Finder Label settings export migrate query

I have macs connecting to my OSX 10.8 server via smb, Finder labelling is widely used to determine whether, say, an image file is ready (green) or do not use (red) - not my idea but that's what people are used to...

Thing is, the file labelling don't show when viewed from the server itself, & they also don't appear if users log on via afp. However a file label change made from a client mac does show up on the server if the client was connected via afp.

Due to never-ending permissions issues with samba I want to migrate the mac users back to afp, however I also need to migrate or export the label 'metadata' / settings from samba.

The samba share is installed via macports on a basic OSX 10.8.4 build, no Apple Server app involved.

Any suggestions appreciated, thanks!