CALGARY -- Alberta construction workers, armed with a powerful strike vote, have won major concessions from building contractors as the industry tries to avert a looming strike that could hurt and possibly cripple the province's booming economy, particularly the oil sands.
Four groups of workers, each of which had voted nearly unanimously in favour of a strike in early July, have reached preliminary settlements with employers. The roughly 20,000 workers, led by electricians, are set to vote on the deals in the next several weeks.
The key concessions were indexing wages to a rate higher than that of inflation - which is rampant in Alberta - and retroactive pay, according to labour leaders for the electricians.
"These are things that industry historically never would have touched," spokesman Barry Salmon said in an interview yesterday. Tim Brower, business manager for the Alberta electricians' local, said the strong strike vote helped in "finally tackling previously taboo issues like inflation protection."
The spectre of a strike has loomed over Alberta during the busy summer building season.
But the threat has been more conceptual than concrete, with workers saying they are simply fighting for the best deal as employers book record profits. There hasn't been a general strike among construction workers in Alberta since 1980 and workers this year weren't eager to forgo hours on the job for time on the picket line.
Construction workers are agreeing to four-year contracts with wage hikes of about 24 per cent. Inflation in Alberta this year has been 5 per cent, up one percentage point - or 25 per cent - from a year earlier.
Should the four groups that have tentative deals vote in favour of the new contracts, as union leaders expect, there will be no strike at Alberta's many construction sties, from oil sands mines north of Fort McMurray to the many office and apartment buildings going up in Calgary. "I'll be encouraging my members to accept it," Mr. Brower said.
In Alberta, construction workers are divided into 25 categories. Of those, 15 have already signed deals with employers. Under Alberta's labour code, if 19 of the groups have deals, the possibility of any strike is ended. The addition of the four groups including electricians that will vote on their deals soon would be enough to avert a strike.
Alberta's builders are grouped in "registered employer organizations," generally representing contractors, which by proxy affect some of the biggest companies in Canada, including oil sands powerhouses Suncor Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
A strike by electricians was particularly worrisome for Suncor, Canadian Natural and Shell, all of whom have thousands of workers on their sites north of Fort McMurray right now, as they furiously build and expand oil sands operations. Summer is the key construction period, given that in winter the weather is brutally cold.
Though the threat of strike appears to have been averted, there are several other moving pieces in Alberta's labour puzzle. One group, plasterers, hadn't voted to strike in early July but reached a tentative contract only last week. According to Alberta's Construction Labour Relations Association, the plasterers are set to ratify their deal this week, further reducing any risk of a strike.
However, three other groups - carpenters, labourers and roofers - have had tense negotiations in the past week and a strike vote had been expected to be conducted yesterday.
Results might be issued today, though they are likely to be rendered meaningless given the near settlements with other workers.
© The Globe and Mail
