Ocean Choice workers pass whopping strike vote

A showdown seems likely between one of eastern Canada's largest seafood producers and much of its unionized workforce in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Employees at six Ocean Choice International plants have voted overwhelmingly to give the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union a strike mandate.About 93per cent of participating FFAW members supported the strike mandate.

Talks between OCI and the FFAW broke off last month, with the union claiming the company was demanding too many concessions at the bargaining table from its roughly 1,200 employees.

The union has not set a date for when members may walk off the job.

Martin Sullivan, chief executive officer of St. John's-based OCI, said in a statement Monday that the results from the strike vote were disappointing.

"We remain open to returning to the bargaining table, and negotiating a settlement, that is certainly our preferred route," Sullivan said.

"Negotiations are about give and take on both sides. We are prepared to discuss issues, but the union also has to be willing to reach a compromise. It can't be all one-sided."

'Tried as best we can'

But Allan Moulton, president of the FFAW local in Marystown, told CBC News before Friday evening's strike vote there that the union has already given up plenty at the table.

"We've tried as best we can [but] this company keeps coming back looking for more'Give me more, give me more, give me more,' " he said Friday.

OCI, however, says it has offered a wage increase over two years, and that, with benefits added,the "overall package still remains the highest for collective agreements" in the province's seafood industry.

The FFAW represents workers in Bonavista, Dildo, Marystown, Port Union, Port au Choix and Triton. They work at plants formerly operated by Fishery Products International. The FFAW and Ocean Choice are trying to negotiate the first contract for the workers since OCI bought the plants in 2007.

The strike vote adds a new complication to Newfoundland and Labrador's fishing industry this spring. Like other processors, OCI balked atthe price set for the once-lucrative crab fishery. The industryfinally startedin late April, after an impasse that lasted for more than a month.

Like most other seafood producers, OCI is struggling with unfavourable exchange because of the high Canadian dollar and slumping consumer demand in the key U.S. marketplace.