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Pine River Gas Plant “Camp” job September 15, Clayburn, NOT Inspected, Do Not Accept, this is Not a Camp Job.

August 21, 2019

The camp will be inspected next Monday and a report and recommendation to members will be made late in the day.

This camp is not inspected or approved to date under the terms of our collective agreement. Please see the excerpts from email exchange with the CLRA and Clayburn below.

From: “Geoff Higginson” 
Date: Fri, Aug 16, 2019 at 9:54 PM -0700
Subject: Re: Pine River CNRL Camp at Gas Plant
To: “Chris Mydske” “Jason Bodnarek” 
Cc: “Paul Strangway” “Derrill Thompson”

We have no intention of ceasing to advise our members it is not an authorized camp and they are entitled to LOA, unless and until it becomes an authorized camp. Go ahead and file a grievance or a complaint at the Board, and we will be there to defend ourselves. 

As for your adamant disagreement with our statement that “you going to our members directly and asking them to stay in a camp that hasn’t been inspected is bargaining directly with them and is a violation of the agreement.”  We stand ready to file a grievance if you continue to do so.

Geoff Higginson, President

IUBAC  Local 2 BC

From: Chris Mydske 

Sent: Thursday, August 15, 15:08 

Subject: Pine River CNRL Camp at Gas Plant 

To: Geoff Higginson IUBAC Local 2 BC President 

Cc: Paul Strangway, Jason Bodnarek 

Hi Geoff, please be advised that Clayburn has asked CLR to deal with this matter on their behalf. I wanted to first say that we are actively looking to gather as much information as possible about the camp. We will be happy to work with you in that regard and share any information with you when we obtain it. Although we hope to get this information soon and clear up any issues, I did feel it was appropriate to respond to a number of your comments. 

We adamantly disagree with your statement that us going to your members directly and asking them to stay in a camp that hasn’t been inspected is bargaining directly with them and is a violation of the agreement. Article 12.202 (a) reads as follows, 

 “Camp accommodations, when supplied, shall meet the standards and requirements of the applicable Construction Camp Rules and Regulations Agreement by and between BCBT and CLR. An Employee may refuse to live in accommodations which do not meet such standards.” 

The second sentence says that an employee may refuse to live in accommodations which do not meet such standards (we don’t know if this camp meets the standards or not). If the may refuse, then they may also not refuse. The choice is theirs. If a member decides to stay in this camp without it being inspected, it is not a breach of the collective agreement. Also, this in no way means CLR or Clayburn is bargaining directly with your members. The collective agreement clearly contemplates this and gives the employees the right to make their own decision. 

We take strong exception to you having “instructed our members to not accept work on this job unless they are offered the usual choices of Loa or room and meal allowance and unless otherwise notified by the union”. Article 12.202(a) clearly gives them an option and “instructing” them not to exercise an option provided to them by the Collective Agreement is not appropriate. If you continue to take this position we will have no choice but to look at filing a grievance and/or complaint at the Labour Relations Board. 

We have already discussed on a number of occasions situations where members have had to sit out for a day or two on an out of town job. Although our contractors do their best to work with clients to ensure this does not happen, there are times when the circumstances of the project makes this unavoidable. Although this is an inconvenience, it is not a violation of Collective Agreement. Nor is there any requirement to lay off and pay return travel under these circumstances. 

Thanks. 

Chris Mydske | Director, Labour Relations 

Construction Labour Relations Association of BC   

From: Geoff Higginson < ghigginson@bac2bc.org> 

Date: Aug 14, 2019 10:07 PM 

Subject: Pine River CNRL Camp at Gas Plant 

To: Jason Bodnarek < jason.bodnarek@clayburnservices.com> 

Cc: Geoff Higginson < ghigginson@bac2bc.org>,BAC #2 BC < info@bac2bc.org>, pstrangway@clra-bc.com 

Jason 

I understand that Clayburn has been trying to secure workforce for a job at the Pine River gas plant for a September 15 start.  Scott Darroche has informed me that the client is demanding that our members park their vehicles in Chetwynd in a secured parking lot and then ride a bus to a camp of some kind which has been built by CNRL near the gas plant and be required to stay in the camp for the balance of the shut down. 

Under our collective agreement all camps must meet camp standards established by an agreement between the BC Building Trades and the CLRA and be inspected and approved prior to occupancy.  We have no idea of the standards of this camp and it has not been Inspected by representatives of the unions And the CLRA.  The camp in question does not appear to even be licensed or listed under the northern health listing of construction camps.  We have no idea if it has been permitted by the health department or what kind of food services are present.  The union is also aware that the gas plant in question has the highest SO2 emissions in the province so we are concerned about our members being asked to stay in a camp of unknown nature so near the plant.  This is not to say the camp and commissary are unacceptable.  It is just that we have absolutely no information. 

I have instructed our members to not accept work on this job unless they are offered the usual choices of Loa or room and meal allowance and unless otherwise notified by the union. 

