Governor Tauese Sunia is scheduled to visit the Daewoosa Samoa compound tomorrow morning, according to his legal counsel Henry Kappel.
The visit is a follow-up to a commitment the Governor made last Friday to the visiting Vietnamese government delegation, Kappel explained to Samoa News.
The Governor is expected to tour the factory and to talk with Daewoosa management and the Samoan workers. It is not confirmed yet whether the Governor will talk to the Vietnamese workers, although the workers attorney Christa Lin is expected to be present at the factory during the tour.
This will be the Governor?s third visit to the beleaguered factory. His first two visits occurred last year when allegations of mistreatment of the Vietnamese workers first surfaced, attracting federal interest from the Department of Labor, Department of Interior and some members of Congress.
In the meantime, the conclusion of the court hearing over the Vietnamese workers? motion against Daewoosa for airfares to return home has been continued until Thursday afternoon to accommodate the Governor?s visit.
Also, Dan Mooney of DOL?s Occupational and Safety Health Administration has confirmed that he is conducting an investigation into "violence at the workplace".
Mooney arrived last week Monday to conduct an investigation into an industrial fatality at another company, but moved into the Daewoosa investigation after reading Samoa News reports of the melee and the seriously injured worker.
When the DOL investigation is completed is unknown but reportedly
more DOL officials arrived Monday night to assist in the investigation
of Daewoosa.