Unionized building trades sign lower pay contract to maintain employment
EDMONTON – Hard economic times have prompted an organization that bargains for Alberta’s unionized building trades to sign a deal that includes lower pay for some workers in the hope of keeping them on the job.
The agreement that starts in January covers people who do maintenance work on oilsands, energy, petrochemical and other industrial plants.
It calls for union members to be paid 75 cents per hour less than if they were doing construction work and other changes, including to overtime.
Brett McKenzie, executive director of the General Presidents’ Maintenance Committee, says concessions are necessary to keep the union trades in the game.