Be advised that any attempt by the CLRA or Clayburn to negotiate directly with our members as to whether or not they “choose” to stay in his unknown camp will be responded to in no uncertain terms as a grievance, as any changes to the collective agreement must be enabled in writing and mutually agreed to, not to mention we are the employees exclusive bargaining agent. 

There have been other issues with this client in the past for our members.  Specifically, arriving for a short term shutdown only to find that the client has advised our  contractors that they did not need our members on a particular day or days and have demanded that they stay in the hotel and not be paid for the day.  If our members are going to leave their families for a short term shutdown we expect the client and the contractor to inform the member of whether or not there will be random days off so they can make an informed decision as to whether or not to accept the work hire.  Especially on shut downs less than a week or two.  Certainly if work is not available our members should receive a layoff and their return travel. 

The contact at the plant whom Scott Darroche referred me to in relation to the camp is Chris Engel, 780 292 2730 Chris.engel@cnrl.com 

Please send us details of this “camp” as soon as possible so we can sort out how to get this work completed. 

The camp regulations are not much different from Alberta’s.  As this is a new camp, we expect it to be up to snuff and in particular to be approved and properly licensed. 

Geoff 

President, IUBAC Local #2 BC 

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Anode Bake Furnace (ABF) Maintenance-UNIFOR Grievance

Refraco, a non union company from Quebec has been working as a subcontractor within Rio Tinto maintaining the ABF. This work used to be Unifor Plant employees including mill masons. UNIFOR has a Labour Board hearing soon in the north over their grievance with Rio Tinto sub contracting work after the plant was handed over to them at the completion of the KMP. This will determine what our next steps will be in solidarity with UNIFOR in Kitimat.

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Potline Maintenance Update

The local has taken bold steps to figure out what has been going on at the Smelter in Kitimat. Many members and legitimate contractors have been involved in helping to secure this work for our members. The work amounts to hundreds of thousands of hours of work over the decades ahead. Using techniques known as “salting” we have proven that the company SL & B is indeed hiring people off the street and training them with bricklayers who do not understand the meaning of union. The company has an all employee certification with the Labourers/Teamsters Poly Party Constitution. This company is paying untrained uncertified and unskilled workers to lay brick and to attempt to re and re pots in-situ. I understand that it may not be going too well. Stay tuned. Rio Tinto may have to make a critical decision shortly.

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Hiring According to Our Bricklayers Standard Industrial Agreement

Please note this letter sent to clra via email re hiring.
For CLR Rep Chris Mydske's response scroll to bottom.  
Top of this post is his letter to CLRA contractors.
Please take Note!

From: Chris Mydske 
Sent: February 11, 2019 11:58 AM
To: Chris Mydske <chrism@clra-bc.com>
Subject: Name Request, Clearance Slips/Lists – Non Local #2 members
Importance: High

Hi everyone,

I recently received an email from Geoff Higginson from the IUBAC Local #2. The email was putting CLR on notice that he believes certain aspects of the collective agreement are not being followed by a number of contractors. He didn’t provide me with any specific instances and has not filed any grievances so far. However, he has indicated to me that if there are further issues he will be filing grievances and looking for financial remedies. The specifics are outlined below.

  1. Under article 11.02 of the Collective Agreement, all employees must be members of the union in good standing and must be cleared by the union prior to commencing work. Before you start a job you should be emailing the union a list of the Employees you are hiring for a specific project. They can then review the list and make sure they are members in good standing. Please ensure that you are doing this if you are not already.
  1. Under the hiring provisions in the collective agreement you must hire union members from Local #2 to do work in B.C. As I understand it, there have been times when Geoff has allowed you to hire non-members, for example members of the IUBAC in Alberta. Please be advised that we need to consult with the union and get approval prior to doing this. If we do not get approval and the union files a grievance there could be a significant financial liability to your organization. As such, I would strongly suggest that you contact the union prior to hiring anyone who is not already a union member. You can also contact me and if you would like me to facilitate the conversation on your behalf.
  1. Just a reminder that work which falls under the traditional scope of the Bricklayer is supposed to be done by union members. Management personal, Superintendents, etc., are not supposed to be working on the tools. Although I understand this may happen from time to time due to unforeseen circumstances, we should be trying to avoid it wherever possible.

Please ensure that we are following these aspects of the collective agreement as there is likely to be a lot more scrutiny put on this going forward. Any questions, please let me know.

Thanks.

