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Locked Out Stora Workers Being Enticed To Work in The Alberta Oil Industry |
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Written by Staff
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Tuesday, 11 April 2006 |
Some of the 600 workers locked out since late January by Port Hawkesbury's Stora Enso paper mill, plan to leave the province and join an ever-growing exodus of Atlantic Canadians heading west with the promise of big paycheques, better benefits and more job security.
The CBC is reporting that another big Alberta oil company was recently in Port Hawkesbury recruiting locked-out Stora workers. Syncrude Canada Ltd. located in Fort McMurray is the world's largest producer of crude oil from oil sands and the largest single source producer in Canada. With an employee complement of 14,000, Syncrude spends $1 billion each year on salaries.
Recruiters in Port Hawkesbury are guaranteeing potential applicants $90,000 a year in base salary plus some very attractive benefits including generous vacation/time off, comprehensive health and dental benefits, a company matched savings program, employee tuition refund and scholarships for their children and a comprehensive relocation assistance program. At least 150 people attended the recruiting meeting.
Stora mill and clerical workers have been locked out since January 26 and since that time the paper mill has threatened to shut down its facilities if the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union (CEP) does not cooperate. Stora has also requested financial assistance from the provincial government to help cover the increasing cost of power at the mill. |
