Reducing foreign workers threatens viable lobster plants, warns industry The loss of temporary foreign workers could reduce lobster processing in the Maritimes by as much as 25 per cent, say industry leaders from the Maritime seafood processing sector. The industry group representing lobster processors in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have been meeting with officials from the federal and provincial governments on the impacts of the proposed program changes. Dennis King, who is with the P.E.I. Seafood Processors Association, said Monday eight processing operations, which employ 1,500 Canadians that process 25 per cent of the region’s lobster, may not be able to operate if they are forced to reduce their access to foreign workers to 10 per cent. He says the industry has challenged the stereotype of the region portrayed by Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney that there are thousands of unemployed Maritimers drawing EI that could easily replace the loss of foreign workers in fish plants. The industry group points out that in P.E.I., for example, there are two plants in Kings County that rely on temporary foreign workers for upwards of 50 per cent of their workforce. However, there are only 350 regular EI recipients in the entire region during peak processing season. The industry also notes that the loss of a key element of their workforce and production capacity comes at a time when the CETA trade initiative should see processing growth. The prime minister just completed a trade mission this week to London in which opportunities under CETA were discussed. “The federal government has said that the seafood processing sector will see growth and expansion into new markets as a result of CETA,” says Jerry Amirault of the Lobster Processors Association of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. “But our plants will struggle to meet the demands of their existing customers as a result of changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Their policies are operating at cross-purposes,” The industry has called for a moratorium on changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program while a detailed labour market analysis and strategy are completed to pave the way for a modernization of the industry. Amirault says the industry needs time to modernize to continue to meet the increasing demands of the world-wide marketplace. “We have seen record lobster landings in the region for the past two years and the processing sector has handled every last pound of it, but we need a work force to do it. A reduction in our workforce will result in a drastic reduction in the amount of lobsters we will be able to buy and process.”
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 21:53:38 +0000
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