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Well I suppose that I should explain the reason why I voted for the NDP, trust me it wasn't an easy decision as I've never voted for the party either provincially or federally but in the end I voted for the party that I believe will benefit Albertan workers the most. As many of you know, I am a tradesman in the oil sands and have worked at various sites in the Fort McMurray area as well as at the refineries in Edmonton, I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. I moved to Alberta nine years ago and own a property here, I'm proud to call the place home and will likely live here for years to come, I've also recommended to many friends and members of my family to move out here and dozens of guys have moved to Alberta from other provinces and even foreign countries based on my writings over on the oil sands thread. As such, I've become quite concerned with the deteriorating conditions that us blue collar workers in northern Alberta have to put up, some of the things that I've witnessed over the years would blow your mind and in my opinion, its time for some major changes in the industry. Now I will go on a long winded rant about the bullshit that oil and gas companies are trying to fuck us over with:
TLDR: Alberta oil workers are seeing our quality of life and standard of living go down due to companies flying in TFWs from all over the world who send most of their money home, as well as inter-provincial migrants who do the same, the lucrative jobs in the oil patch should go to Albertans first, Canadians second and foreigners last. If this means a reduction in oil activity, then I"m okay with that, the system is rotten and guys are getting killed on a weekly basis, its time for things to change. Here is a list of things myself and over 100,000 oil sands workers have to deal with when we go to work on the large oil sands facilities up north in Fort McMurray, Cold Lake and Peace River areas:
-Flying into site from Calgary/Edmonton: We have our bags inspected at the airport for alcohol and/or drugs, if the dog gets a whiff of anything, you will be fired. A friend of mine had marijuana residue on his laptop and lost his job because of that, they also bring the drug dogs onto the job site to sniff our lunch bags and they even take them into the camps and wake us up at 3am to sniff for drugs. I believe in drug-free work sites, especially heavy industry but the constant searching of workers makes us feel like criminals.
-Drug and Alcohol Testing: We have to piss in a cup before taking a job, which is fine as everyone should be fit-for-duty and if you can't lay off that stuff for a few days then you should seek help and not go to work with heavy machinery. We also have to piss if we're involved in a safety incident, even if you're in a parked truck and someone hits you with theirs, you have to piss, you also have to do one for "reasonable suspicion". I'm okay with those but the oil companies are now trying to introduce random piss testing onsite, which I"m not okay with, thankfully the courts have thrown out Suncor's bid to do that: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/03/26/...37680.html
-Electronic Monitoring on-site: Now the companies want us to wear electronic bracelets on site like a fucking dog or a criminal on probation so they can track our moves, again I am not comfortable with this for issues of personal liberty: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/s...-1.3001658
Deplorable Camp Conditions: Fortunately the camps being built these days are getting better but there's still some shitty ones out there, I contacted a serious viral infection called MRSA while staying in a camp that can only be described as filthy and disgusting, I was in-and-out of the ER for a year, the worst being a week long stint where I had to have anti-biotics injected into me for an hour, twice a day, I have scars all over my body from it. A co-worker blogged about it and Suncor had him fired, here's a news article about the camp: http://www.torontosun.com/news/2010/04/2...1326.html. The companies fly us up there then feed us shit food and lodge us in dirty camps, then blame us when we get scabies, lice, etc. Here's the guy's blog: https://thenewmtprivate.wordpress.com/20...r-firebag/
The Highway of Death: Every other week oil sands workers die on highway 63 and 881, the Alberta government has proposed twinning it and after years of lobbying, have finally started it, but its a long way from completion, I've come across accidents on it where young people have died and a girl I went to high school with died in a big seven car crash there two years ago, along with her two year old child and unborn baby she was carrying. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/10/31/...82966.html
Flood of TFWs: In recent years, I've worked on job sites that were crawling with TFWs, many who could barely speak English, if at all, if that isn't a saety issue, then I don't know what is. Here's what happened at CNRL Horizon during its construction when they hired a contractor company from China who supplied their own workers, a huge tank fell on them, killing three and maiming several others, I saw photos of blood, guts and brains all over the tank, two of my former co-workers were inside of it but got out just seconds before the collapse: http://www.macleans.ca/general/firm-plea...withdrawn/
That happened almost ten years ago but its still going on, Canadian tradesmen are being laid off in huge numbers and being replaced by unskilled third world labour who can't speak English and are unaware of their rights, underpaid and abused on job sites: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/c...-1.2750730
Fly-In/Fly-Out Guys: I can't blame these guys from flying in from all over Canada to make a better wage than they do back home, but its at the expense of Albertan workers. These guys work for a lot less than us but they are willing to do so as they own or rent cheap houses back home and don't have the type of payments that us Albertans do. They also drive down our wages (as do the TFWs) and would never stick up for their rights or dream of going on strike out of fear of losing their FIFO gig.
