St. John’s, NL, May 18, 2022 — The Association of Seafood Producers supports plant workers opposition to new fish processing capacity.
A decision is still pending but if the application is approved, it will be detrimental for rural NL and existing plant workers. Those same plant workers have been holding protests around the province in opposition to new licenses.
“If new processing capacity is approved, stability of the industry will come into question,” says Derek Butler, Executive Director, Association of Seafood Producers. “New capacity would mean fewer hours for existing workers, if not today, then maybe next year or the year after when the crab quota goes down again. Our workers need more hours and not less.”
Two hundred new jobs in St. Mary’s means 200 less jobs elsewhere in NL, or in other words, the loss of approximately 84,000 hours of work for existing plant workers.
Plant workers are advocating for their jobs, to keep their livelihoods and to contribute to their communities in rural NL. Employees of a number of ASP members have engaged in protests against the potential loss of their hours and the impact on a number of communities stemming from less work.
The Association is encouraging those who support plant workers in their opposition to new processing capacity to reach out to their local MHAs to voice their concerns.