THE City of London has gone ahead with plans to change the way the historic Billingsgate Fish Market is run despite major opposition including a 20,000 signature petition.
The City’s Markets Committee this week voted in favour of revoking what it described as ‘outdated byelaws’ at its three food markets, which have been overtaken by national and EU legislation.
A lengthy consultation period revealed only one area of real contention: the licensing of the fish porters at Billingsgate. The City of London Corporation does not employ porters, and the licence is only a permit to work, although it said it recognised the emotional significance to the porters themselves and its historical connotations.
“However, nobody has made a coherent business case to continuing to licence only 20 per cent of the Billingsgate workforce,” said the corporation.
The proposals to revoke the byelaws, some of which date from 1876, have been supported by the fish merchants and their representative body, London Fish Merchants’ Association.
The Unite Union argued that the licensing system was needed to protect Billingsgate's high standards and the jobs of fish porters otherwise, it argued, Britain's oldest fish market may become one giant fish "cash and carry".
The porters transport fish around the market and are employed by fish merchants on a flat rate of pay. They top up their wages through a scheme known as 'bobbin' where customers pay an additional fee on the amount of fish that is moved for them. The Corporation said the changes had been backed by the London Fish Merchants Association.
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