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Come On Canada.You Can Have Them!

Mike

Well-known member
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Wed, June 14, 2006
Houston offers help
UPDATED: 2006-06-14 02:43:05 MST

Calgary told Texans can play part in labour shortage remedy

By IAN WILSON, BUSINESS EDITOR

Houston, we have a labour problem -- and the mayor of the Texas city says he can help.

During a speech at the Global Petroleum Show yesterday, Houston Mayor Bill White said Alberta should look to his city to cope with severe labour shortages.

According to Alberta Human Resources and Employment, 400,000 jobs will be created across the province during the next decade, but there are only about 300,000 new workers expected to enter the workforce.

Coincidentally, White said about 100,000 people living in Houston were left homeless by hurricane Katrina and many of them are looking for work.

"There is a labour pool in Houston," said White.

"I'm not saying they're all model employees ... but I tell you what, there are a lot of people just looking to get back on their feet again."

White said surveys of the new Houston residents show about 70% of those polled said they were willing to undergo job training in an effort to find work.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Calgary and Houston inked an economic and cultural co-operation deal. The bilateral agreement, which was mainly a symbolic gesture, will promote business and cultural growth between the two cities.

While the partnerships forged between the two cities have historically centred around the oilpatch, the aerospace industry -- along with engineering, life sciences, arts and culture -- are also expected to benefit from the deal.
 

DJL

Well-known member
I think they'd find our winters a bit more severe than New Orleans/Houston winters! I won't even mention the welfare aspect.... Hope they stay in Houston.
 

Jinglebob

Well-known member
DJL said:
I think they'd find our winters a bit more severe than New Orleans/Houston winters! I won't even mention the welfare aspect.... Hope they stay in Houston.

Nope! You heard fh. We took your wolves, so you got to take them! :mad:

:roll:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
Albertas already screaming for people! Claims there are 250 thousand jobs available NOW.Stettler,a city near us,is booming and opening places like Walmart and Boston Pizza,but can't open full time because no workers available.EVERYWHERE you go theres job signs,the Dairy Queen uped thier wages to $12. an hour to get people interested.Newfoundland and Nova Scotia have practically moved thier provinces here.......seriously its crazy,a big Oil Boom going on,thats whats causing it.Anyone want a job,come down you'll have one tommorow......anyone with a trade liceance? Start tommorow,starting wages are indecent. Ft. MCmurray has an incentive for trades people,sign a three year contract,One hundred thousand bonus at the end of the three years,fly you in anywhere from Alta, stay in camp and starting wage upward of $40. an hour!
 

RoperAB

Well-known member
Mrs.Greg said:
Albertas already screaming for people! Claims there are 250 thousand jobs available NOW.Stettler,a city near us,is booming and opening places like Walmart and Boston Pizza,but can't open full time because no workers available.EVERYWHERE you go theres job signs,the Dairy Queen uped thier wages to $12. an hour to get people interested.Newfoundland and Nova Scotia have practically moved thier provinces here.......seriously its crazy,a big Oil Boom going on,thats whats causing it.Anyone want a job,come down you'll have one tommorow......anyone with a trade liceance? Start tommorow,starting wages are indecent. Ft. MCmurray has an incentive for trades people,sign a three year contract,One hundred thousand bonus at the end of the three years,fly you in anywhere from Alta, stay in camp and starting wage upward of $40. an hour!


A wake-up call
Hundreds of union protesters shut down downtown Fort McMurray Thursday evening, rallying against allowing foreign workers to work on oilsands construction sites.

