Talks Break Off Between FFAW & Ocean Choice International

February 18, 2010

ST. JOHN’S, NL — The FFAW/CAW has applied for conciliation after contract talks between the union and Ocean Choice International (OCI) broke off this morning.

FFAW Chief Industrial Negotiator Ben Baker says talks, which were being held in St. John’s over the past two days, have been bogged down by the concessions being sought by the processing company.

“We’ve been in negotiations for the past two days and, quite frankly, talks have not gone very well to this point because the company came in looking for concessions in a number of key areas,” Baker said.  “We’ve applied for conciliation so we’ll be waiting for a conciliator to be appointed and talks will resume once that’s done.”

The negotiations affect upwards of 1,500 workers at OCI fish processing facilities in Port aux Choix, South Dildo, Port Union, Bonavista, Marystown and Triton. The previous contract between the company and the union was a three-year deal that expired on Dec. 31, 2009.

This is essentially the first negotiation between OCI and the FFAW as the previous contract was carried over when OCI purchased the former Fishery Products International processing assets (FPI).