Hospitality workers at the Horizon North Parsnip Lodge north of Prince George voted 95 percent in favour of strike action, UNITE HERE Local 40 said in a press release Monday.
The 150 workers include room attendants, kitchen staff, janitors, and front desk agents. There were 1,321 workers at the Parsnip Lodge as of July 30, according to TC Energy, making it the largest single camp still in place on the pipeline route,
Parsnip Lodge hospitality workers are asking Horizon North to respect their hard work by providing three months of severance pay per year of service at the worksite, which is scheduled to close later this year.
“These workers provide a home away from home for thousands of workers in remote areas, and they are critical to the success of major construction projects in our province. Our members at Parsnip Lodge have spent years taking care of guests working on the Coastal GasLink pipeline,” Zailda Chan, UNITE HERE Local 40 president, said in a release “The workers want to be compensated with fair severance pay as the project nears completion. We are hopeful we can resolve this issue with the employer in bargaining and avoid a strike action at the site.”
UNITE HERE Local 40 also represents camp hospitality workers at Cedar Valley Lodge and Crossroads Lodge in Kitimat. Earlier this summer, workers at the two camp sites voted in favour of their new collective agreements, averting strike actions. The new contacts included substantial pay increases and improved workload protections.
The union said it is currently in bargaining with Horizon North.
