Getting Personal

Getting Personal

By: Ryan Young

I don’t think anyone would argue with the fact that fish harvesters in this province have a number of issues that they would like to see addressed by the FFAW. Many will tell you they have been fighting for years to get attention from their union. If social media and the open line shows are any indication, a very large portion of these harvesters feel ready for a change. With the upstart FISH-NL group working towards its first convention later this month, while gathering up members willing to sign their new union cards, it has been a very interesting couple of months to say the least.

We have heard from many harvesters and many members within the FFAW since this whole story began, but despite the continued pushback from the union against Ryan Cleary, leader of the FISH-NL movement, the union side has not really had much to say about the issues that are concerning the fishers. The strategy at the FFAW seems to be kill the head and hope that the body will fall. This is why they have spent so much time questioning Mr. Cleary’s motives when they should have been out meeting with harvesters and asking how they can do better to represent them. I was told by one long time fisherman who had no real interest in the union debate in the beginning, that his loyalties shifted to FISH-NL when he repeatedly heard the FFAW making personal attacks instead of addressing the issues that were being brought forth. I would be willing to bet that there are many harvesters that share this same view and it would be wise for the FFAW to be mindful of what they are saying.

To make matters even stranger, Canadian Labour Congress President, Hassan Youseff wrote Cleary a letter last week, accusing him of trying to “raid” the FFAW and making connections to Cleary’s political past. It was strange when Mr. Youseff was asked about this on a VOCM call in show, he said that he had no comment about Cleary’s past political involvement. If he had no comment, then why did he specifically reference it in the letter? It is no secret that Ryan Cleary is a polarizing figure. Most people either like him or they don’t, but I really don’t see the value in Youseff’s letter or his comments. Hassan Youseff’s job is to protect the best interest of his members. There is obviously a large contingent of harvesters that feel that the FFAW is not working in their interests and again, instead of addressing these concerns, the CLC President chose instead to throw personal mud and question Cleary’s motives and integrity. Is this the way a person in Mr. Youseff’s position should act? I don’t know, but I do know that it has strengthened the resolve of those on the FISH-NL side. The really tricky part about all of this is that if FISH-NL is successful they will likely be making an application to join the CLC. How are these workers supposed to feel represented by the CLC when they are feeling betrayed by them before their new union is even off the ground?

I have heard Mr. Cleary say several times that one of the things that he teaches his children is that in an argument, if you get personal, you lose. In this case I think that the analogy is very apt. By choosing to go after Cleary’s character with personal attacks instead of addressing the issues of the harvesters, the FFAW and CLC are not winning over many fans that make a living in a fishing boat. The only chance the FFAW had to keep their support strong was to show their members some real openness and transparency and to offer to discuss the issues and make some changes. Instead they have decided to take the low road by going after Cleary and I fully expect that this approach will ultimately be thing that pushes FISH-NL over the top.

At this point the FISH-NL movement has grown too large to be silenced by silencing one person. Even if the FFAW were having success in their campaign against Cleary, (which they are not!) it wouldn’t matter. Too many harvesters have gotten behind the idea that they don’t have to be screwed over by their union any longer and the momentum has grown large enough to keep the movement going even if Cleary were no longer in the picture. Some made a big deal the other day about Cleary saying that if the FFAW would agree to a complete third party audit that he would walk away from FISH-NL. Yes, on the surface it may sound bad, but Cleary knows that the union will never agree to such an audit so he knows that in the he will come out looking good while the union looks even more secretive and elitist. It’s a good move because even if by some stroke of divine intervention, the FFAW did agree to an independent audit, the fish harvesters would still be getting what they wanted all along which is real openness and transparency from their union.

It will be interesting to watch the lead up to the inaugural FISH-NL Convention on October 27^th, and the card signing drive that is expected to run through to December. Will the union see the errors in their ways and try to make things right with harvesters, or will they continue down the road of personal attacks and continued deniability? Many feel that we are on the verge of a historic shift in representation for fish harvesters in this province, but for now all we can do is wait and watch. Stay tuned!

