Lack of local workers on Wuskwatim Dam project riles Manitoba union

A carpenter’s union in Manitoba is upset that workers from outside the province are being given preference on the $1.3-billion Wuskwatim Dam project.

However, the project owner said the work requires specialized skills not available in the province.

“At last count the steward’s report in May said there were 188 carpenters on the project,” said United Brotherhood of Carpenters business agent and organizer Brian Smith.

“There are about 20 carpenters on the project from Manitoba, including two apprentices.”

The Wuskwatim project is a joint venture between Manitoba Hydro and the Nisichawayasihk Cree. This is the first time the Crown-owned utility has entered into an equity partnership with a First Nations community on a generating project.

A $289 million contract was awarded to the O’Connell-Neilson-EBC Partnership in 2008 for general civil construction work on the generating station.

The contract involves building the earth dams and dykes, the concrete structures that comprise the generating station itself.

It also includes rock excavation, maintaining roads and cofferdams. In addition, the consortium is responsible for supplying and installing the powerhouse walls, roof, and superstructure steel.

“We wish the situation could be better, but we are not getting our people or Manitobans up there,” said Smith. “We refer our guys up there and they get rejected every time there is a job order. The problem has been going on since last April or May.”

The consortium consists of managing partner H.J. O’Connell Construction Ltd., whose project office is in St. John’s, Newfoundland; Neilson Inc. from Saint-Nicholas, Quebec; and EBC Inc. from L’Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec.

According to the union, the consortium took advantage of loopholes in the hiring process to avoid meeting its obligation to hire Manitobans and Aboriginal people.

Manitoba Hydro and the consortium deny these allegations.

“The concrete that is poured on the dam required curved concrete forms,” said Manitoba Hydro spokesman Glenn Schneider.

“This work involves specialized carpentry skills and not everyone has the capacity to build these things. There are specialized crews that do this type of work and they typically go from province to province.”

Schneider said it was difficult to find qualified Manitobans in certain specialized skilled positions because there are not a lot of Hydro facilities being built in Canada.

He said the consortium has been hiring a number of its workers from Quebec and Newfoundland. These people have worked for the consortium building hydro projects in Quebec.

“We are trying to bring political pressure to bear on this situation, because it is not being rectified,” said Smith. “We have a letter writing campaign that is getting some attention. Our members are writing letters to their MLAs.”

Most of the work for carpenters at Wuskwatim is completed, but Smith said better assurances for Manitoba workers must be put in place for future projects.

Manitoba Hydro was unable to provide statistics on the number of carpenters on the project.

However, employment statistics provided on the partnership’s website report that 255 out of 968 workers, or 26 per cent, are Aboriginal.

The Wuskwatim generating station, about 800 kilometres north of Winnipeg, will be able to produce 200 megawatts of power for Manitoba Hydro and its customers when it is operational in 2011.