XPost: can.politics, ab.politics, edm.general   
   XPost: bc.politics, ont.politics   
   From: "@nyet.ca   
      
   CBC News Posted: Sep 01, 2014   
      
   Canadians expose foreign worker 'mess' in oilsands   
      
   'Only a matter of time' before someone gets hurt or killed, tradesmen claim   
      
      
      
   Canadian tradesmen from a huge oilsands construction project are waving a red   
   flag about safety hazards and near misses, which they blame on the use of   
   foreign workers who aren't qualified and can't speak English.   
      
   "When you bring in a bunch of workers who are unqualified to do this job it's   
   only a matter of time before you kill someone," said Les Jennings, who was an   
   ironworker supervisor at the Husky Sunrise plant until a few weeks ago, when he   
   quit in frustration.   
      
        	Saskatchewan contractor laid off Canadians, retained TFWs   
      
   "People are angry and upset," said journeyman ironworker Johnny Demosten, who   
   is still working at the site. He said many of the foreign workers don't know   
   crane hand signals and other safety precautions.   
      
   "If they are journeymen, they are supposed to know the signals. It's pretty   
   dangerous."   
      
   There are 344 foreigners — skilled tradespeople and others — currently   
   working   
   on site for the Italian-based company Saipem, under contract to build the   
   multi-billion dollar plant 60 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.   
      
   The project is over budget and behind its original schedule.   
      
      
   Hazards cited by inspector   
      
   "The errors on that site are repetitive and consistent. Mistakes made over and   
   over," said Ryan Slade, a journeyman electrician contracted by Husky last year,   
   as an on-site quality control inspector.   
      
   "You used to feel like you were part of something. Now, you feel you are part   
   of the mess."   
      
   He said he reported numerous serious concerns about safety and poor   
   workmanship, until, he said, managers told him to stop.   
      
   "I keep repeating, 'You are having the same problems over and over' and they   
   said, 'Look, we already know this — don't report it anymore,'" said Slade.   
      
   "We will always be vigilant in our safety objectives, and we continue to see   
   steady improvement in results due to stronger alignment amongst all companies   
   on site," Husky spokesperson Mel Duvall said in an email to Go Public.   
      
   "We work closely with site contractors on safety, including initiatives for   
   workers to give direct feedback."   
      
   "Those [Canadian] guys who do stay up there they are going to save Husky's butt   
   â€” I guarantee it," said Slade. "They are going to save someone's life by   
   catching poor workmanship before it kills someone."   
      
      
   Blow torch scare   
      
   For example, Demosten said, he and other workers were horrified when a foreign   
   worker took a blow torch to a propane tank to defrost it. Others intervened to   
   prevent an explosion.   
      
   "That would probably have killed him and hurt people around him. That's the   
   kind of things these people are doing," said Demosten.   
   Temporary Foreign Workers in Oil Patch, Johnny Demosten, Leslie Jennings   
      
   Johnny Demosten and Leslie Jennings, journeyman ironworkers in the oilsands, go   
   public about temporary foreign workers hired by Saipem Canada to work at the   
   Husky Sunrise site. (CBC)   
      
   The tradesmen also claim several Canadians with better qualifications have been   
   passed over for jobs, while foreign workers from Europe continued to show up.   
      
     "We had probably 60 ironworkers come to take the jobs from Canadians," said   
   Jennings.   
      
   Saipem said it can't comment on some of the Canadian workers' allegations   
   without evidence, but, overall, it called the claims "misleading".   
      
   It points out, 85 per cent of its workers on site are Canadian. It also said   
   its safety record is as good or better than industry standard.   
      
      
   Company refutes claims   
      
   "We continue to make safety a priority at the Sunrise site, with continued   
   focus on safety awareness and training of all our workers," said Saipem   
   spokesperson Erika Mandraffino, in an email from Italy.   
      
   "We strongly refute any and all claims of any correlation between any alleged   
   safety violations and any group of workers that we have at the project site."   
      
   Many of the foreigners did arrive without Canadian-standard trade   
   certification, however. Under government rules, they have a year before they   
   must take their test.   
      
   "These workers, in my opinion — because I worked with them side by side —   
   they   
   are not at the same level as a Canadian journeyman. Not even close," said   
   Jennings.   
      
   He said he assigned some of them to shovel snow, while earning the ironworker   
   rate of $44 an hour.   
      
   "Probably 75 per cent of [foreign] ironworkers on site were only at the level   
   of a labourer."   
      
   Jennings is angry with Saipem, because it used his name and red seal   
   certification number on paperwork approving 15 foreigners to take their   
   certification test, after he said he made it clear they weren't qualified.   
      
   "When I found out about that I called the industrial training centre and I had   
   [the test approvals] cancelled," said Jennings.   
      
   A company HR person texted Jennings at the time, saying, "It was a mistake… I   
   am not trying to get you to approve guys you are not comfortable with."   
      
      
   Foreign workers fail tests   
      
   Even when they take the test, he said, most fail but are not sent home. They   
   get another shot at a later date, prolonging their time on the job.   
      
   "They should be made to write that test the first week they get here to prove   
   they know the material — then if they don't know it they should go home."   
   Foreign workers at Husky Sunrise   
      
   Foreign workers are shown in this still image from video taken by a worker at   
   the Husky Sunrise plant near Fort McMurray.   
      
   The union for both the domestic and foreign tradespeople confirmed several   
   foreign workers failed and are getting a second chance.   
      
   "If they are failing the test because they can't read it, then that's a concern   
   about their language and what it can mean for safety," said Izzy Huygen,   
   Alberta representative for the Christian Labour Association of Canada.   
      
   When more new workers arrived from Portugal in June, Jennings reacted by   
   emailing Saipem several resumes of qualified Canadian journeymen looking for   
   work.   
      
   A human resources manager emailed back, saying, "We are not looking for   
   ironworkers as of now."  Then, in July, another crew from Poland showed up,   
   according to several sources.   
      
   "Those ironworkers are still on site. They should have been turned around sent   
   back home and replaced with Canadians," said Jennings.   
      
      
   Qualified Canadians available   
      
   Jason Mitchell's resume was one of those Jennings submitted. He said Saipem   
   actually offered him work at the time. He quit his other job as a result, but   
   has heard nothing since.   
      
   "I was told I was hired and good to go… I never heard any more. Now I am   
   unemployed," said Mitchell.   
      
   344 foreigners are working on-site in Alberta for Italian-based Saipem, which   
      
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