The Fisher’s Revolt

The Fisher’s Revolt

By: Ryan Young

Go take a walk around any wharf in outport Newfoundland and Labrador and ask the inshore fisherman how they feel about the Fish, Food, and Allied Workers Union (FFAW). For the last two summers I did quite a bit of that, and the reaction was always the same. Either a scowl and a curse at the very mention of the name, or a laugh and a shake of the head and the words: “The union don’t do nothing for us fellers.” That sentiment is common in all corners of the province, and this week it reached a fever pitch.

No matter how much the pundits spin will try to tell you that it was the other way around, a group of concerned fisherman decided they needed to do something and contacted Ryan Cleary and asked him to find out if anything can be done to separate them from their union. A few busy months of research and unsatisfactory answers culminated in a press conference in Petty Harbour on Monday to announce a series of meetings that will determine if there is enough interest among harvesters in the province to break away from the FFAW and form their own Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters-FISH-NL.

The meetings will be held on September 19^th in Corner Brook and September 20^th in Clarenville. According to Cleary, these meetings will determine the future of the movement to break away from the FFAW. The harvesters claim that the union operates in a constant conflict of interest and does not fairly represent their needs. Questionable federal funding, offshore operations, and lack of transparency are all major issues that the harvesters claim are negatively affecting their livelihoods.

The tension between harvesters and the FFAW grew considerably last winter when scallop harvesters brought the union to court over compensation payments and won. During the trial, the union’s lawyers tried to discredit the intelligence of the harvesters, which didn’t do very much for the already strained relationship between the two. In the end the harvesters got their lump-sum payment, but they also got the satisfaction of having it proved in a court of law that the union was doing them wrong. Now the battle is heating up again. One quote from the FISH-NL press release says: “The union has warped into a well-paid branch of the Government of Canada, more interested in feeding itself than representing the best interests of its membership.” If that kind of sentiment is the norm among harvesters, it looks like the FFAW might be in trouble.

FFAW President, Keith Sullivan, has avoided any admission of wrong doing and went on the offensive yesterday, questioning Cleary’s reputation and his motives. He says that the push for a new union is coming from a “vocal minority” of fish harvesters. That type of comment just goes to show how out of touch Sullivan is with the real concerns of people he is supposed to represent. A quick look to social media or a listen to the open line shows paints a very different picture, with support for Cleary and FISH-NL coming in from all over the province. Sullivan might be better off putting the offensive on hold and making himself available to harvesters to really hear their concerns and make promises to do better. I’m sure many feel it is too little, too late for that kind of action, but at least it would send a message that they are listening and willing to do better. By maintaining that the union is currently working in the best interest of the harvesters feels like a kick in the guts to the hard-working men and women who feel that their voices are not being heard. Union membership is mandatory and many feel that they are paying good money to shoot themselves in the foot.

Whether or not you like Ryan Cleary is irrelevant. As much as Sullivan and the FFAW would like to turn this around by attacking the messenger, the message is too important and too loud to be silenced. The harvesters that approached Cleary did so because the man knows the fishery. He has been writing or fighting about it his whole professional career and he has pulled no punches in trying to take the FFAW to task on their actions over the years. The fact that it is Ryan Cleary sending the message makes the media pay attention and that is good for the cause. As they say, any publicity is good publicity and Cleary has never been one to back down from a challenge. But it is important to note that there are no guarantees that Cleary will even be the eventual leader of the movement. They promise to be open and transparent and if a new union is formed the harvesters will have their own say in who leads them. Cleary certainly seems like a tailored fit for the job, but in the end that decision will be left up to the harvesters, as it should be.

No matter what happens at the meetings next week, I am encouraged to see a discussion emerging about the future of the inshore harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador. Fishing is our very raison d’etre, in this province and if we want to get serious about rebuilding our rural communities, the fishery needs to be an integral part of our future plans. Maybe a separate union for our fish harvesters will be a positive thing, that will help facilitate the changes needed to bring the inshore fishery into the 21^st Century. The harvesters certainly are not satisfied with the representation that they have now, and as our fishing industry continues to face massive challenges, maybe it is time that we started listening to them on some of the issues. Sure we need a union that works closely with government, but more importantly we need a union that represents and protects the best interests of its workers. If the FFAW can’t fulfill that mandate, maybe it is time for a union that can.