Jobs available for Ocean Choice workers: province

P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz and Innovation Minister Allan Campbell addressed a union meeting in Souris Wednesday morning to tell Ocean Choiceworkers jobs are available for many of them.

More than 100 workers were at St. Mary's Hall for the meeting, called to discuss Monday's announcement that the Ocean Choice Internationallobster processing plant would not open for the spring season. Ghiz and Campbell spoke for an hour.

"Our main goal for this year is to make sure that they all have meaningful employment," Ghiz said.

"I find it despicable what OCI did."

The premiersaid while the province was not interested in giving money to Ocean Choice, the government is interested in helping the workers.

Ocean Choice International released a statement on Wednesday in response to the premier's comments, defending its decision to cease processing in Souris.

"The premier of Prince Edward Island and several of his cabinet ministers have regrettably chosen to vehemently attack Ocean Choice International for the company's decision not to process lobster at Souris this spring season, rather than help us get the plant back in operation with a new operator," said Blaine Sullivan, the company's chief operating officer.

"We want to sell the plant and get good people back to work. We want him to stop playing politics with language that will make that task more difficult. No private buyer will be enticed into a situation where the government is perceived to be anti-business in nature."

Union officials, who also addressed the workers on Wednesday, said plants in Beach Point, Montague and Georgetown all have some positions available.

Craig Walsh, the union representative, said more positions may become available in the future.

"With the product that's out there right now, they can ramp up production to fill some voids," said Walsh.

"As the premier said, OCI apparently has got to fulfil some contracts, which means that they're going to have to pay other people to do their work for them."

Islanders are priority: Ghiz

The government has identified 100 to 120 vacant jobs at other processing plants. Concerns were expressed about having to travel to those jobs, but Ghiz said the province will offer travel subsidies.

The premier alsosaid helping Prince Edward Islanders is his first priority.

That statement upset some of the80 to 90 workers from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, who were in Souris to work at the plant.

Deanne Young said she had movedfrom Newfoundland a few days before Ocean Choice announced the closure.

"Everybody who worked for Ocean Choice should be treated equally," Young said.

"I'm a single parent. I had to haul my little boy out of school to come here to go to work. I had to pay a month's rent plus travel expenses which is close to a $1,000. Now I have no job."

All the Ocean Choice workers in town were invited to meet with Skills PEI representativesWednesday afternoon to talk about employment options.

"We have different demographics. We have younger people, older people, we have people who may have child-care issues and transportation issues. We're trying to gather all that information so that we can go and work to find solutions," said Campbell.

There's also the issue of severance pay from the company the union said all the workers are owed money.

But since the closure was announced on Monday, the union said it hasn't been able to reach Ocean Choice International.