Temporary layoffs for 400 Calgary steel workers
13 January 2009
Tue, January 13, 2009
Steel plant workers brace for layoffs
UPDATED: 2009-01-13 01:29:28 MST
Temporary layoffs have been issued to 400 workers at TenarisPrudential, a steel company located in southeast Calgary. (Darren Makowichuk, Sun Media)
Workers at a Calgary steel plant are on tenterhooks this week as their future hangs in the balance.
Representatives of United Steelworkers Local 7226, which represents about 400 workers at the TenarisPrudential plant in Calgary, will meet with management later this week to discuss the company's business plan for 2009.
The company has declined comment, as the 2009 business plan is still under review, a company official said yesterday.
TenarisPrudential informed its workers last week that starting Jan. 26, its Calgary plant manufacturing tubes used in the energy sector will shut down for six working days, said United Steelworkers representative Keith Turcotte.
At the meeting, the union plans to discuss with management how the new business plan will impact its membership of about 400 workers.
"We hope it's a short-term thing," Turcotte said about the six-day shutdown.
Many of the workers are long-time employees with up to 30 years of service and are close to retirement, he said.
TenarisPrudential specializes in welded tubes used in the energy industry's drilling sector.
Drilling activity in Alberta, however, has been declining steadily and is forecast to continue declining this year.
The Petroleum Service Association of Canada estimates that in 2009, 10,400 wells will be drilled in Alberta, an 11% decrease of from the previous year.
In 2008, Alberta was the only province to see drilling decrease over the previous year.
Turcotte said he realizes how susceptible TenarisPrudential is to the ebb and flow of the market.
Unemployment in Alberta is still the lowest in the country and sat at 4.1% in December, compared to a national unemployment rate of 6.6%, Statistics Canada reported last week.
Economists, however, generally agree the Alberta unemployment rate will edge up gradually, at least during the first months of this year, as the impact of stubbornly low commodity prices is weaving its way through the economy.
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