For Pacific Islanders a special, non-material attachment to the land is matched by a spiritual affinity with the sea. It is this link that makes cavalier resource plunder and environmental spoliation a deeply felt offence. The cannery predilection is also disturbing, given the conditions on production lines. As elsewhere in the world, women form the backbone of labour on the lines. The hourly wage for production-line workers is equivalent to one US dollar for women, ten cents short of the minimum rate for men.
Deductions can bring down gross weekly earnings to as little as three dollars.
Low disposable incomes have forced many women to take out hefty bank loans. Repayment schedules are punishing, interest rates are high and the feeling of being trapped in a perpetual cycle of debt imposes a heavy psychological burden. Right now there are about 314 women working. The place is not suitable for us. In the Japanese time the plant was in Draiba village.