Impressive Work, Impressive Gains
Across the Prairies, CLAC members are busy building multibillion dollar petrochemical facilities, with more projects on the way.
By Dennis Perrin, Prairies Director
Working in the skilled trades provides a great source of pride. Whether it’s the construction of roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, pipelines, or oilsands facilities, CLAC members have been building our country for 70 years.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of investment into renewable energy projects in Canada. Typically, wind- and solar-generated energy come to mind, and rightly so. Thankfully, members across the Prairies have built and continue to build wind and solar facilities.
But what doesn’t get nearly enough press are petrochemical facilities. Alberta and Saskatchewan in particular are rich in the natural feedstock for renewables, with an abundance of natural gases like propane. Through advanced technologies, these gases can be converted into useful materials like hydrogen or plastics that are used for the production of medical devices and electric car components.
The exciting piece is that CLAC members are building these facilities. The recent completion of the Heartland Petrochemical Complex just outside of Edmonton employed up to 2,000 members at peak, working for signatory contractors Kiewit Energy, PCL Energy, Skyway, and others. These skilled tradespeople constructed a world-leading facility that produces polypropylene, which is shipped around the world.
CLAC recently negotiated a Division 8 collective agreement with Air Products to construct a hydrogen facility in Edmonton. Division 8 is a designation granted by the Alberta government that allows a collective agreement to be negotiated for the project. It ensures excellent terms and conditions for all members working on the project, regardless of which employer they work for. This $1.6-billion project will ultimately use Alberta’s feedstock to not only produce hydrogen fuel but will also employ carbon capture storage. Work for this project will really start to get going in 2023.
The next big project on the horizon in this area is Dow Canada’s Path2Zero project. This massive project has a value of nearly $9 billion and will convert Alberta-sourced ethane feedstocks into polyethylene. It will also use methane feedstocks to create hydrogen and remove the carbon components along the way.
Dow Canada has applied to the Alberta government for a Division 8 designation for the project, which, like Air Products, would allow CLAC to negotiate a project-wide collective agreement, ensuring work and fantastic terms and conditions for thousands of members over the next few years. If you are looking to live and work in the wonderful river city of Edmonton, this could be a great opportunity!
In the midst of all this demand, CLAC has been able to negotiate some impressive gains in recent collective agreement renewals. PCL Energy and Ledcor Pipe and Infrastructure are just two recent agreements that have seen up to 14 percent in increases compounded over the next three years.
It’s always more enjoyable doing this job in up times versus down. But no matter what the circumstances, we are committed to providing best-in-class service to you and your fellow members.