The Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW-Unifor) has named major processors Ocean Choice International (OCI) and Royal Greenland as the producers declining to buy sea cucumber catches from small-sacle fishing operators at the $0.69 per pound set by the Standing Fish Price Setting Panel following extensive delays and negotiations.
The Union also accuses Royal Greenland of ‘a brazen act of union-busting’ by attempting to source sea cucumber from from vessels in St. Pierre-Miquelon at a price well below the Panel rate – a move that was swiftly blocked by harvesters in Grand Bank and Fortune.
‘Royal Greenland was so desperate for product they were willing to trigger an international labour conflict. Yet they still refuse to buy from their own harvesters at home. That’s not business – that’s betrayal,’ said FFAW-Unifor President Dwan Street.
‘These actions are the kind of behaviour our new Premier must take a close look at. Holding a processing license in our province is a privilege and not a right, and establishing new license conditions can put these companies back in check.’
She commented that these two major processors have the right not to buy, just as fishermen have the right to not fish – but the actions of the two companies ‘is actively damaging the viability of the inshore fleet and the rural communities that depend on it.’
‘This is corporate greed at its worst,’ Dwan Street said.
‘These companies rely on our members to supply crab, shrimp, cod, and countless other species that fuel their multi-million-dollar profits. Yet when it comes to sea cucumber – a fishery they claim to want – they’re perfectly willing to let harvesters suffer just to prove a point.’
Several smaller processors have stepped up in recent weeks to buy sea cucumber at the panel price, while OCI and Royal Greenland – two of the province’s largest seafood companies continue to decline to buy at the panel rate which FFAW-Unifor states is fully supported by export data and a third-party market report.
‘It was the correct and evidence-based decision,’ Dwan Street said.
‘The new government made clear promises during the election to reform the processing sector – promises that cost nothing but political will, and that would deliver real benefits to rural communities. They also committed to ending the practice of shipping raw product out of province to suppress local competition – a tactic that hurts plant workers and harvesters alike. It’s time for the government to keep its word. The people of this province – and the harvesters who feed this industry – deserve better than being held hostage by corporate tantrums.’
