Franklin County strongly opposed to cutting wages for shelling program participants

County commissioners are opposing a state proposal to cut costs in the ongoing shelling program.

On Monday there was a conference call with a number of state officials including the Department of Agriculture, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and local legislators to discuss the costs of the program and what could be done to stretch the money out further.

Concerns were raised about the amount being paid to oystermen taking part in the shelling as well as to the material mover who puts the oyster shells on the boat.

Oystermen taking part in the shelling are getting paid 62.50 per person per trip, and they have to use their own boats and pay for their own fuel.

State officials said they would like to see that amount cut by a third to about 40 dollars a trip, but county commissioners say they oppose that move completely.

Seafood Worker association president Shannon Hartsfield agreed saying there is no way to cut peoples wages and if earning 250 to 375 dollars a week is too much he doesn’t know what can be done.

He pointed out that people working now can’t even afford to repair their equipment.

375 people signed up for the shelling program – Mister Hartsfield said they average about 180 people a day actually taking part.

Commissioner Cheryl Sanders said the county will have to lobby to protect the oystermen taking part in the shelling program – adding that if the state has a problem with what’s happening now they will have to work that out themselves, but don’t punish the people of Franklin County who depend on this shelling program to make ends meet.

The other place the state feels it can save money is by cutting the price it pays the material mover.

The material mover gets paid about 2400 dollars a day to place shell on the boats.

The Department of Agriculture said that when they do barge shelling they only pay about 10 thousand dollars a month to the material mover, but it was pointed out that there is a lot less potential liability in loading a barge than loading hundreds of smaller boats each with two people aboard.

CareerSource, which oversees the shelling program, is currently seeking proposals from other material movers to see if they can get a lower bid on the work.

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