Chris Mydske | Director, Labour Relations

Construction Labour Relations Association of BC  

97 Sixth Street, New Westminster, BC V3L 5H8

Chris,
Despite my repeatedly bring the issue up with both you and your signatory contractors, there continues to be an ongoing and serious failure of these contractors to send us name requests lists prior to their employment on any project in British Columbia. Clause 11.102 clearly states that “All employees must be a member in good standing of the Union. Employees shall present a clearance slip to the job steward prior to commencement of work, and such clearance shall include confirmation of the Employee’s membership status.”
To be clear, our collective agreement requires that all employees must be members of this Local, as opposed to a Local from another province, and must be cleared prior to starting work. All non-members of the Union (IUBAC Local #2 BC) are outside of the scope of hiring in the Bricklayers Standard Industrial Agreement.
On occasion, and when necessary, we have been very flexible with enabling non members to work when the situations such as lack of union workforce available or specialty crews required, warranted the enabling of non members.
However, it is clear this flexibility is being taken advantage of, and your contractors are openly breaching the collective agreement by bringing in out-of-province bricklayers without first clearing it with me.
This email is to notify the CLR and its signatory contractors that all future breaches of Clauses 11.101 and 11.102 will be met with grievances. If your contractors fail to send name request lists of hires to the union hall or me, prior to an employee starting, such that a prospective employee can present a clearance slip from the Local to the job steward, then said contractors will be considered to be in non-compliance with the agreement. As remedy for such breaches we will seek damages equivalent to every hour worked (Blouin Drywall
damages).
Additionally, until we have full compliance with this, I do not anticipate looking favourably on any request to employ non-members of the Local (this would include out-of-province members of the IU).
Finally, any supervision brought to the job are management only and are not allowed to touch the tools or enter the vessels other than to inspect the work. Foremen are required to be members of the Local. We will not enable any out-of-province foremen.
Again to reiterate, Employers must provide us with name requests (which may only include members of this Local) in advance of the start of a job, in order that clearance slips can be provided. If this procedure is followed, and there remain supply issues, then, and only then, will the Local consider enabling the Agreement to allow for out-of-province members of the IU to be employed. Supervision above the level of foremen are not allowed on the tools. Any future disregard of these provisions of the Standard Agreement shall be met with grievances and damage claims for equivalent wages and benefits.
I request that you apprise each of your contractors of the Local’s position and I sincerely hope compliance shall follow.


Geoff, as we discussed the other day I don't believe that you have ever brought this issue to my attention before. You certainly haven't brought it to my attention repeatedly as you state below. Regardless, I will send a communication to the signatory contractors reminding them of their obligations under the Collective Agreement. Thanks. Chris

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Work On Pots, Re-Lines, Kitimat

Rio Tinto Alcan has sub contracted pot maintenance for three years to SL & B.  They are certified to the Labourer and Teamster under a poly party agreement.  The agreement doesn’t appear to have bricklayers however the company is hiring bricklayers.  To apply for this work send your resume and contact information to:

eyeoh@consultantsslb.com

www.consultantsslb.com

Please call the president before you send your application.

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BC Building Trades Statement on LNG Project

STATEMENT FROM BC BUILDING TRADES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TOM SIGURDSON

The BC Building Trades welcomes LNG Canada’s final investment decision on the $40 billion liquefied natural gas project in Kitimat, B.C., and congratulates the NDP provincial government on ushering in the single largest private sector investment in Canada.

This project is a boon for the sector, and will provide thousands of construction jobs when it gets under way.

We represent 40,000 highly skilled unionized construction workers and are part of a network of 400,000 members across Canada. We are committed, prepared and eager to work on this project.

The BC Building Trades was appointed to the Premier’s LNG Working Group in 2013 and has been doubling down on our efforts to ensure our province has the skilled workers the industry requires, and that British Columbians have the skills to be first in line for the jobs on LNG projects. This investment signals a commitment to local workers and apprentices.

Some of the ways our members have prepared for LNG:

  • Heat and Frost Insulators: expertise in cryogenic insulation application
  • Bricklayers: expanded industrial certification training; using infrastructure fund to train members in gunite, hydro mobile scaffold, forklifts and other elevated work platforms
  • International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: prioritizing training in automation and control of local infrastructure in preparation for workforce demand created by LNG
  • Sheet Metal Workers: working with the Sheet Metal Workers Training Centre to deliver lagging training (lagging is the protective covering over insulation)
  • UA Piping Industry College: training workers for low transformation temperature welding
  • Other: we have recruitment strategies targeting Indigenous populations, women, veterans and other underrepresented groups

In addition, we have more than $50 million in assets across our many union training programs. This includes land, facilities and equipment.

We enroll more than 7,000 apprentices and trainees and spend more than $18 million annually on training and apprenticeship programs.

We recognize that LNG industry will require workers who are uniquely skilled and may not be available in B.C. or the rest of Canada, justifying the hiring of temporary foreign workers. We expect that these workers can help train B.C. workers while they are here so that we can ultimately fill that skills gap.

Tom Sigurdson

Executive director,

BC Building Trades

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Pine River Four Bricklayers

4 bricklayers needed for pine river with Clayburn North starting wednesday Oct 3 2018.  Confined Space, Fall Protection, H2S Alive.  1-855-584-2021 union hall.