The workers at Altagas’s Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal have now been on strike for close to two weeks.
The strike began on November 27th and while wages and working conditions did play a part in the strike starting, according to Terminal employee Ronald MacVeigh, one other point of contention seemed to take precedent for the workers;
“The main stumbling block is that Altagas wants to roll back production restraints that were put in for the safety of the employees, because people were getting injured quite regularly. They increased the number of people required to perform the duties, which has now shown to be cutting into their profit margins. So they wish to walk back what they implemented.”
The safety plan in question is known as the minimum safe manning plan, which limits the number of propane transfers a crew can conduct, and it’s been alleged that Altagas wants to decrease the crew size while keeping their transfer volume the same.
MacVeigh also said that Altagas wouldn’t move forward on any negotiations until the plan was altered to their liking.
MacVeigh next said that the employees are seeking something else from the company as well, something more intangible compared to money or better working conditions;
“It’s not so much that we want more money, we just would like respect to be shown. To see that the company values us as much as other companies value their employees.”
The Terminal’s workers are represented by ILWU Local 523B.
And in the meantime, Altagas has activated their backup plan of getting their managerial staff down on the ground in order to make sure that their operations are steadied.
But it’s been alleged that those staff members haven’t gone through the same training that the usual employees have and that Altagas is using their profits from their Ridley Island Facility to finance the creation of another plant nearby.
Altagas has publicly stated that while they’re disappointed a resolution has not been reached yet, they’re committed to working with the union to come to a fair agreement that benefits everyone in the long term.