21 Jan 2019

American Samoa resumes guest worker scheme to save cannery

3:51 pm on 21 January 2019

American Samoa's governor has re-instated a guest worker scheme to help struggling tuna cannery StarKist Samoa.

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StarKist workers Photo: supplied

Lolo Matalasi Moliga earlier this month told the company the Guest Worker Permit would return to law, allowing workers to avoid the usual immigration approvals.

Lolo said the permits would help StarKist overcome financial trouble due to its difficulty in finding replacement workers in American Samoa.

He has asked the company to prioritise American Samoa nationals when recruiting.

Under the Guest Worker Permit law, the governor has the authority to suspend the program when there is a sufficient workforce and to reactivate it when necessary.

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