Billingsgate fish market porters protest employment law changes
Over 100 porters at the long-established and iconic Billingsgate fish market - located in London's Canary Wharf - have joined a demonstration this week to protest proposed changes to employment bylaws. If approved, the changes suggested by the City of London Corporation will effectively hand over food jobs to unlicensed workers.
One 44-year-old porter who has worked at Billingsgate for 27 years, Paul Hinch, has spoken of the potentially devastating effect the changes will have on the market's food job workers. He said:
On the other side of the argument, the City of London Corporation has denied accusations that they want to close the market, saying that they simply want to modernise an "outdated" bylaw created in 1876 in order to comply with current food and hygiene regulations in the UK.
Even the former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has waded into the dispute, saying in a phone interview:
Billingsgate fish market is the largest of its kind in the UK, and has an estimated annual revenue of £200 million.
One 44-year-old porter who has worked at Billingsgate for 27 years, Paul Hinch, has spoken of the potentially devastating effect the changes will have on the market's food job workers. He said:
"At least 100 of the 120 of us will lose our jobs,"
"The Corporation of London has a hidden agenda. They want to get rid of the fish porters first before actually getting rid of the market."
On the other side of the argument, the City of London Corporation has denied accusations that they want to close the market, saying that they simply want to modernise an "outdated" bylaw created in 1876 in order to comply with current food and hygiene regulations in the UK.
Even the former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has waded into the dispute, saying in a phone interview:
"They [the Corporation] propose to close down this traditional market in London and make a vast profit on the land,"
Billingsgate fish market is the largest of its kind in the UK, and has an estimated annual revenue of £200 million.
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