IS THERE A LABOUR SHORTAGE IN THE OIL SANDS?
I don't think that there is, I think that there is a shortage of workers willing to put up with the shitty work conditions up there these days, it was pretty good back in 2004-2008 but it has gotten progressively worse, to the point that I have considered not going back up there and just working in Edmonton instead, really there isn't too much incentive to go up there anymore. The first big boom lasted from 2004-2008 and companies were complaining about a lack of skilled labour, they should have ran campaigns with the support of the Alberta and federal governments all over Canada, they should have went to job fairs and schools from Victoria to St.John's telling people how to get these jobs. Judging by the reaction that my oil sands thread got, a lot of young Canadians are willing to make the move and do the work but a lot of them just didn't know how to go about it. So what happened? The government and private businesses flooded the country with TFWs, I was in Cebu, Philippines in February 2013 and while walking down the street I noticed a school that offered courses through the Canadian Welding Bureau. I stopped in and took a look at the place, it was a run down dump with a few welders in it, they were on an eight month fast-track program that saw them get their journeyman ticket and a one-way flight to Alberta to weld. Why couldn't CWB do the same thing in towns with high unemployment across Canada? http://www.philstar.com/cebu-business/77...-open-cebu
Anyway, this rant is getting long, basically I welcome change in the industry that will see our organized labour movement more empowered and make the oil sands a great place to work which will attract good, hard working skilled people who will contribute to Alberta and Canada. I want to see the oil companies be help more accountable in their treatment of workers and I want to see things done in a safe and sustainable manner. If low oil prices and the NDP provincial government make for a slow down in the oil patch then so be it, the fast pace growth over the past decade was not sustainable, its time to take a breather and plan ahead for the future, I am optimistic that it will be bright.
[/img]Well I suppose that I should explain the reason why I voted for the NDP, trust me it wasn't an easy decision as I've never voted for the party either provincially or federally but in the end I voted for the party that I believe will benefit Albertan workers the most. As many of you know, I am a tradesman in the oil sands and have worked at various sites in the Fort McMurray area as well as at the refineries in Edmonton, I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. I moved to Alberta nine years ago and own a property here, I'm proud to call the place home and will likely live here for years to come, I've also recommended to many friends and members of my family to move out here and dozens of guys have moved to Alberta from other provinces and even foreign countries based on my writings over on the oil sands thread. As such, I've become quite concerned with the deteriorating conditions that us blue collar workers in northern Alberta have to put up, some of the things that I've witnessed over the years would blow your mind and in my opinion, its time for some major changes in the industry. Now I will go on a long winded rant about the bullshit that oil and gas companies are trying to fuck us over with:
TLDR: Alberta oil workers are seeing our quality of life and standard of living go down due to companies flying in TFWs from all over the world who send most of their money home, as well as inter-provincial migrants who do the same, the lucrative jobs in the oil patch should go to Albertans first, Canadians second and foreigners last. If this means a reduction in oil activity, then I"m okay with that, the system is rotten and guys are getting killed on a weekly basis, its time for things to change. Here is a list of things myself and over 100,000 oil sands workers have to deal with when we go to work on the large oil sands facilities up north in Fort McMurray, Cold Lake and Peace River areas:
-Flying into site from Calgary/Edmonton: We have our bags inspected at the airport for alcohol and/or drugs, if the dog gets a whiff of anything, you will be fired. A friend of mine had marijuana residue on his laptop and lost his job because of that, they also bring the drug dogs onto the job site to sniff our lunch bags and they even take them into the camps and wake us up at 3am to sniff for drugs. I believe in drug-free work sites, especially heavy industry but the constant searching of workers makes us feel like criminals.
