The Union Forum - Fall 2011 - FFAW

President’s MessageA matter ofrespectEarle McCurdyPresidentThis special edition of Union Forum touches on just a few ofthe many struggles, campaigns and controversial issues thatour Union has grappled with over the past 40 years.One thing these issues all have in common is the need forrank and file people who work on fishing boats, in fish plants,or elsewhere in the economy, to have a strong organization torepresent them.Our Union can never afford to be complacent, to rest on ourlaurels. The challenges are too many and too great to allow usthat luxury.Having said that, it is important that we have a strong senseof who we are and where we’re come from, that we respectour history and the pioneers who had the foresight and thedetermination and the smarts to build our Union.We recently named our union building the Richard CashinBuilding, for good reason. Richard was the person who reallymade it happen, who had what it takes to make a brilliant ideainto a concrete reality.He’ll be the first to tell you he couldn’t have done it on hisown. Father Des McGrath obviously played a key role as well,not only in the formation of the Union in the early days, but asan ongoing source of inspiration and support until his death in2009.Less well known to the general public, but of vital importanceto our survival in the early years was Ray Greening, who servedas Secretary-Treasurer until his untimely death in 1980, at theage of 43. Ray taught me a tremendous amount about tradeunion principles and values, as he did for other staff and rankand file leaders in our Union.The other early pioneers included Kevin Condon, a smallboat fisherman from Calvert who served briefly as Secretary-Treasurer, then for about 16 years as Inshore Vice-President.Greg Pretty’s column recognizes the contributions of our staffover the years. Both office staff and field staff are critical to ourability to do the job; it’s not a task for the faint of heart.And we were blessed with the volunteer work and thewisdom, strength and determination of thousands of rank andfile Executive Board, Council and committee members who gotinvolved because they believe they and their peers need and40th Anniversary Issuedeserve a strong organization. We couldn’t possibly functionwithout them. There have been way too many of them over theyears to list here, but you know who you are.It’s difficult in a publication like this to do justice to themagnitude of the challenges that confronted us over the years,from the economic pressures, the tragedies, the heartache ofplant closures and the many other challenges that have put usto the test over and over again.Nearly 20 years after the fact, it is easy to forget how painfulit was for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, but especiallyour members, when the Government of Canada took thedevastating step of closing first the northern cod fisheryand later about a dozen other groundfish fisheries that wedepended on.Our survival as a people, as a fishing society, was in realjeopardy and we had to fight hard to get treated with respect.Because in the long run that is what a Union is all about. Ofcourse it’s about economic issues - prices, wages, benefits - butabove all it is about being treated with dignity and respect.When trawlermen took to the picket lines in the great strikeof 1974-75, it was fundamentally about respect. Likewise, theinshore strike of 1980, and the many plant negotiations over theyears. When the fish companies cut off the collection of uniondues and unilaterally reduced fish prices in 1980, it was a slap inthe face of every fisherman that they eventually came to regret.When the provincial government implemented Raw MaterialSharing in 2005 in the face of the clear opposition of our Union,they were treating our membership with total disrespect. Wefought back so ferociously that even Danny Williams had toback off and reverse his position.No doubt the challenges will continue to face us as we moveinto our next 40 years. Thanks to the foresight of our pioneersand the ongoing dedication of our rank and file leadershipand membership, we have the wherewithal to tackle thesechallenges with the fundamental goal of improving theincomes and the lives of our membership, and strengtheningand stabilizing our communities.Fall 2011 - The Union Forum - 340th Anniversary Issue