Lower pay coming from some Alberta construction workers

Hard economic times have prompted an organization that bargains for Alberta’s unionized building trades to sign a deal that includes lower pay for some workers in the hope of keeping them on the job.

The agreement that starts in January covers people who do maintenance work on oilsands, energy, petrochemical and other industrial plants.

It calls for union members to be paid 75 cents per hour less than if they were doing construction work and other changes, including to overtime.

Brett McKenzie, executive director of the General Presidents’ Maintenance Committee, says concessions are necessary to keep the union trades in the game.

The three-year agreement is designed to help companies that specialize in maintenance work to win contracts as industrial
construction activity in Alberta winds down.

McKenzie lays out the need for change in open letters to union members about how low oil prices and the downturn in the energy sector have already cost tens of thousands of Albertans their jobs.

Union members are being told that there will be fierce competition with non-union firms and the Christian Labour Association of Canada over the next few years.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today