Job loss for IAM members in Cape Breton
Sydney, NS – Sixteen members of IAM Local Lodge 684 employed by Logistec Corporation will officially lose their jobs this weekend as Nova Scotia Power Corporation (NSP) has awarded management of the International pier and associated rail operations to Savage CANAC Corporation.
“This isn’t a contract flip,” explained IAM Transportation District Lodge 140 General Chairperson Ken Russell. “Savage CANAC, drastically underbid Logistec for the work and according to our legal counsel, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Logistec, was responsible for offloading imported coal at Sydney and storing it at the pier before transferring it to trains for shipment to the Lingan Generating Station. The members of IAM Local Lodge 684 maintained the diesel engines, cars and the 14 kilometers of track between the International Pier and the generating station.
So far only five of the affected members have been rehired by Savage CANAC. “We’ve been doing this job for 17 years and NSP was impressed with our work and our safety record,” said IAM Local Lodge 684 Chief Steward Rick Wiseman. “Looking at the hiring Savage has been doing, there are qualified people but not experienced people. I think there’s going to be some ramifications for what they are doing. That’s not sour grapes, that’s reality.”
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