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Opposition Leader Gerry Reid says while he is pleased that government has
honoured its commitment to create an assistance program to help displaced
crab plant workers in the province, he is disappointed that other impacted
workers such as crew members, fish harvesters and those directly involved in
servicing the crab industry do not qualify for this program. Reid also says
this program will do little to help plant workers in southern Labrador who
only received a few weeks of work this year. "If Premier Williams did not
impose a raw material sharing program in the crab fishery this year, we
probably wouldn’t need this assistance program," said Mr. Reid. "Never in
the history of our crab fishery has government had to step in with make work
programs because plant workers in such numbers could not qualify for
Employment Insurance (EI). It will be very difficult for workers in places
such as southern Labrador to get enough weeks to qualify for their EI this
year. Unfortunately, as a result of the Premier’s heavy-handed approach and
the delay in fish harvesters landing their catch, the value of this year’s
crab fishery will be much less than previous years. Even with this program,
there will still be a negative impact on many communities and the entire
provincial economy. The economic spinoffs that are created from the landing
and processing of crab will disappear and many fish harvesters will be
impacted by the loss of income from this year’s fishery.
"We heard reports this morning that the raw material sharing program
established in the shrimp sector is also having a negative impact. With the
elimination of competition, prices are down and this could force shrimp
harvesters to tie up their boats. This could lead to shrimp plant workers
being out of work. Will this program be expanded to help these workers if
their circumstance does not improve?
"I fear that next year’s crab fishery will be facing another crisis,
similar to that now being experienced in the shrimp fishery. As competition
is eliminated, the price of crab will drop. This will make it less
economical for some fish harvesters to incur the costs of catching and
landing crab. It may be even more important to have a comprehensive
assistance program developed to deal with next year’s anticipated problems.
"Government played a major role in creating the current problems faced by
workers in the crab sector. It is only fair that they include other workers
in this program who have also been negatively impacted by the decision to
unilaterally implement a production quota system. Individuals such as crew
members, affected harvesters and displaced workers who were directly
impacted by this production quota system should also be considered and
compensated under this program. This assistance will not replace their lost
wages, but will help them through the winter months and not force them to
leave the province and their families in search of additional employment,
something that has already happened to many crew members and displaced
workers in the crab sector."
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