Pelosi wage hike endangers workers' jobs

A wage hike endorsed by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for tuna cannery workers in America Samoa probably will cost many of those workers their jobs, according to a company that makes its headquarters in Pelosi's California district.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

The plan Pelosi moved through the House earlier this year was written to raise the lowest wage that is allowed from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour, over a period of several years

However, as WND reported, pundits caught her allowing an exemption for workers in American Samoa, where Del Monte Food Inc., which is run out of Pelosi's district that includes San Francisco, and the San Diego-based Chicken of the Sea International, employ an estimated 5,000 workers in their tuna works.

Faced with evidence supporting critical condemnations of "double standards," she relented and allowed the minimum wage bill for the rest of the United States and its other territories to include American Samoa.

But now Samoan Gov. Togiola T.A. Tulafono and business leaders have warned that there will be troubles. Already, officials said, StarKist Samoa has told Pacific Magazine that it had planned to hire up to another 300 workers for an expansion of its production lines, but that plan now is on hold.

Del Monte spokeswoman Mary G. Sesric said her company is disappointed. "The initial increase, combined with the further annual automatic increases, has the potential to radically change the economics of tuna production and negatively impact American Samoa," she said.

She reported that her company wants to work on a solution, but also must "remain competitive in the global tuna marketplace."

"We are concerned that without a successful resolution, the economic realities will force StarKist to review ongoing tuna sourcing and operating plans as well as altering our current investment program to expand our Samoan operations, both of which will lead to lower levels of employment and we believe will not be in the best interest of all parties concerned," she wrote.

A spokesman for the Interior Department said the focus now should be "on what we can do to make the situation better."

Tulafono said when Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne visits this month, the wage issue will be discussed.

A spokesman for another company said the hike will reach across the terrority. "I'm sure that company managers and CEO's are reviewing their payroll records as we speak to see what the total effect will be and if layoffs, cutbacks will happen…," he said.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer earlier told the Washington Times leaving American Samoa out of the wage hike plan was deliberate.

U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., was one those expressing concern over two levels of minimum wage.

"I am shocked," he said. "Now we find out that she is exempting hometown companies from minimum wage. This is exactly the hypocrisy and double talk that we have come to expect from the Democrats."

His comments came shortly after the House approved raising the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25, but exempted American Samoa.

The minimum wage plan was one of the top priorities announced by Democrats when they were put in the majority in Congress in 2006. It took only days for the package to be assembled.

On a segment of Fox & Friends, co-host Gretchen Carlson noted the StarKist employment involves 75 percent of the island's work force, with the profits heading to Del Monte's San Francisco headquarters, in a district represented by Pelosi.

"And now her people are saying that, you know, she has never been influenced by StarKist at all but other people are saying, hey, this is a little bit of hypocrisy because how can this particular group of people benefit by not having to pay the new minimum wage which is almost $2 more an hour," she said.

Democrats backed the bill 233-0, and Republicans opposed it 116-82.

Steve Doocey told the Fox & Friends audience: "Let's get this straight. Everybody has got to raise their minimum wage except American Samoa, which, of course, has so many people who are pulling tuna out of the sea, shipping them off via Del Monte whose corporate headquarters in Nancy Pelosi's home district. I'm sure it's a coincidence. Don't you think?"

"It seems there are poor people in need … and there are Democrats who need poor people," said Jerry Fuhrman on the FromOnHigh blog.

Pelosi and other Democrats also campaigned during 2006 on promises of cleaning up ethics scandals in Congress, and a spokesman for the White House earlier told WND that's a good idea.

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