7 Mar 2011

Former American Samoa cannery says obligation to pension plan fulfilled

7:56 pm on 7 March 2011

Tuna canning multi national, Chicken of the Sea, says the three point seven million US dollars it will pay into the pension plan for former American Samoa cannery workers will fulfil its obligation.

The cannery closed down in 2009 laying off more than 2,000 workers and there have been concerns former employees wouldn't get their full entitlement.

U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation announced last month the agreement it'd reached with Chicken of the Sea to pay this amount over the next three years and that the amount exceeded the company's required contribution.

Concerns had been raised about this deal and some employees had complained they'd been unable to find out about their pension contributions.

This prompted Chicken of the Sea at the weekend to say the payment arrangements fulfil its obligation and that the pension benefit is fully guaranteed.

It also says that, from the time of the shut down, it had kept a human resources team on site for over a year to ensure all pension benefit queries were addressed.