business
A Big Black Eye
American Samoa Leaders Angered by New York Times Exposè of Daewoosa
More than 200 alien workers at the beleaguered Daewoosa Samoa garment factory returned home in February, ending an unhappy saga in American Samoa’s attempt to develop a garment industry.
Governor Tauese Sunia said “positive direct economic impact in the Territory has been fleeting and has not been of sufficient value to offset the injury that has been incurred, both to the workers and to the image of this Territory.”
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Daewoosa was placed into court-ordered receivership earlier this year. The receiver, Jim Fones, quickly shut down the facility, saying at least $100,000 was needed to resume operations. Besides the Asian workers, more than 80 Samoans were laid off.
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As the issue of non-payment of wages went to trial, the New York Times on February 6 reported Daewoosa factory workers were beaten, poorly fed, underpaid and spied on while they showered. The New York Times story was based on a December 14 U.S. Department of Labor report, which states that the 300 workers at the plant were fed meager rations and resembled “walking skeletons.” Daewoosa officials deny the Times’ allegations.
Congressman Faleomavaega Eni told Pacific that he was “disappointed” that an internal memo was leaked to the Times and has asked DOL for a full investigation. “What I resent the most in that New York Times story is the allegations that Samoans are beating up Vietnamese workers,” he said. “That is not the case. I’m telling my colleagues in Congress that the report is not accurate, maybe there are some elements of truth to the report but not all of it.”
Governor Tauese Sunia labeled the allegations as “bull.” Tauese said he made one scheduled and three surprise visits to the garment factory and the workers were being fed properly. “I ate the lunch myself, and Daewoosa did not know ahead of time I was coming,” the governor said.
Damaging information against Daewoosa Samoa comes from the New York-based National Labor Committee’s web site that reported that “over 200 Vietnamese ‘guest workers’ were held in indentured servitude for nearly two years…sewing clothing for J.C. Penney, Sears, and Target. They were beaten, sexually harassed, threatened with deportation, starved, forced to work 12 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, and made to live in crowded, rat-infested dormitories.”
Losses are multiplying for Daewoosa. It has no contract with its main buyer, J.C. Penney and, despite the company having several containers with finished products carrying the J.C. Penney label waiting for shipment, Penney’s says it won’t accept or sell any Daewoosa products. According to J.C. Penney, New York-based manufacturer M. Hadari and Company contracted Daewoosa Samoa for a short-period last year to make clothing labels without their knowledge, violating its contract.
Since December, Penney’s contract with Hadari has been suspended, and Hadari has cooperated with DOL in making back-wage payments for the period in which Daewoosa was manufacturing clothes for Hadari.
In late February, the court was negotiating with New York-based Morgan Cooper Inc. for the take over of Daewoosa Samoa. Morgan Cooper wants to set up a garment factory in the territory. The government has already approved the land lease right next to Daewoosa Samoa. The new company’s request to import more than 150 foreign workers from its Chinese partners, however, was rejected by the government’s Immigration Board following a stern warning from the Governor that any company wanting to import aliens to do business in the territory must post a cash bond equivalent to return air fares.
Faleomavaega said the Daewoosa Samoa problems is a “lesson learned” for American Samoa, while the Governor has said publicly that the garment industry is no longer a viable economic development for the territory.
