Showing posts with label labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labor. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
'The true cost of cheap seafood'
Joe Bundrant, CEO of Seattle-based processing company Trident Seafoods, addresses a seafood worker scandal in China.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
A snapshot of Alaska's seafood workforce
The state Department of Labor focuses on commercial fishing in the latest edition of its monthly publication, Alaska Economic Trends.
Here are a few notes of interest:
• Average monthly employment in Alaska fish harvesting climbed in 2011 for the third consecutive year, to 8,064 permit holders and crewmen.
• Lots of fishermen hold non-fishing jobs in the off-season. Salmon setnet permit holders are the most likely to hold another job, while trawl permit holders are the least likely.
• Construction is far and away the most common off-season job fishermen hold.
• Fewer than 15 percent of resident permit holders and crew are women.
• The median hourly wage for seafood processors was $9.03 per hour in 2011, but those working in Southeast Alaska made a higher median wage by nearly $3 an hour.
Here are a few notes of interest:
• Average monthly employment in Alaska fish harvesting climbed in 2011 for the third consecutive year, to 8,064 permit holders and crewmen.
• Lots of fishermen hold non-fishing jobs in the off-season. Salmon setnet permit holders are the most likely to hold another job, while trawl permit holders are the least likely.
• Construction is far and away the most common off-season job fishermen hold.
• Fewer than 15 percent of resident permit holders and crew are women.
• The median hourly wage for seafood processors was $9.03 per hour in 2011, but those working in Southeast Alaska made a higher median wage by nearly $3 an hour.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Full Alaska delegation jumps into J-1 visa issue
Here's an update on our recent report that the State Department might stop granting foreign students J-1 visas to work in U.S. seafood processing plants.
As you'll recall, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, was telling Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this would be a bad move, that Alaska's seafood industry heavily depends on these student workers.
Now, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young, both Republicans, have joined Begich on an objection to the Obama administration.
Looking back a few months, Deckboss wonders about the role this Begich letter might have played in precipitating this looming labor crisis for the 2012 salmon season.
Begich suggested the J-1 program might need "modification," noting foreign students had come to work in Kodiak, Kenai and elsewhere without appropriate housing or transportation, and that their employment had cost local resident workers overtime pay.
Some locals even had to resort to a food bank due to the loss of income, Begich wrote.
"Especially when it comes to placing students in smaller communities, we need to assure there is accountability and we are not over-burdening the local area with additional workers competing for jobs," the letter said.
As you'll recall, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, was telling Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this would be a bad move, that Alaska's seafood industry heavily depends on these student workers.
Now, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young, both Republicans, have joined Begich on an objection to the Obama administration.
Looking back a few months, Deckboss wonders about the role this Begich letter might have played in precipitating this looming labor crisis for the 2012 salmon season.
Begich suggested the J-1 program might need "modification," noting foreign students had come to work in Kodiak, Kenai and elsewhere without appropriate housing or transportation, and that their employment had cost local resident workers overtime pay.
Some locals even had to resort to a food bank due to the loss of income, Begich wrote.
"Especially when it comes to placing students in smaller communities, we need to assure there is accountability and we are not over-burdening the local area with additional workers competing for jobs," the letter said.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Labor crisis looms for Alaska processors
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, recently sent two letters to the Obama administration objecting to possible changes that could shut off a major source of workers for the state's seafood processing industry.
At issue is the Summer Work Travel Program, which allows foreign college students to come to the United States on a J-1 visa to work and travel during their summer vacation. The U.S. Department of State oversees the program.
Begich worries the State Department, now considering possible reforms to address worker exploitation complaints and other issues, is about to exclude manufacturing and packing facilities from the program, including fish processors.
That would deny Alaska processors thousands of workers, right on the brink of the summer salmon season, Begich says.
One of his letters is to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who might have a sympathetic ear on this issue. After graduating from college, she worked the slime line in a Valdez cannery.
At issue is the Summer Work Travel Program, which allows foreign college students to come to the United States on a J-1 visa to work and travel during their summer vacation. The U.S. Department of State oversees the program.
