FFAW broke collective agreement by telling crab fishermen to keep boats tied up, arbitrator rules

An arbitrator has ruled the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union broke its collective agreement with the Association of Seafood Producers by telling crab harvesters to keep their boats tied up at the start of last season amid a price dispute.

In his decision, shared by the producers' associationTuesday, arbitrator David Orsborn concluded the union declared a "cessation of business dealings,"which violatedthe terms of the agreement and the Fishing Industry Collective Bargaining Act.

The tie-up lasted six weeks, and was fuelled by calls for better prices for harvesters. The price of snow crab was originally set at $2.20 per pound where it remained when the tie-up ended but rose to $2.60 per pound by the end of the season.

The arbitration will now move into the damages phase. The producers' associationis seeking the complete recovery of losses, costs anddamages from the union, according to a press release from the group.Executive director Jeff Loder wouldn't say Tuesday how much producers will be seeking, citingprivacy of proceedings.

Harvesters, the FFAW and a November reportfrom the province'sfish price-setting team have said the pricing system is flawedand a newformula-based pricing system needs to be implemented to ensure a tie-up doesn't happen again.

A new formula hasn't been decided upon yet,and the season usually starts in early April.

Lodersaid his group was reluctantto launch the grievance but did so because oftheprinciple that rules need to be followed by all parties rules that prohibit what he called "economic warfare" to extract better crab prices outside traditional methods.

"Given in our view [that] that transpired last year, it was felt it was appropriate to launch a grievance to sort of reinforce that there are rules and all parties need to follow those rules," Loder said.

"What transpired last year was not to anyone's benefit, and I think what's important at this time is that all parties remainfocused on establishing a formula with a fair sharing arrangement."

The union's public affairs manager, Courtney Glode,said president Greg Pretty wasn't available to comment Tuesday afternoon but might be available Wednesday.

Loder said all parties need to work together to ensure stability in the sector.

"Over time, there has been a shift away from what should be the primary focus, which is working together to create value," he said. "This year after year of acrimony and conflictual relations does not achieve what needs to be achieved."

WATCH | Association of Seafood Producers says 'economic warfare' broke the rules:

Last seasons crab protest broke the rules. Is the union on the hook for damages?

9 months ago

Duration 1:26

The Association of Seafood Producers has won a grievance against the FFAW. Last year, crab harvesters tied up their boats to protest the price set by an independent panel. Now, with lower prices likely for this season, producers say they want to avoid another battle at the wharf.

Another grievance between the FFAW and the producers is scheduled to be heard March 12, centring on the removal of the 20 per cent tolerance for snow crab. The toleranceallowed harvesters to be paid the minimum price for theirentire catchas long as the percentage of crab under four inches, but still of legal size, was less than 20 per cent.

Producers requested last year that the practice be dropped, and the price-setting panel agreed. Instead, a 30-cent penalty was applied to crab under four inches, a decision the union sayscost harvesters money.

Download ourfree CBC News appto sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador.Click here to visit our landing page.