Stories by MICHAEL URBANSKI
Today staff
Friday April 29, 2005

Fort McMurray Today — Hundreds of union protesters shut down downtown Fort McMurray Thursday evening, rallying against allowing foreign workers to work on oilsands construction sites.
Chanting slogans and waving dozens of banners with union emblems, supporters and union leaders urged the Alberta government to revoke designation eight -- a special regulation that allows industry to hire out-of-country workers.
“The oilsands belong to the Canadian people, not to the oil companies,” said Rob Kinsey, business manager with the plumbers and pipefitters union local 488, to the cheering crowd.
“I say these projects can and should be staggered to keep Canadians working longer and maintain economic stability,” said Kinsey, calling division eight a “misguided attempt by government and industry to reduce costs of construction.”
And even if there is a shortage of workers, Kinsey said, “we’ll bring immigrants who will become Canadians to do these jobs.”
Hundreds of protesters gathered at MacDonald Island, where they formed a two-kilometre-long cavalcade, many wearing ‘Friends don’t let friends do CLAC’ (The Christian Labour Association of Canada) t-shirts and waving ‘Martin take Klein with you,’ and ‘apprenticeship before replacement workers’ signs.
Among the clatter of honking horns behind a police escort, the cavalcade -- chanting “Hey, hey, ho, ho, division eight has got to go,” and “Beat back the CLAC attack” -- made its way to Jubilee Centre, where speakers addressed the crowd.
Among them was local NDP leader Ann Dort-Maclean.
“If this isn’t a wake-up call (for the Klein Conservatives) they don’t know anything,” she told the crowd. “It’s the unions who made this country strong and it’s the unions who will keep it strong.”
Mike Buffham of the Alberta Building Trades Council was critical of industry.
“Oil companies -- especially Suncor (Energy) and CNRL -- try to lower the bar, to take our jobs, by allowing a pretend union, CLAC, onto their sites.”
Local pipefitter Dorothy Pacquette, whose 13-day, 450-kilometre walk to Edmonton helped focus attention on the issue of foreign workers, was one of the people spearheading the cavalcade.
“It’s very important that this is going on. And it’s a great turnout,” she said.
Many of the protesters arrived at the rally on buses, coming straight from their worksites, still dressed in blue or orange overalls.
While the reports of just how many people attended vary -- the organizers estimate between 2,000 and 3,000 people; the RCMP said it’s more like 700 -- the protest was both large and peaceful.
“There were no incidents and no charges were laid,” Const. Ann Brinnen said.
“I’ve talked to a member who’s been here for about three years and he doesn’t recall having anything like this in Fort McMurray before.”
A similar protest in Edmonton a few days ago drew about 800 people, according to the organizers.
But regardless the turnout, Shane Reap, an insulator with local 110 and one of the participants, said the rally was important to him.
“If foreign workers come here and take our jobs, where are they going to spend the money? They are going to leave without contributing to our economy.
“Foreign workers will affect our wages. There are enough people to work these jobs in Fort McMurray. And if there isn’t, government should invest in training programs (instead bringing in foreign workers.)”
Another protester, Marcel Fortch, who’s worked with an in-town union for four years, said he came to express his solidarity,
“We have to keep unionized. Unions help us all.”
To accommodate the unexpectedly large turnout, the RCMP was forced to close Franklin Avenue between Main and Hardin streets, putting up barricades and rerouting traffic.
Before the rally came to an end, the organizers marked a minute of silence for the annual day of mourning, which honours “the brothers and sisters” who have died in workplace accidents.
Speaking on his cellphone on the way to Edmonton this morning, Alberta Building Trades Council’s representative Mike Buffham called the rally a success.
“This is just an initial splash and other actions will follow,” he said. “I think the statement was made about what people believe in -- that foreign workers are not the answer.”

Reaction

Reaction to the union protests in Fort McMurray Thursday night:
• “Scare tactics won’t work,” said Christian Labour Association of Canada regional director Dick Heinen commenting on criticism his group received. “We don’t want foreign workers any more than anyone -- it’s an absolute last resort. And in the grand scheme of things it’s not that many -- 680 is what’s been approved,” said Heinen. “It’s very unfortunate that they’re using scare tactics.”
• Suncor Energy spokesman Brad Bellows said no one should be concerned about not having jobs available. “We share the concern that people aren’t getting jobs, but there is such a tremendous amount of work available that no qualified person I would expect to be left without a job. “We have some contractors who are CLAC-certified and others that have union or non-union arrangements. But from Suncor’s point of view, our primary interest is in safety, quality and cost, in that order. “To bring foreign workers is a last resort.”
 

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
Yeah they fly a jet full of people from my hometown up to Fort Mac to work every week-for those guys that lost their jobs when the pulp mill cut back I guess it's alright. Geez Stettler was just a nice sized place when I worked out on a ranch by there 25 years ago lol. I'm kinda glad I live over here in the have not province Alberta getting too crowded for me.
 

