Dozens of plant workers from Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula headed to St. John's Monday to fight for their jobs, as well as against the union that represents them.
Workers at the Ocean Choice International plant in Fortune voted unanimously earlier this month to accept OCI's proposal to ship three-quarters of its yellowtail flounder quota out of the province unprocessed.
In return, OCI is promising 110 full-time jobs at the Fortune plant to handle the rest of the flounder quota.
The Fish, Food and Allied Workers union, though, is against the proposal, although local union representative Karen Caines said the Fortune workforce needs the jobs that will come with the deal.
"Whether the FFAW agrees with this proposal or not at the end of the day, the final decision comes back to our provincial government," Caines told CBC News Monday.
"We would like the provincial government to agree with this proposal and get our 110 workers back to work."
Organizers hired two buses to take workers to the city, with a rally planned outside the FFAW offices. Workers also want to meet with Derrick Dalley, who took over the fisheries portfolio in Friday's cabinet shuffle.
Dalley's predecessor, Darin King, insisted that the government cannot go ahead with the OCI proposal if the FFAW is not onside.
The FFAW, for its part, said the decision rests entirely with the government. President Earle McCurdy said King was trying to scapegoat the union leadership, which he said was sticking to long-standing policies against the wholesale export of unprocessed seafood.