Lodge staff for LNG workers approves strike, potentially disrupting Kitimat project
KITIMAT, BC — Workers at a lodge housing workers at LNG Canada’s gas plant in Kitimat, BC, have authorized strike action, potentially disrupting construction on the massive project.
The unions representing workers at Cedar Valley Lodge in Kitimat on BC’s central coast said in a July 7 vote that 97 percent of members supported a strike.
One of the unions, Unite Here Local 40, says Cedar Valley normally accommodates up to 5,000 camp workers for LNG Canada and is “the only facility in Kitimat big enough” to accommodate that many people.
The 450 lodge workers who voted to strike are employed by Sodexo, which provides hospitality, food and maintenance services at the lodge.
Unite Here says mediation with the employer began Monday at the BC Labor Board.
The union says lodge workers are “the lowest paid LNG Canada construction site workers” and have not received the 12.5 per cent wage increase that some others who worked on the project received in 2022.
The statement says a strike, if it occurred, would “cause significant disruption” to work on the $40 billion liquefied natural gas export facility project.
LNG Canada says in a statement that it is not part of the negotiations between the unions and Sodexo, but that it is “hopeful” that the two sides will reach a “mutually satisfactory solution”.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 10, 2023.