Begich worries the State Department, now considering possible reforms to address worker exploitation complaints and other issues, is about to exclude manufacturing and packing facilities from the program, including fish processors.
That would deny Alaska processors thousands of workers, right on the brink of the summer salmon season, Begich says.
One of his letters is to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who might have a sympathetic ear on this issue. After graduating from college, she worked the slime line in a Valdez cannery.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Monday, June 7, 2010
Petersburg — Alaska's fishing centenarian
The Alaska Department of Labor has a nifty profile of Petersburg in the May issue of its newsletter, "Alaska Economic Trends."
"Ask Alaskans what they know about Petersburg and if they don't know anything else, you can be sure they'll mention at least two things: fishing and Norway," the article begins.
Here's a few noteworthy observations from the four-page spread:
• Petersburg's estimated population last year was 2,973, down about 250 since the 2000 census.
• The town's economy faces challenges including a decline in halibut catch limits and this summer's closure of the Ocean Beauty Seafoods processing plant. The shutdown is expected to be for this season only, due to a poor pink salmon forecast.
• The town's top employer is Icicle Seafoods.
• More and more tourists are coming to Petersburg, now exceeding 50,000 a year. But don't look for the giant cruise ships that call on other Southeast Alaska towns, as Petersburg lacks a deep-water port.
Deckboss recommends you also check out another article in the Labor Department newsletter pertaining to self-employment in Alaska.
Commercial fishermen, it seems, are in the occupational category with the highest concentration of self-employed people.
"Fishermen are the quintessential Alaskan group of self-employed — rugged individuals, out there in the open seas, with their own boat and crew," the article says.
Click here to see the newsletter.
"Ask Alaskans what they know about Petersburg and if they don't know anything else, you can be sure they'll mention at least two things: fishing and Norway," the article begins.
Here's a few noteworthy observations from the four-page spread:
• Petersburg's estimated population last year was 2,973, down about 250 since the 2000 census.
• The town's economy faces challenges including a decline in halibut catch limits and this summer's closure of the Ocean Beauty Seafoods processing plant. The shutdown is expected to be for this season only, due to a poor pink salmon forecast.
• The town's top employer is Icicle Seafoods.
• More and more tourists are coming to Petersburg, now exceeding 50,000 a year. But don't look for the giant cruise ships that call on other Southeast Alaska towns, as Petersburg lacks a deep-water port.
Deckboss recommends you also check out another article in the Labor Department newsletter pertaining to self-employment in Alaska.
Commercial fishermen, it seems, are in the occupational category with the highest concentration of self-employed people.
"Fishermen are the quintessential Alaskan group of self-employed — rugged individuals, out there in the open seas, with their own boat and crew," the article says.
Click here to see the newsletter.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Are you too old for this job?
The state Department of Labor's Alaska Economic Trends newsletter for November has a cover story about employment in the seafood industry.
It's an easy and interesting seven-page read. Here's a few highlights:
• The fishing and processing sectors combined for 16,297 jobs last year, up almost 12 percent since the bottom of the salmon depression in 2002.
• The industry's youth is on deck with almost half of vessel crewmen under 30 years old last year. Processing workers generally are older, averaging 39 in 2008. Fishing permit holders are the graybeards, averaging 46 years old.
• Alaska's highly seasonal seafood industry has a huge nonresident component, with 27 percent of permit holders 46 percent of crewmen and 74 percent of processing workers living out of state last year.
It's an easy and interesting seven-page read. Here's a few highlights:
• The fishing and processing sectors combined for 16,297 jobs last year, up almost 12 percent since the bottom of the salmon depression in 2002.
• The industry's youth is on deck with almost half of vessel crewmen under 30 years old last year. Processing workers generally are older, averaging 39 in 2008. Fishing permit holders are the graybeards, averaging 46 years old.
• Alaska's highly seasonal seafood industry has a huge nonresident component, with 27 percent of permit holders 46 percent of crewmen and 74 percent of processing workers living out of state last year.
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