FFAW getting calls from ‘desperate’ workers in 3L
Ice conditions continuing to prevent work for fish harvesters, plant workers
It may be a great draw for tourists, but all the ice in the harbours around the province is having a detrimental effect on the fishery — including the harvesters and plant workers who rely on work this time of year.
Staff representative for Ffaw-unifor, John Boland, says he is fielding 20 to 25 calls per day from concerned fish harvesters and plant workers in the Bonavista and Trinity Bay areas — all regarding ice conditions.
“There are people out there that are severely hurting right now,” Boland said.
“An awful lot of people out there who work in plants — this is a pretty difficult time for them.”
Heavy ice conditions have prevented many fish harvesters from fishing, and landings are slow in other areas. Many fish plant workers have yet to work this season as a result.
Boland says many workers have had no income at all since early April in some cases.
“It’s going to be difficult to get the number of weeks they need, even beyond this.”
And it’s not only the people directly involved in the fishery who will be affected, he added. The local economy of the region could take a hit with no new money coming in from paycheques.
The crab fishery, which opened in early April and is set to close in the end of July, is about half over.
Boland says there are no more than a quarter of quotas in at this time, meaning many are very far behind schedule and it may be a struggle to land the entire quotas in some cases.
He says FFAW has been lobbying the federal government to provide some support for those affected, through income support or a bridging program.
In the spring of 2007, the last time the province was faced with comparable conditions, the Harper government allotted about $8 million for workers.
Ffaw-unifor president Keith Sullivan was in Ottawa over a month ago and discussed the implications of the ice conditions.
Boland says Sullivan met with both minister of fisheries Dominic Leblanc and the caucus of MPS from Newfoundland and Labrador. They’ve also been in contact with the province’s minister of fisheries and land resources, Steve Crocker.
“It doesn’t seem as if there’s anything coming,” said Boland. “And nothing in a definitive answer … I guess, until someone says ‘no’, there’s some hope they will (provide relief), but it’s kind of torturous on people, for sure.”
Meanwhile, the calls keep rolling in from workers who are “desperate.”
“Personally, it’s painful to listen to these people, who would normally be (at) work,” said Boland.
“You’d like to offer people a little bit of hope that somebody is going to give them a bit of relief, or certainly, an acknowledgement from the powers-that-be whether they are or they aren’t. Right now, that’s up to our federal representatives.”