Fishy business. The Social Impact of SST.pdf - Act Now!

working gear? In my section I wear hand gloves, gum boots, and the overcoat. Some of the gearis shared between night shift and day shift, then some gear like hand gloves are rotting awaybecause too many people are using them. I was first working in the skinning section andreceived K68 for working 8 hour days in a fortnight. Then I was promoted to CPF section. Theskinning section is very easy and the CPF is very hard for me. Because the icy fish is veryheavy so I must force myself to carry it. To store different sized dfish in the freezer. Does thecompany provide transport for the workers? No, but a transport company is now used for theoffice workers, supervisors and security for drop off and pick up. How does your supervisortreat you? The supervisor used to tell everyone to stand and work fast then shout til the end ofthe day. The supervisors are Papua New Guinean, named Koni and Iva. We normally have abreak at lunch. I have to get permission to go to the toilet. The toilets are clean because theyhave someone looking after them. But the floors of the factory are slippery with dropped fishmeat and water.Jeffrey, 29 years old, works at fish meal section. Works 13 hours/day for fortnight and earnsK200, but less than that and he makes 150-180. “I feel that life is quite alright than beforebecause I can feed my wife and my three children but still it does not satisfy us because wecannot afford to have what we need.” I am doing very hard work with less payment. I used tomake the waste of the fish into chicken feed. By using chemicals. We export out product tooverseas countries like America and Japan. Who approves your product to export? A chickenfeed factory in Lae. 400 tons of fish are exported overseas (daily?). For one week, hundreds oftones of fish are “scan” in the factory (?) We export our product every month. In my section theplace is very stinking and smelly and no proper equipment like hand gloves and mask to wear.Betty, Kreer Masadani compound. Female, unmarried, 15 years, originally from Lumi in WSP/,living at Kreer masadani camp. My auntie put my name in SST and when my name appeared onthe board she told me and I started work at SST> Before working, we had an orientation andthen started working. Did your application form ask you about unions? No. I work in theskinning section. We wear a net, gown, but no gloves. New clothes. Do you have the use of thesafety equipment deducted from your pay? Yes. They deduct K39 for boot, but gown and netare free. My promised wage is K80 but I get K50 per fortnight. I don’t know if tax is deducted.The smell effects me, yes, the fiorst time I smelled it I vomited three times. We get 30 minutesfor lunch, but there are plenty of women and sometimes it takes us 15 or 10 minutes break. Weeat rice, banana, chicken, and a little greens. We use the same plate and spoon. How does theteam leader treat you? Before they forced us to work quickly but now they never do that. Didyou participate in the strike? No. They agreed to raise the pay, but asked the workers to be ontime. The factory wastes are put on a ship and dumped in the sea. Do you know of any wastesbeing dumped close to the shore or in the streams behind the factory? No.Lelita, married female, age 35, 4 children. I am from Kumnikum village in Wosera. Now livingat nuigo settlement. Before SST we earned money from gardening and marketing on the street. Iwould earn 20 to 25-30 day marketing. That would sort of satisfy my needs. My ward councilortook my name and gave it to Philomena Naura and then she interviewed me. Did you payanyone to register for work? No. Before working at SST we had an orientation meeting. I workin the loinery. We never wear gloves when working. The gowns and nets are new. We have theclothing deducted from our pay. Boots are K39, but nets and gowns are free. I earn K80 perfortnight, and if working extra hours its K94 or K97. I don’t know if tax is deducted. Before,they told us theyd provide transport, but they did nothing. The floor of the factory is clean. Ourlunch reak is 30 minutes. Typical lunch is 1/3 rice, kaukau, chicken and little greens. Yes Ismell the smell but not too much. How do the tea, leaders treat you? They force them to workquickly bu because of the strike they don’t force them any longer. The supervisors treat us good147