Less pay for Alberta workers

Photo: Contributed

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 is to start Jan. 1 covers employees who do daily upkeep and prepare for shutdowns and overhauls at oilsands, energy, petrochemical and other industrial plants

Brett McKenzie, executive director of the General Presidents' Maintenance Committee, said union members are to be paid 75 cents an hour less than if they were doing construction work. There are also some changes to overtime and benefits.

The three-year deal aims to help contractors, who employ union members, to win maintenance contracts as industrial construction activity in Alberta winds down.

"These concessions are necessary to keep us in the game, to keep us on the inside of the fence," said McKenzie.

"If our contractors are not in a position to win contracts, we are not going to be in a position to provide jobs and opportunities for the members of the local unions in Alberta."

The agreement covers carpenters, electricians, ironworkers, labourers, millwrights, operating engineers, pipefitters, sheet-metal workers and other trades.

There is no ratification vote.