Premier Danny Williams said Fishery Products International executives can expect a tough response if they don't make meaningful changes to how they do business.
Williams reacted strongly to comments from Nova Scotia-based processor John Risley, FPI's key shareholder, that provincial government amendments to the FPI Act would have little effect on the company's affairs.
- FROM MAY 31, 2006: FPI Act changes a waste of time, money: Risley
"If Mr. Risley and/or others are going to be in your face and not treating the workers of the province in a fair manner, then they can expect a fastball at the side of the head from this government," Williams told CBC News.
Premier Danny Williams said residents of Newfoundland and Labrador 'have a right to a fair return' from companies like FPI. (CBC)
"We don't want to be in that position. We want to work with them to try to find solutions to maximize their business opportunities. [But] when they get out and make statements that are abrasive, that just makes our job tougher," Williams said.
The Newfoundland and Labrador legislature unanimously passed amendments that will force FPI — a former Crown corporation that is now publicly traded — to recruit residents of the province to serve on its board of directors.
FPI has not had a chief executive officer since Derrick Rowe resigned last fall. Instead, the St. John's-based company has been overseen by a three-member board committee, which includes Risley.
Risley said earlier this week that the changes to the FPI Act will only cost the company time and money.
Talks between FPI and its unionized workforce broke down last month, in part over concessions the company is seeking.
The Fish, Food and Allied Workers union described the list of concessions as draconian.
- FROM MAY 12, 2006: FPI seeks conciliator as union talks collapse
FPI said it will be seeking a conciliator to bridge the impasse with the FFAW.
Williams, who has said he has not liked how FPI has been treating its workers, said the company should remember that its fortunes are based on natural resources.
"People are coming in here and using valuable resources that are the people's resources," he said.
"The people of the province have a right to a fair return, and that's all we're asking."
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