New collective agreement for Hibernia offshore workers (Canada)

Workers at the Hibernia offshore oil platform in Canada, represented by Unifor, have voted to accept a new collective agreement with their employer.

According to Unifor, the new agreement includes improvements in wages, benefits and working conditions including for temporary employees. It was accepted by a margin of 58% and will expire on June 30, 2019. Unifor represents nearly 400 people on the platform.

“This was an extremely tough round of bargaining,” said Unifor Atlantic Regional Director Lana Payne. “There is no doubt that we still have some unresolved issues in the workplace, and I can guarantee that the union will be working hard over the term of the agreement to have them resolved.”

Contract details include a lump sum up-front payment for regular employees of $6,000 and up to $6,000 for temporary employees, pro-rated, as well as wage increases of 3.5 per cent upon ratification, 3.75 per cent on July 1, 2015 and 3 per cent in each of 2016, 2017 and 2018. There were also improvements to several other areas of the collective agreement.

“These are tough jobs, working in one of the toughest environments in the world, and we are very proud to represent workers in the offshore oil industry,” said Dave Moffat, Assistant to the President at Unifor. “We are expecting that this agreement will help bring stability to this complex workplace in the near and long term.”

Brian Murphy, Unifor National Staff Representative, congratulated the bargaining team for their hard work. “We have made improvements and we look forward to building upon this agreement as well.”

Unifor represents more than 305,000 workers, including nearly 12,000 in the energy sector. It was formed Labour Day weekend 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions merged.

The Hibernia platform is run by Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC). The shareholders of HMDC are: ExxonMobil Canada (33.125%), Chevron Canada Resources (26.875%), Suncor (20%), Canada Hibernia Holding Corporation (8.5%), Murphy Oil (6.5%) and Statoil Canada Ltd. (5%).