Communities in St. Mary’s Bay are pulling out all the stops to make a group of idle Mexican workers, hired to process crab at the St. Mary’s fish plant, welcome in hopes they may return.
Some 140 workers arrived in the area a few weeks ago to process crab at the local plant, but are in limbo due to the impasse between harvesters and processors.
Riverhead Mayor Sheila Lee is among a group of residents who have been interacting with the workers and making them welcome, despite the language barrier.
She says the workers have been split among the many communities in the region. The workers in Riverhead were introduced to the local fitness centre which was opened after-hours especially for them. In St. Mary’s, Lee’s friend David Fagan treated some of the workers to a barbeque.
She says they helped to put up the new flags at The Battery, along with the Mexican flag, then came the barbeque and singalong.
Lee is inviting the Mexican workers to join them in a community cleanup in Riverhead. She’s hoping that the welcome will encourage them to return—hopefully on a permanent basis.