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ARDGLASS HARBOUR STRIKE
Highly skilled employees of the Northern Ireland Fishery Harbour Authority (NIFHA) are angling for a better deal on pay and are reluctantly set to take strike action, writes Mark Metcalf. By doing so they will close the harbours, stopping the fleet from landing our healthiest food source, fish. The damage to an already fragile regional economy will be significant.
Unite members are having to take action after management failure to even keep basic pay in line with inflation, or award recommended pay increments.
Ardglass has been a fishing port for over 2,000 years. It has one of the few harbours accessible at all times and has two fishing piers, a number of fish processing factories plus a marina. At least £8m passes through the fish trade, mainly in herrings, prawns and whitefish, annually.
Previously un-unionised, NIFHA staff set to down tools are no rebels. They
are desperately keen to maintain the high standards of service to their crews.
“This is all new territory for us,” explains Unite rep Jim Leneghan, who is a maintenance fitter who comes from an engineering background. He undertakes electrical work and he’s a qualified welder. “We joined and wanted Unite to represent us from January last year but the Authority held us back until December. I was then elected as rep.”
Like many of his fellow workers, Jim has been a loyal NIFHA employee for 20 plus years. “We feel betrayed with their skills, experiences, dedication and commitment overlooked. We know that the authority is taking in monies. And as there are so few of us, under 30 in all, they can afford to look after us. Our pay is now the minimum wage of £11.44 an hour.”
This is despite the NIFHA declaring itself an accredited Living Wage
10 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2024
employer which based on the cost of living should be, at least, £12 an hour. “Taking strike action may be required if we want to help our families,” adds Jim, who cares for his elderly parents with medical needs.
“It is disgraceful that most workers at the NIFHA are paid the bare legal minimum,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.
“Even the harbour masters are paid only a few pennies more than the living wage. The fisheries and harbours workforce can count on the full backing of Unite in their fight for improved pay.”
Unite is demanding the NIFHA makes waves to resolve their harbour and fisheries employees needs and has written to the Rural Affairs minister Andrew Muir.
“We hope Mr Muir can offer a fresh approach to resolve things before we are forced out of the gate,” states Jim.
Alamy
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