Hundreds of lodge workers in Fort McMurray face termination after rejecting pay cut, union says

Angela Fiddler doesn't know how she'll afford to feed her husband, who's terminally ill with cancer, after being let go last week — five months after she voted to reject a pay cut.

Fiddler is one of around 300 workers at Wapasu Creek Lodge, north of Fort McMurray, Alta., who are facing termination.

The 5,174-room lodge is owned by Civeo and mainly provides accommodations for Imperial Oil staff who work on-site in the area.

Fiddler has worked at the lodge for over 13 years, spending all but six days away from her family in Saskatchewan.

"[My husband] hasn't been able to work since November so everything is on me … Now that they're taking away my job, I don't know what I'm going to do, how I'm going to look after him," said Fiddler.

"I ran the housekeeping department with everything I had. For them to demand that wasn't good enough, that they want my money … I don't agree with that."

Chris O'Hallowan, executive director of their union, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401, says the workers are on a union contract until the end of this year.

But in November, he says, Civeo came to the union and asked for cuts to wages, benefits and more.

"What they said is, If you don't take the concessions and you don't take the rollbacks, we're going to fire you and replace you with someone else," said O'Halloran.

Union members voted over 90 per cent to reject Civeo's offer, he said.

Then last week, the company sent out emailed termination notices to around 300 employees, he says. Their last day is June 8.

"To throw Albertans out of work for no reason is completely unacceptable," said O'Halloran.

Civeo and Imperial Oil did not respond to CBC's requests for comment.

'They're breaking our treaties'

For Fiddler, this feels like deja vu. She says a few years ago, the company demanded pay cuts — but last time, workers agreed. They were too afraid to lose their jobs and thought they'd get their pay back when oil prices rose again.

"We're all upset. We remember what happened a few years back and what they did," she said.

She also points to an impact benefits agreement signed by Civeo — a contract she says states that the company must hire a certain percentage of Indigenous workers, as they're utilizing traditional land.

"They're breaking these contracts. They're breaking our treaties. And it is like a treaty — it's the land between non-Indigenous land and traditional lands," said Fiddler.

"They've been making millions and millions off of Indigenous lands this whole time, without regards to Indigenous people, without regards to the [impact benefit agreement]."

With June 8 less than two months away, Fiddler says she's worried about all of her coworkers who soon won't have any income to pay their bills.

"It was making them sick to their stomach, not knowing what they were going to do."

Working with the labour relations board

Back at UFCW Local 401, O'Halloran says he wants the Alberta Labour Relations Board to resolve this issue.

"The labour board can look at this and make a decision. That's what we're demanding the labour board do at this point," said O'Halloran.

Aaron Padnivelan, manager of settlement for the Alberta Labour Relations Board, says the board has been in contact with the union since December — when they filed a complaint against Civeo for other reasons.

But after the workers received their notices, he says the union has escalated things by requesting a case management meeting for next week.

"The union is now indicating to us that it has a sense of urgency, and has come to us asking for us to deal with that urgency next week," said Padnivelan.

He says he won't know the details of their request until the meeting.

The union also has hearings scheduled in June and August with the board, he says.