Operating Engineers eager to start Energy East work

OAKVILLE, ONT. – Approvals for the Energy East Pipeline will not come before 2018 — if ever — but members of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) are eager to get going after signing a memorandum of understanding to work on the project.

Mike Gallagher, business manager of Local 793 of the IUOE based in Oakville, Ont., said in a July 14 media statement that the Energy East Pipeline project is important because the venture will ensure thousands of jobs for unionized trades.

"Local 793 is fully supportive of this memorandum of understanding because the project will create thousands of high-paying jobs for Operating Engineers and other unionized trades that do pipeline work," he said.

National Energy Board consultations on the proposed TransCanada Corporation project get underway in August with panel sessions along the west-east pipeline route. The Operating Engineers are one of four trades that signed the memorandum with TransCanada Corporation.