed out. “Absorbing new costs, like an increase in the minimum wage, in today’s global tuna market would be disastrous not only for our business, but for the Territory.”

Because StarKist Co., corporate spokesperson Michelle Faist is on leave until next week, there was no immediate comment from StarKist on the governor’s information request.

Chamber of Commerce chairman David Robinson told Samoa News more than a week ago that they are preparing a response for submission to the governor, about the same issues asked of the canneries.

The governor had requested that both the canneries and the Chamber submit their responses by last Friday, July 10.