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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 2l9-8743
Mandatory minimum wage rates for American Samoa will
increase, the U.S. Labor Department announced today.
A special six-member industry committee appointed by Labor
Secretary Alexis M. Herman met in Pago Pago, American Samoa, in June. The
committee, composed of two members each representing the public, employers and
employees, reviewed the economic conditions in American Samoa and heard public
testimony before it made its binding recommendations.
Minimum wage rates for several of the covered
private-sector industries in the territory will increase by a range of 5 to 10
cents per hour effective October 27, 1997, and by another 7 to 15 cents a year
later. The wage rates for all government employees will increase to $2.57 per
hour effective Oct. 1, 1998. There is no increase scheduled in the
miscellaneous activities category.
In tuna canning, the chief Samoan industry, the required
minimum wage rates will rise to $3.17 per hour effective October 27, 1998, an
increase of 7 cents per hour. A new garment manufacturing industry
classification was set at $2.45 and will increase after one year to $2.55.
The printing and publishing industry was split into two
separate classifications--printing, which was defined to exclude printing by an
employer who publishes newspapers, magazines and similar publications; and
publishing. The rate for the printing industry will increase to $3.25 an hour
effective October 27, 1997, and $3.35 an hour one year later. The rate for
publishing will increase to $3.30 an hour effective October 27, 1997, and to
$3.45 an hour one year later.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides that minimum
wage rates in American Samoa may be established by special industry committees
at rates below that required on the mainland. The industry committee meets
biennially to recommend an alternative to the automatic application of the
mainland minimum wage rate, and to gradually increase rates to the mainland
level without adverse effect on the Samoan economy or on job opportunities. The
current mainland minimum wage rate under the FLSA is $5.15 an hour effective
September 1, 1997.
The special industry committee procedure under the federal
FLSA is administered by the Wage and Hour Division of the Labor Department's
Employment Standards Administration. Notice of the new American Samoa wage
rates was published in the Federal Register on October 10, 1997, (62 FR 52944).
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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