Nova Scotia fishermen win back right to operate as Local 4 of Maritime Fishermen’s Union
A Nova Scotia fishermen’s local has won a court case to get back its union accreditation. “It means we can get back to the business of representing our fishermen on fishermen issues instead of spending, as we did, almost two years battling to maintain our organization’s accreditation,” said Gordon Beaton, president of Local 4 of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union on Friday. That battle began when the province’s fisheries and aquaculture minister informed the local that its membership was too small and revoked its accreditation. The minister at the time was Queens-Shelburne MLA Sterling Belliveau. Beaton’s group represents about 45 people who fish in Region 1, which stretches from Pugwash to Cape North. That’s a small portion of the 600 or so fishermen in the region. Under the 2011 Fish Harvester Organizations Support Regulations, the local needed 100 members or 15 per cent of the fishermen in the area. However, the court found that Local 4 was accredited in 2002 under an earlier act. It was nearly 10 years later that the new legislation, with membership minimums, came into effect. It also included a grandfather provision for organizations accredited under the old legislation. Read the rest here 18:09
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