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If you're like most managers around the plant you're an avid reader of this space and you're well aware that contracting out of bargaining unit work in the Maintenance Department is a major concern and a significant source of grievances in our workplace. For example, so far this year of the 19 grievances we have filed, 14 of them are related to contracting out in our Maintenance Department. It's a growing trend since the lockout and while the Grievance Backlog Project resolved several older grievances on a without prejudice or precedent-setting basis, a grander resolution is not in sight.
We wanted to use this opportunity to examine why contracting out is an issue, what some of the arguments are from both Company and Union, how case law provides guidance and what potential resolution would look like to greatly reduce the enormity of this collective agreement conflict.
There are many facets to contracting out and it's addressed primarily in Article 2(3) and Letter of Understanding 58 in our collective agreement. Article 2 provides, among other things, protection for our members against layoff due to contracting out and a restriction against cross-crafting and out-of-scope performing inscope work with customarily performed language. The main area we want to highlight in LOU 58, is section 6 - Contractor Log Book. This provision provides further context to Article 2 and dictates when and why work can be contracted out, how it is logged, acknowledged by the Union prior to work commencing and any exceptions.
This is where we dig further into the issue: Contractor Log Book exceptions. There are only two exceptions: Contractors utilized on Capital Construction work and certain routine contract activities may be omitted upon mutual agreement. There is a lot to unpack and we won't delve into everything, but most importantly, it should be pointed out that just because work may fall into one of the above exceptions it absolutely does not mean that the work automatically gets to be contracted out. It is only not recorded in the Log Book. Routine duties excluded include things like: CEDA vac trucks, Acuren, Cando and Thomas Sand & Gravel. Typically contractors who provide services that are not bargaining unit work. These contractors, the hours worked and the number of employees on site are still captured in the Monthly Contractor Reports the Company is required to provide the Union.
Now, backing up to this first exception listed, Capital Construction work. At the refinery not only do we love our acronyms, we're incredibly loose with our synonyms as well. Capital Construction work is sometimes referred to as Major Projects, Expansions, Capital Project work, Construction work, or the Company's favorite just calling it Capital Work. The Company tends to bring any work that is a capital expenditure under this umbrella, including Turnarounds recently which we all know is the ultimate running maintenance. You may ask, well how can it be running maintenance if everything is shutdown? It's not meant to be a literal definition. When mechanics change a bearing on a pump outside the Turnaround window, they don't do it with the pump running, the pump is shutdown for maintenance. And just like a pump is shutdown for maintenance, so can a whole unit or section be shutdown for maintenance. In the RBO Maintenance Contracting Out arbitration, Arbitrator Shapiro provided the parties with a definition of running maintenance in his decision. It reads:
[106] With the exception of work on capital projects, on which the parties disagree, the evidence shows they have a common understanding that “running maintenance” includes all activities performed on an asset to keep it functioning at its designed level, for its designed performance, for its designed life, and to replace such assets.
While neither the Arbitrator nor collective agreement define Capital Construction work it is surely not where the Company has landed. In meetings, they have shortened it to solely Capital Work and included the Tank Integrity Program and Major Projects. This is further complicated by the fact that neither of these three distinct areas communicates on a regular basis on job scope or manpower. This leads to bargaining unit work being performed by out-of-scope employees and work being contracted out unnecessarily; and the many grievances that flow from that. Arbitrator Shapiro stated in his decision that the collective agreement as structured does not allow the Company to make blanket contracting out decisions and each job needs to be scrutinized on a case-by-case basis before it is contracted out. This includes multi-trade work, which the Tank Integrity Program clearly falls within. It is still running Maintenance, and the upkeep of assets, just with a fancier name.
How do we resolve these issues and reduce, or eliminate, grievances on contracting out? For starters, we have asked the Company on numerous occasions for their definition of Capital Construction work without result. It's hard to have productive conversations about manpower requirements and contractor usage when the goalposts are unknown. While restoring complement numbers in the maintenance shops will go a long way to reducing the backlog, overtime and fatigue, shifting from a reactive to a preventative maintenance strategy, and building further capacity to compensate for high workload periods it is not the be-all end-all. There is a definite need to grow the shops to maintain our aging refinery, there needs to be better cooperation and communication between departments to ensure bargaining unit workers are utilized first and foremost. Better work prioritization cannot happen when everyone is working in silos that are seemingly pitted against each other.
This really all boils down to this underlying principle of the Union that our members are invested in the long-term success of the refinery. This facility is our livelihood and to see our workforce being depleted and under-utilized in favour of contractors is disrespectful to the value we provide the cooperative. No one puts the care in career like 594.
Richard Exner
Chief Shop Steward
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