RoperAB

Well-known member
What they dont talk about is what it costs to live in Fort McMurray.
Bunch of crap bringing in Arabs so they can keep the wages down for Canadian workers.
What happens after the boom> We are stuck with them.
You can be making $25 an hour in Calgary and be homeless. I hear its twice as bad in Fort McMurray.
The only ones who tend to get rich in these booms are the ones that lived there and owned land there before the boom.
The houseing is non excistant in Fort McMurray. A friend of mine lives in Lac La Biche. He charges people $400 a month to park there RV in his yard and all he provides them with ios an extension cord for power. They actually drive two hours one way from his place to Fort McMurray to work everyday because they cant afford a place to live in Fort McMurray.
 

RoperAB

Well-known member
If you cowboyed and only made $1200 a month at least you would have $1200 at the end of the month because you would not have expenses.
What a lot of people do from other provinces is stay in camp at Fort McMurray.
They only make $10 an hour but the camp and meals are provided. They work long enough to get employment insurance bennifits and then go home to Newfondland for the rest of the year.
 

Jason

Well-known member
The crazy wages being offered from the oil sector on down is hurting other industries.

I have visited with a few ranches that just can't find and retain help.

One is a feedlot/cow/calf and they can't find anyone to calve their cows so they sold off a bunch this spring.

They pay $2200 a month supply a house trailer and the noon meal, hours are limited to 40 per week. Very specific duties from what I have been told.

Another ranch 450 head outfit is selling off because they can't get help. Their son went to university and without him the husband and wife can't manage. They calve February and May, so only 225 in each bunch. They hay their own land. I know the guy that has kept their books straight for the last 20 years and he is retiring, so maybe that has something to do with it too.

Wages on the big farms hit $20 an hour for running new sawthers / combines etc last fall...I bet they need to match or up that to get enough help this year.
 

Brad S

Well-known member
The oil patch has lured alot of ranch help arround here. If the truth were told, US ranchers don't treat their labor as well as we should (in general). Oil isn't going cheap anytime soon, and roughnecks won't abide nonenglish speakers for reasons of safety and biggotry. I guess mi casa es su casa.
 

RoperAB

Well-known member
Ever notice how lots of times some outfits can never hire riders. They run the same old ads in the newspapers year after year. Even when they hire somebody they keep the ad in the paper because they know its only a matter of time before the guy quits.
Yet other outfits never advertise, dont really pay much, but never have labour shortages.
Maybe these guys that have high turn over rates and who cant keep anybody decent for any length of time should start looking within and start asking themselves why they have such a bad reputation? There are outfits<mostly feedlots or farmer type cow operations> that have such a bad rep. that people who dont really know them prefer to keep it that way.
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
RoperAB said:
What they dont talk about is what it costs to live in Fort McMurray.
Bunch of crap bringing in Arabs so they can keep the wages down for Canadian workers.
What happens after the boom> We are stuck with them.
You can be making $25 an hour in Calgary and be homeless. I hear its twice as bad in Fort McMurray.
The only ones who tend to get rich in these booms are the ones that lived there and owned land there before the boom.
The houseing is non excistant in Fort McMurray. A friend of mine lives in Lac La Biche. He charges people $400 a month to park there RV in his yard and all he provides them with ios an extension cord for power. They actually drive two hours one way from his place to Fort McMurray to work everyday because they cant afford a place to live in Fort McMurray.
We spent the weekend in Ft.Mac.at a rescue competion,while the guys were in workshops on Friday,us women went to the mall,curious we checked the real estate board :shock: a newer home,built in the last few years and lived in priced around 788 thousand,an older trailer in a mobile park..250 thousand.Yes your making crazy money but the cost of housing is outradious. In the afternoon,went on a tour of Syncrude guide told us the town is sitting at 600 thousand people and expects to climb to 100 thousand in the next few years...and theres thousands of people that communte to Ft. Mcmurray to work.Albertas booming because mostly of Ft. Mac and our oil and gas industry,around home here in central Alta.wells are popping up all over. Housings getting out of hand,can't hardly get a home and if you can ...you pay dearly for it! :?
 
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