Earle McCurdy stepping down from helm of fisheries union

Earle McCurdy will retire in a couple of weeks from the top job of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers' union, a post he has commanded for two decades. 

McCurdy, who made the announcement at a news conference in St. John's Monday, said it was time for a change at the top. 

"I'm on the verge of my 65th birthday, and it isn't a job for an old-age pensioner, quite frankly," he said. 

"We've [built] a strong union over the years, which I believe is a vital part of the social and economic life of our province, and will continue to do so for a long time in the future."

McCurdy's final day at the union will be Nov. 17. 

The FFAW will hold an election to choose his successor.  

McCurdy took over the FFAW presidency in 1993 from Richard Cashin, who co-founded the union to 1970 to break a strangehold that fisheries processors had at the time. 

McCurdy had been the union's secretary-treasurer for 13 years before he became president.