Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Editorials
Thursday, February 8, 2001Abuse of workers
must be correctedThe issue: The U.S. Labor Department has found that Vietnamese workers in a clothing factory in American Samoa suffered extreme abuse.
APPALLING treatment of workers at a clothing factory in American Samoa demands that the government take measures to prevent further instances of abuse.
A federal Labor Department investigation found that workers, mostly Vietnamese immigrants, were often beaten for such infractions as returning to the factory compound after evening curfew. A 21-year-old woman who lost an eye in a disturbance at the plant is now receiving medical treatment in Hawaii.
The plant was owned by Daewoosa, a small Korean-owned clothing manufacturer, the New York Times reported. It was closed in January.
The Labor Department report said the employer even resorted to withholding food from workers as punishment when they complained about the food -- "consisting primarily of a watery broth of rice and cabbage."
One investigator compared the factory compound to a prison. Workers lived 36 to a room, had not been free to come and go and had often been forbidden to have visitors. Female employees accused managers, mostly native Samoans, of entering their barracks to watch them shower and dress. The workers complained that the Samoan police were reluctant to investigate their complaints of being beaten by guards and managers.
The factory has been placed in receivership for failing to pay $600,000 in back wages and penalties. The Labor Department found that the factory had sometimes not paid employees for months at a time and often paid them less than Samoa's $2.60-an-hour minimum wage.
The factory had made apparel for J.C. Penney and other retailers. Penney said it stopped selling clothing obtained from the factory after learning about the problems last December.
Similar reports of abuses of immigrant labor in clothing factories came previously from Saipan, part of another territory under the U.S. flag, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, which has a special semiautonomous status with exemption from U.S. immigration and minimum-wage laws.
Nine clothing manufacturers named in a $1 billion lawsuit brought on behalf of Saipan immigrant workers agreed to a settlement in 1999, establishing a $3 million fund to finance monitoring, provide money for workers and create a public education program.
Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka, with support from Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Patsy Mink in the House, has been concerned about the situation in Saipan and has campaigned for legislation to correct the problems there. He should also try to address the abuses reported in American Samoa.
The Samoan cases demonstrate that the abuses are by no means confined to Saipan. They underline the need to protect workers, particularly immigrants, against exploitation and violations of relevant laws in U.S. territories.
As a leading member of the U.S. Pacific island community, Hawaii, through its congressional delegation, should join in the efforts to prevent these abuses.
Delay medical privacy
rules for federal action
STATE restrictions on the sharing of medical records are scheduled to go into effect on July 1, just as medical and insurance companies are trying to digest federal regulations issued by President Clinton near the end of his term. Uncertainties and concerns about the complexity of the rules -- both state and federal -- should give the Legislature pause in allowing implementation of the state rules.
Governor Cayetano signed the state restrictions into law two years ago. The law is aimed at protecting the privacy of information regarding medical treatment, payments and health-care operations. Even health insurers are regulated in how and under what circumstances they may gain access to patients' medical records. Concerns about the rules prompted last year's Legislature to delay their implementation until this year.
Federal legislation in 1996 gave Clinton the authority to regulate medical privacy. Before leaving office, Clinton issued tighter standards for electronic medical records, allowing individuals to sue if their privacy is violated.
Aides to President Bush have said one of the first orders of business in the new administration will be to block or reverse some of the final executive orders and rules issued by Clinton, including the rules of privacy of medical records.
Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono complains that Hawaii's law has ignited "widespread confusion and anxiety" that would be complicated even more by the federal rules, which require compliance in two years. Hirono has called for repeal of Hawaii's medical privacy law to avoid "mass confusion, unnecessary costs and duplication of effort."
However, because of the uncertainty of the federal rules' status under the Bush administration, postponement of the state law's implementation would be more prudent and allow time for consideration of changes. Repeal of the state law would be premature before the issue is settled in Washington.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
Frank Bridgewater, Acting Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
