Last month, the Mediation Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, and Trade published the September–October 2024 Bargaining Update.
The monthly report provides information about the unionized workforce, primarily in Alberta. In the months of September and October, Mediation Services received settlement information regarding 36 private sector and 31 public sector bargaining settlements, covering 3,408 and 4,855 workers respectively.
Among those settlements was a contract for 10 workers employed by Canlin Energy at its Ferrier gas plant and its loading facility in nearby Lochearn. Both of these facilities are near Rocky Mountain House.
These workers are represented by Local 4050 of Unifor. They include everyone employed at the plant except those in office, clerical, warehouse, maintenance, laboratory, and engineering position.
This is the first contract for these workers, who unionized in August 2022. The union had filed for certification the previous June. They already represented Canlin workers at the Hanlan Robb gas plant and the Wildcat Hills gas plant.
The new contract was actually settled just in May 2023, about 9 months after certification, but Mediation Services received it only recently.
Because this is the first collective agreement between these workers and Canlin, there is no scheduled wage increase for the first year of the contract, which began in February 2023.
Workers were scheduled to receive a 2% increase this past February. There is no scheduled wage increase for the final year of the contract, which begins next February.
However, workers are set to receive a 2.5% lump sum payment, half of which would come in February and the rest next August.
Remember, lump sum payments don’t increase the base salary.
For example, after their 2024 wage increase, field operation trainees should be paid $36.21 an hour. In 2025, they’ll be paid $36.21 an hour plus 1.25% in February (bringing it to $36.66/hour) and another 1.25% in August ($37.12).
However, come 2026, these workers will be back to $36.21 an hour. Even if they do negotiate a wage increase in 2026, it’ll be an increase based off of $36.21 an hour, not $37.12 an hour.
Lump sum payments are better than nothing, but they are worse than wage increases.
Below are some highlights from their new contract.
If Canlin Energy engages a contractor full-time for more than a year to perform the same work that the bargaining unit performs, they must then create a new permanent position.
Workers will receive a $1.09 shift differential for every hour worked in a 12-hour day shift and a $2.49 shift differential for 12-hour night shift. The differentials will remain the same throughout the entire length of the contract.
Full-time workers with at least one journey-level trade ticket will receive an annual maximum lump sum payment of $3,000, paid out quarterly.
Workers with a steam ticket will receive a premium for each hour worked:
| 1st class | $5.53/hour |
| 2nd class | $3.50/hour |
| 3rd class | $1.73/hour |
Workers who are scheduled to be on stand-by, they will be compensated with 1 hour’s pay at their base pay rate for regular work days and 2 hours pay on holidays or non-worked days.
Overtime pay will be double their regular pay rate.
11 days are recognized as holidays that will qualify for stat pay:
- New Year’s Day
- Family Day
- Good Friday
- Victoria Day
- Canada Day
- Civic Holiday
- Labour Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Remembrance Day
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
Vacation time will depend on the worker’s length of employment with the company.
| Employment | Vacation time |
|---|---|
| <10 years | 120 hours |
| 10–24 years | 160 hours |
| 25+ years | 200 hours |
That being said, new hires may be able to transfer over previous experience in determining length of service.
The probationary period for new workers is 120 calendar days.
There is a $200 monthly travel allowance for workers who must travel to the Ferrier plant site in their own vehicle and who live within 55 kilometres of Rocky Mountain House.
