“Some trades cannot supply the manpower needed during peak periods, and for us that is spring and fall when energy firms do their turnarounds and close for several weeks,” said Joseph Maloney, an international vice-president of the Boilermakers union.
His union trains boilermakers and works closely with “quality contractors” to ensure properly trained staff are available. And when they are short, they use the TFW program.
“We bring in about 400 journeymen in the spring and fall from our pools in the U.S. and Ireland, where they are trained to the same standards as Alberta boilermakers and welders. When they come they are paid the same as Canadians and are treated the same,” he said.
“When properly used, this program is able to assist contractors and unions to get these jobs completed on time and on budget, and safely.”
The Ironworkers union, which saw 65 of its members laid off last week and replaced by Croatian TFWs, still supports the program, says Harry Tostawaryk, business manager of Local 720.
“We assist contractors, we go to trade fairs, and we work with them to ensure workers meet the criteria,” he said.
But the problem with the Pacer-Promec Joint Venture (PPJV) at Imperial’s Kearl oilsands project goes back several months when Tostawaryk said his union “told (PPJV) that the Croatians did not meet the standards, but they brought them anyways.”
The federal government has promised to investigate this incident and Tostawaryk said that will impact other companies.
“The other contractors who are doing the program correctly, the PCLs, KBRs and Horton CBIs, will have a harder time bringing people in here because the government is going to scrutinize more.”
Tostawaryk said none of the ironworkers who were laid off last week have been called back, and the Croatian workers are still on the site.
“Some of the guys want to go back to the (PPJV) project, but others have taken other jobs. I told them that if (PPJV) called we would work with them and get them back, but other contractors have also put in extra calls to pick up these (laid off) ironworkers.”
Meanwhile, Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said Monday that the actions of PPJV are “a perfect example of how this (TFW) program is being used to drive down wages. And this situation is not unique. This is happening at work sites all over the country because this is how the TFW program is designed to operate,” he said in a statement.
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