In response to a recent op-ed piece in The Hill newspaper, in which the ailing Delegate Eni Faleomavaega
argued against reducing the content of U.S.-caught and processed tuna in the
federal school lunch program, Bumble Bee chief executive Chris Lischewski
has called untrue the Delegate’s assertion that Bumble Bee tuna is processed by
child labor in Thailand.
“Not only are these allegations false,” said Lischewski, “they
are a cynical attempt, timed to a congressional action, to preserve Dongwon
Industries’ monopoly of providing tuna to American schools.” Dongwon is the
Korean parent company of StarKist.
The Bumble Bee CEO once was an ally of Faleomavaega,
who a few years ago failed to get Congress to adopt his secret amendment to a
Maritime bill that would have permitted foreign made ships to be U.S. flagged without
offloading tuna at Pago Pago. Lischewski went on to write in his own post on The Hill blog: “[I]t is absolutely
slanderous to suggest that we use facilities that violate child labor
standards. How do we know this? All of Bumble Bee’s suppliers must sign a
statement saying they don’t use forced, trafficked or underage labor and we
conduct regular onsite visits, along with paying for audits.”
Even though the secret amendment became an issue in one of Faleomavaega's election campaigns, he won and vowed he would reintroduce the measure in the next
Congress, but never did. Some time
later, he said he had been misled on the issue.
Lischewski goes on to conclude “[Dongwon and Faleomavaega]
hope that this will distract people from realizing that the monopoly they enjoy
on the Buy American product that they are trying to preserve is entirely based
on a foreign company using government exemptions from tariffs, minimum wage
laws and other federal regulations enjoyed by the Territory of American Samoa
and that the elimination of the monopoly will actually result in lower costs to
our government and more healthy tuna on school lunch menus for our kids.”
This is an issue of supreme importance to American
Samoa because loss of their monopoly in the American
market could force StarKist to close its Pago Pago
cannery, as Chicken of the Sea did in 2009, because they operate on thin profit
margins. A StarKist closure would throw
thousands of people out of work and destroy the American
Samoa economy.
It is fortunate that this issue is being played out in a
publication like The Hill, which also
is on line, because local coverage has borrowed heavily from a story in the paper
as well as the opinion pieces offered by Faleomavaega and Lischewski.
Given Faleomavaega’s current incapacity and extended absence
from Washington, it is likely his
op-ed essay was largely penned by StarKist lobbyists but it is curious why he
has not also kept the American Samoa
public informed through the media and his website. Perhaps Samoa
News and Radio 93KHJ-FM have withheld
publishing his releases on this issue because he adamantly refuses to discuss
his physical condition.
Even if that were the case, however, he easily could post information
on his website, on which he has placed no news releases since an October 8
attack on the local Republican Party and his “In the News” section has no content whatsoever. One would have thought he easily
could have posted a link to his The Hill
op-ed if nothing else. Moreover, his
website photograph appears to be at least 20 years out of date and contrasts
sharply with the image taken from his Christmas video. Both photos appear in
the right column of this blog.
Several days have passed now since both Samoa News and talanei.com
have posted stories questioning his health and either he has not responded or
they have chosen not to carry his reaction.
He told the paper he would be returning to Washington
“as soon as possible” but no one knows what that means. How important his physical presence in Washington will be
in the StarKist effort to keep their school lunch market is unclear. Whether he even will return before the vote is
taken remains to be seen.
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