Labour board ruling legitimizes FISH-NL, Cleary says
The province’s Labour Relations Board has ruled the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is a valid organization of fish harvesters.
The board rejected an application by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW-Unifor) union Thursday afternoon.
The FFAW argued the breakaway group was not a legal association under the Fishing Industry Collective Bargaining Act.
FISH-NL had said the FFAW was basing the challenge on a “technicality” stemming from the group’s founding convention last fall.
“If you were listening closely Thursday afternoon you would have heard the collective cheer of thousands of fish harvesters around the province,” FISH-NL president Ryan Cleary stated in a news release. “The ruling by the Labour Relations Board legitimizes our movement.”
The Labour Relations Board will now rule on the FFAW’s application requesting its membership list of inshore harvesters not be released to FISHNL.
“We’re hopeful the Labour Relations Board will schedule a hearing on that application as soon as possible,” Cleary said.
FISH-NL is attempting to wrestle representation of inshore fish harvesters in the province away from the FFAW.
The organization presented an application to the board in late December that included 2,352 signed membership cards.
FISH-NL and the FFAW disagree over whether that number is more than the 50 per cent of all inshore harvesters in the province required to force a vote to decide who will represent the harvesters.