Union postpones FPI vote until ownership settled
Unionized plant workers with Fishery Products International will not vote on a conciliator's concessionary recommendations until it is clear there will be a change in the ownership of the St. John's company's.
The Fish, Food and Allied Workers union said it would not be in its members' best interests to proceed with a vote until FPI's future is resolved.
"It would be quite prejudicial, actually, without knowing who's going to be running the company within a very short period of time," president Earle McCurdy said Wednesday.
A conciliation board has recommended a three-year collective agreement that would entail wage cuts, but not as steep as those FPI has demanded at the bargaining table.
The conciliation board report recommended a base rate of $12.50 per hour in the first year of the contract, which if approved would come into effect April 1.
The current base rate for FPI plant workers is $13.66. FPI had been seeking a $2 hourly cut in wages, citing competition from foreign processors.
FPI is entertaining bids for its various assets, including plants, ships and quotas.
Various bidders are interested in different assets. They include Corner Brook-based Barry Group, St. John's-based Ocean Choice and a group led by current managers. Nova Scotia's High Liner Foods has expressed an interested specifically in FPI's U.S.-based marketing and value-added division.
Last week, Premier Danny Williams said a "golden opportunity" exists to restructure FPI without harming communities where it does business.
McCurdy said FFAW workers could be better off by waiting to see whether other companies acquire FPI's processing plants.
"To go out and take a vote on that now would not make much sense," McCurdy said.
"People are struggling to get by and pay the bills with what they've got now, so anything less than that would be a tough one to get through."
The FFAW's dispute with FPI has been simmering for months. Last April, FPI served notice it was seeking concessions from both the union and the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
In December, before the dispute was sent to conciliation, 98 per cent of participating FFAW members voted against FPI's wage demands.