Tag Archives: Unifor
Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Lebouthillier Re: Northern Cod
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Lebouthillier, We write today on a serious matter needing your attention. On behalf of 320,000 workers across the country, including more than 14,000 members of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) Union in Newfoundland and Labrador, we are calling on you to reverse a recent decision with respect to the northern cod moratorium. The decision to end the moratorium and grant access to corporate offshore interests flies in the face of what was committed by your government and decades of past fisheries management practice. We also are concerned with the impact this will have on a fishery that is still recovering. Your government must uphold its 2015 commitment to allocate the first 115,000 tonnes of northern cod quota to inshore harvesters and Indigenous groups and immediately reinstate the Northern cod stewardship fishery under the same conditions as 2023. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:53
Fishery Mismanagement?: Research suggests DFO worsened impact of salmon fishery crisis
Unifor has released a new report that says artificially low catch limits over the past 25 years pushed the West Coast salmon fishing industry to the brink, leaving it unable to cope with the 2019 crisis. “The federal government created a commercial fishing economy so precarious that when the salmon collapsed this year, the industry went with it,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Commercial salmon fishing may never recover.” >click to read< and to read A Report to Governments on the 2019 Salmon Season >click here< 13:18
Fish harvesters from British Columbia join Unifor with historic vote
In an historic vote that was years in the making, 245 salmon seine boat fish harvesters on Canada’s west coast who fish for the Canadian Fishing Company have voted overwhelmingly to join Unifor.,,, The vote was an overwhelming 92 per cent to join United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union (UFAWU), a Unifor local. The vote was conducted last summer, but counting was held up until this week due to employer challenges when the British Columbia Labour Board ordered the votes be counted. >click to read<10:36 Historic win for B.C. fishermen now bargaining under labour code – Jun. 28, 2019 >click to read<
FISH-NL calls on Federation of Labour to clarify FFAW’s fate
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is calling on the province’s Federation of Labour to clarify whether the FFAW can remain a member following the decision by Unifor, its national affiliate, to leave the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “Inshore harvesters are demanding to know the lay of the land with the local labour movement,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. >click here to read<11:06 
FISH-NL – Solidarity isn’t forever with FFAW/Unifor so much as when it suits them
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) says Unifor’s reasoning for its break from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is nothing short of ironic and hypocritical. “Unifor, the largest private-sector union in Canada, is splitting from the CLC over a disagreement about the rights of workers to choose what union should represent them, while one of its affiliate unions, the FFAW, has blocked the province’s inshore harvesters for 13 months from voting on their union fate,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. >click here to read< 14:41
Comox C.G. Base closure supported by Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans – UNIFOR responds
A review by Members of Parliament has failed to save a Canadian Coast Guard base on Vancouver Island. Critics hoped the review by the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans would lead to a reversal of the decision to close the Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) centre in Comox. Instead, the committee found the closure would not impact the emergency marine response on the West Coast. “I’m very pleased that the standing committee on Fisheries and Oceans has recognized that marine safety remains a top priority, even with the consolidation of Comox,” said Fisheries and Oceans Minister Hunter Tootoo. However, the committee did find there are problems with coast guard radio communications in B.C. Read the rest here UNIFOR Response – Liberals on fisheries committee turn their backs on BC coastal communities Read the press release 11:43
Unifor calls on federal government to revoke Jim Pattison Group’s fishing licences
If Jim Pattison Group’s Canadian Fishing Company (CFC) cannot generate good jobs with a majority control in the salmon fishery, the federal government should revoke the fishing licences, said the union representing cannery workers in Prince Rupert. CFC announced last week that it has plans to close the last production canning facility in British Columbia, costing up to 500 jobs and virtually closing the community’s largest employer. “Fish caught in northern BC waters should be processed in a north coast plant,” said Joie Warnock, Unifor’s Western Director. Press Release here 20:20
