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Administration’s pay raise plan includes all levels — right up to directors too

ASG Communications Officer, Fiafia Sunia
fili@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Lemanu/Talauega Administration’s plan to raise the lower level salaries from $12,000 up to $15,000 to $16,000 also includes raising each salary level until the increases reach the director level, according to Communications Officer, Fiafia Sunia, with the Governor’s Office, which also issued a separate statement, with similar information.

At last week Thursday’s cabinet meeting, Gov. Lemanu Peleti Palepoi Sialega Mauga said that the current starting salary for the workforce is $12,000 and the pay hike plan is to increase the starting pay to $15,000 or $16,000. (See Samoa News edition, Apr. 9th for details.)

Sunia said over the weekend that this is the initial proposed threshold raise — hiking the starting pay scale — and the subsequent pay raise proposals to follow will be pay raises to each respective threshold above until eventually looking at a director's pay raise as well.

“In the beginning, when the Governor wanted to initiate these raises coming into office, he knew it would not be possible without completing the rollbacks first. Which was the first phase of the pay raise plan,” he explained.

“Now we are steadily moving into the second phase which is assessing and coordinating the actual raises,” he said, adding that the “great news is, our budget can sustain these raises.”

The pay increase is the next phase as part of the governor’s “rollback” salaries initiative which started shortly after taking office in January this year.

In a news release last Friday, following the cabinet meeting Thursday, the governor reiterated that the rollback was the first phase in trying to “right the ship” after taking the helm of government.

“We needed to efficiently and legally assess the personnel structure and ensure it aligned with the Administration's overall goal of eventually raising the pay for all ASG employees,” he said.

Lemanu asked for everyone’s patience and cooperation while the Administration begins to make the necessary changes to employees raises.

“We need to work together to provide our people some relief. We need to raise the income because the cost of living continues to increase,” he said and noted the salary hikes from $12,000 to $15,000- $16,000.

He also said that the Administration's plan will also include raising each salary level until the increases reach the Director level. All salaries will be increased.

Furthermore, requirements are still in place for raises such as in education and years of experience will be taken into consideration. Also, all employees that were affected by the rollback need to resubmit their raises for reconsideration.

According to the news release, the Administration's timeline for all salary increases is the end of the year.