Drivers strike at Strathmore Burnco plant

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Nearly 100 Calgary-based ready mix truck drivers stood solid on numerous picket lines, a day after Burnco Rock Products Ltd. initiated a lockout and turned to the non-union Strathmore-based plant to continue their operations.
Members of the Teamsters Local Union 362 were locked out Monday at five Burnco plants – Okotoks, Airdrie, Cochrane, and two sites in Calgary – following a standstill in contract negotiations.
Discussions had been ongoing between the union members and the company since May 31 when the contract expired. Days before union members were expected to vote on a presented offer, employees found themselves lockout. As a response to the lockout, the 96 employees picketed at six different locations, including Strathmore, where local drivers are making up for the shortage.
“This is a non-union plant and they’re doing all of our work in the city, so we are out here today to slow the process down,” said strike captain Tyler Welsh in Strathmore on Aug 11.
“If they were just doing their own work we wouldn’t be here, but they’re not. They’re going into Calgary and doing our work. So now it’s affecting us. We were going to vote on an offer this Thursday but they locked us out on Monday. They locked us out before we even had a chance.”
The parties were stuck in a mandatory two-week cooling off period after mediation, and in that timeframe the union applied for a strike vote on July 30. Although Burnco did present union representatives with an offer on Aug. 4, business agent for Teamsters Union Local 362 Bernie Haggarty set the vote for Aug. 13 to allow those affected to have one-week notice. As Burnco representatives felt this was a substantial delay, the company hoped the lockout notice would prompt the offer to be presented to affected employees sooner.
“They decided they weren’t going to present our offer to the membership on a timely basis, so we just had to show them that we’re serious and that it was our intention, through the lockout, to give them an opportunity to hold a vote on the offer prior to the lockout going into affect,” said Michael Powell, chief executive officer with Burnco Rock Products Ltd., who added the strike efforts are slowing down services.
“These employees are important to us, they’re important to the service we deliver. Obviously they’re impeding the work of the Strathmore drivers, but we have a contingency plan that we’re working and trying to get the material to our customers the best we can.”
According to Haggarty, the company has been utilizing replacement workers, plant workers, and management – some flown in from other parts of western Canada – to work out of Strathmore. For those standing on the picket lines, including half a dozen employees who protested in Strathmore on Aug. 11, issues are not concerning money, but rather seniority, respect, and safety. While their demands include double time after 12-hour work days, most drivers are outraged with proposed changes to their seniority statuses.
For employees such as Don Morros, who worked his way up the ladder over the past 18 years – currently sitting close to the top 10 – protecting their seniority is of utmost importance to insure their life’s work won’t turn obsolete.
“It’s a good company I enjoyed coming to work here, but I was talking to union reps here and seniority is the mainstay of the union, it’s what I’ve worked for,” said Morros.
“When I started I was 29 years old and at the bottom of the list. Now I’m starting to move up. There’s a hundred and something drivers and I think I’m up there number 12 or 11 and they want to take that away from me. It’s just not right. That’s not going to happen. It’s not an issue of money. I understand with the economy if they want to do a wage freeze I don’t think anybody would have a problem with that, but they said it has nothing to do with seniority but it does.”
However, according to Powell, stripping employees of their seniority is not part of the offer, but instead the company was looking to tweak seniority to allow Burnco to work more efficiently and to better service their customers. He added such elements include the hire and use of more drivers – allowing for shorter shifts and addressing some safety concerns. Yet Haggarty, who was present at the negotiating table, disagreed.
“They want to strip the seniority language out of the collective agreement,” he said. “To them there’s no respect. They think they can bully them around? They’re not going to take it. It’s not about the money. We’re realists. We understand that the economy has turned and the price of oil affects us, but we’re not about to let the seniority be stripped for one.”
Powell said he is looking forward for the employees to have an opportunity to vote on the proposed offer. Currently the vote continues to be scheduled for Aug. 13.