Don't call us, we'll call you
Seafreez workers facing tough year
"Employees will be called the next day we have production."
Depending on whether the line's busy at Canso's Seafreez Foods Inc, that's the recorded message you might wind up hearing.
The message itself doesn't sound particularly strange.
But look a little further and it becomes painfully obvious that the message is just another signal that Canso's seafood processing operation is facing another tough year.
Last year was a good one for Seafreez workers - it was the first time in many years they had plenty to do. Many employees thought they had turned the corner and that the industry was in an upswing.
But now, according to former Seafreez employee Judy Smith, the signs are clear that 2006 is shaping up as an incredibly rough ride for about 100 Seafreez production line workers.
"They're not getting any hours. Last year my husband worked 221.5 hours for the month of May at Seafreez," Smith, the former Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 1972 union's recording secretary, said on Monday.
"This year he has 15.5 hours for the month of May. That's a little bit of a difference, isn't it?"
Smith worked at Seafreez for 11 years before quitting her post about a month ago. She said she had little choice but to resign after landing a secure position at Canso High School.
Smith says her husband's hours for the season to date justify her decision.
Seafreez Plant Manager Kay Ryan didn't return The Journal's calls on Tuesday.
Smith, meanwhile, believes Seafreez's failed attempt to secure two crab quotas from Prince Edward Island explains the slower-than-usual start to the season.
"(Seafreez) put two bids in over in PEI for crab quota," she said.
"They won the bid for the first quota, the second one they didn't. There's not going to be anything happening with the crab until June 1. On the first of June the offshore season starts and on the 15th of June the inshore season starts.
"They started with the crab two weeks earlier than they did last year. I think there were eight days on crab in April and in May they got five hours on crab (to date). I would think the top 40 employees will get (the hours required to qualify for Employment Insurance).
"I would say about 60 people won't get their hours."
That dire assessment means, Smith said, many workers will soon face some very tough decisions.
"You either have to go away to get your hours or it's the welfare line - peanut butter one week and jam the next, provided you can afford the slice of bread to put it on," she said.
"There are workers heading for PEI, Newfoundland or trying to get part-time work. Others who are working part time at the plant are planning to go away in the fall to get their hours.
"That's bad for the economy of the town because they're not spending in town. They're over in PEI or Newfoundland, spending in those economies, right? It's a vicious circle."
It's a big change from last year, when work was plentiful.
"Last year was great, one of the best years they've had in a long, long time," Smith said.
"People were hoping things would go as well this year but it's not happening. The unfortunate part is that people's unemployment (payments are) running out now and they don't have work, they don't have enough hours to file. It's going to start hitting now - not when the work's over and they don't have their hours, it's going to start now because they don't have EI and they don't have enough hours."
