According to FFAW the temporary employment support plan was announced by the provincial government today for hard-hit harvesters and plantworkers. But it fails to provide any support to the struggling fishermen under the weight of a disastrous 2009 fishing season.
FFAW Secretary-Treasurer David Decker informed that this plan announced today just shows a complete lack of understanding and a blatant disregard for the impact this year has had on people in the province’s fishing industry. He added that there is nothing in this make-work plan that addresses the problems we have out there this year in coastal communities.
Decker also said that a significant number of plantworkers have seen their hours and incomes decline this year by 30 per cent or more, and, as a result, their EI claims will also be down at a comparable rate. He further explain that the proposed assistance plan will do almost nothing to help bridge those considerable gaps.
Price declines in several fisheries, reduced landings in others and the overall increase in expenses has created significant and widespread hardship this year. Lobster, cod and lump fisheries were disappointing, and earnings for harvesters and plantworkers in the shrimp fishery are well below those in recent years.
The FFAW met with Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Tom Hedderson and officials from the Departments of Human Resources, Labour and Employment (HRLE) and Municipal and Provincial Affairs (MAPA) in early August to discuss emergency assistance for people struggling as a result of depressed seafood markets.
Decker noted that Premier Williams himself had stated as far back as June 12 that he would provide emergency aid for struggling people in the shrimp fishery. Decker told that people are facing desperate circumstances throughout the province. Decker is of view that today’s announcement is an indication of how government will approach the long-term structural issues in this industry in the years to come.
