Wage concessions fought back at Trans Pacific Fish
UCLUELET - UFAWU members at Trans Pacific Fish have turned back management demands for massive wage concessions on their groundfish operation and saved the plant from closure.
Company president Barry Tyrer notified workers last November that he would be forced to shut the plant for good if he did not get relief from union wage conditions. A scheduled Christmas shutdown looked like it would become permanent.
But UFAWU members and Tyrer worked out an agreement Jan. 11 that should see the plant continue to operate without concessions on union wages and working conditions.
"We don't have to have plant closures, we don't have to take concessions and these plants can continue to operate. " said Vancouver Island organizer Bob Grant after the meeting. "That's
what these negotiations proved."
Tyrer had demanded the highest production levels in the industry to keep the plant going. If he couldn't get them, he said, he would have to have wage cuts.
But the workers believed their productivity was good. Improvements could be made, they said, but not on the basis sought by management.
A memorandum of agreement achieved Jan. 11 will implement a training program, new job rotations and establish a committee to study other methods to improve productivity.
The company will reopen the plant and hopes to handle more boats than it did last year.
Several other companies on the coast, including B.C. Packers, have closed groundfish operations because of declining prices. They are compelling their fishermen to deliver directly to the U.S.
Fuel tax rebate for those fishing beyond 12 mi. limit
dian-owned and registered or licensed in Canada under the Canada Shipping Act;
• the vessel must operate outside Canada, beyond the 12-mile limit and the master or owner must furnish the fuel supplier with a certificate to this effect; • the vessel must report to Customs either on a trip basis, if ships stores other than diesel fuel are acquired, or seasonally if only diesel fuel is involved.
Fishermen working outside the 12-mile limit may qualify for a rebate on federal tax paid on diesel fuel, says federal revenue minister Otto Jelinek.
In a letter to Skeena MP Jim Fulton Dec. 6, Jelinek confirmed that commercial fishing vessels may be exempt both from sales and excise taxes on diesel fuel under the following conditions:
• the vessel must be Cana-
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THE FISHERMAN / JANUARY 19, 1990 • 7