-Drug and Alcohol Testing: We have to piss in a cup before taking a job, which is fine as everyone should be fit-for-duty and if you can't lay off that stuff for a few days then you should seek help and not go to work with heavy machinery. We also have to piss if we're involved in a safety incident, even if you're in a parked truck and someone hits you with theirs, you have to piss, you also have to do one for "reasonable suspicion". I'm okay with those but the oil companies are now trying to introduce random piss testing onsite, which I"m not okay with, thankfully the courts have thrown out Suncor's bid to do that: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/03/26/...37680.html
-Electronic Monitoring on-site: Now the companies want us to wear electronic bracelets on site like a fucking dog or a criminal on probation so they can track our moves, again I am not comfortable with this for issues of personal liberty: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/s...-1.3001658
Deplorable Camp Conditions: Fortunately the camps being built these days are getting better but there's still some shitty ones out there, I contacted a serious viral infection called MRSA while staying in a camp that can only be described as filthy and disgusting, I was in-and-out of the ER for a year, the worst being a week long stint where I had to have anti-biotics injected into me for an hour, twice a day, I have scars all over my body from it. A co-worker blogged about it and Suncor had him fired, here's a news article about the camp: http://www.torontosun.com/news/2010/04/2...1326.html. The companies fly us up there then feed us shit food and lodge us in dirty camps, then blame us when we get scabies, lice, etc. Here's the guy's blog: https://thenewmtprivate.wordpress.com/20...r-firebag/
The Highway of Death: Every other week oil sands workers die on highway 63 and 881, the Alberta government has proposed twinning it and after years of lobbying, have finally started it, but its a long way from completion, I've come across accidents on it where young people have died and a girl I went to high school with died in a big seven car crash there two years ago, along with her two year old child and unborn baby she was carrying. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/10/31/...82966.html
Flood of TFWs: In recent years, I've worked on job sites that were crawling with TFWs, many who could barely speak English, if at all, if that isn't a saety issue, then I don't know what is. Here's what happened at CNRL Horizon during its construction when they hired a contractor company from China who supplied their own workers, a huge tank fell on them, killing three and maiming several others, I saw photos of blood, guts and brains all over the tank, two of my former co-workers were inside of it but got out just seconds before the collapse: http://www.macleans.ca/general/firm-plea...withdrawn/
That happened almost ten years ago but its still going on, Canadian tradesmen are being laid off in huge numbers and being replaced by unskilled third world labour who can't speak English and are unaware of their rights, underpaid and abused on job sites: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/c...-1.2750730
Fly-In/Fly-Out Guys: I can't blame these guys from flying in from all over Canada to make a better wage than they do back home, but its at the expense of Albertan workers. These guys work for a lot less than us but they are willing to do so as they own or rent cheap houses back home and don't have the type of payments that us Albertans do. They also drive down our wages (as do the TFWs) and would never stick up for their rights or dream of going on strike out of fear of losing their FIFO gig.
IS THERE A LABOUR SHORTAGE IN THE OIL SANDS?
I don't think that there is, I think that there is a shortage of workers willing to put up with the shitty work conditions up there these days, it was pretty good back in 2004-2008 but it has gotten progressively worse, to the point that I have considered not going back up there and just working in Edmonton instead, really there isn't too much incentive to go up there anymore. The first big boom lasted from 2004-2008 and companies were complaining about a lack of skilled labour, they should have ran campaigns with the support of the Alberta and federal governments all over Canada, they should have went to job fairs and schools from Victoria to St.John's telling people how to get these jobs. Judging by the reaction that my oil sands thread got, a lot of young Canadians are willing to make the move and do the work but a lot of them just didn't know how to go about it. So what happened? The government and private businesses flooded the country with TFWs, I was in Cebu, Philippines in February 2013 and while walking down the street I noticed a school that offered courses through the Canadian Welding Bureau. I stopped in and took a look at the place, it was a run down dump with a few welders in it, they were on an eight month fast-track program that saw them get their journeyman ticket and a one-way flight to Alberta to weld. Why couldn't CWB do the same thing in towns with high unemployment across Canada? http://www.philstar.com/cebu-business/77...-open-cebu
Anyway, this rant is getting long, basically I welcome change in the industry that will see our organized labour movement more empowered and make the oil sands a great place to work which will attract good, hard working skilled people who will contribute to Alberta and Canada. I want to see the oil companies be help more accountable in their treatment of workers and I want to see things done in a safe and sustainable manner. If low oil prices and the NDP provincial government make for a slow down in the oil patch then so be it, the fast pace growth over the past decade was not sustainable, its time to take a breather and plan ahead for the future, I am optimistic that it will be bright.