Husky Workers Protest in Downtown Calgary
Posted Sep 14, 2012 12:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Workers of the Husky Oil Refinery rallied in protest this morning in front of their head office in downtown Calgary.
They’ve been on strike since May, primarily over issues of work-life balance and lack of family flexibility.
Members of United Steel Workers Local 624 from Lima, Ohio, are banding in solidarity to gain greater control over what they deem to be unacceptable working conditions.
“They’re really striking over forced over time, some changes to their scheduling which would give them less flexibility to spend time with their families and trade shifts,” said Alexander Shevalier, President of the Calgary District Labour Council.
Shevalier notes there are also a number of health and safety issues in question.
“They’re not asking for anything unreasonable; they want to spend time with their families,” he adds.
Shevalier concurs that workers aren’t asking for the moon or stars but rather “should be able to accommodate the reasonable demands of these workers.”
“These men and women are fighting to spend time with their families; they work to live; they don’t live to work. Husky is asking these workers to spend time with their children, spouses and families and that’s wrong.”
