Union claims public safety at risk if Enbridge Gas eliminates emergency response shifts

The union representing Enbridge Gas workers says the company is planning to eliminate emergency response shifts and reduce compliance testing, which poses a risk to public safety. A claim the company says is “categorically false.”

In a letter to Stephen Lecce, the newly installed Minister of Energy and Electrification, Unifor says the company plans to eliminate essential evening, night, and weekend shifts responsible for emergency response to gas leaks and reduce compliance testing due to a lack of workers. The union says this will jeopardize the lives of customers and increase the risk of explosions, putting additional strain on emergency resources.

“Gas leaks and emergencies do not happen exclusively in the daytime, and a timely response from trained gas workers is crucial at all hours,” Unifor says in its letter to the Minister. “The expected resulting slower response from qualified gas workers will put strain on the fire services who have to secure affected areas for much longer periods of time.”

The union says the evening shift is staffed by four workers and is almost entirely an emergency response shift while the overnight shift is only staffed by two positions to respond to critical gas leaks or broken infrastructure.

In addition, the union says the reduction of compliance work will increase the risk of undetected faults and methane leaks.

“We are disappointed that Unifor is suggesting that Enbridge Gas is risking our customers’ safety. The suggestion that there is a lack of employees to provide an emergency response is categorically false,” a company spokesperson tells CityNews.

“We have redeployed four shift roles to match Enbridge Gas’ established emergency protocols, ensuring that all emergency responses during and after business hours adhere to a company-wide process that surpasses response time standards.”

Unifor points to recent job cuts as the reason for the service cutbacks.

“If the company does not have enough workers to fulfil critical emergency roles, it is because it has laid off too many workers in pursuit of returns for shareholders,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.

In January, the Calgary-based pipeline giant announced plans to cut 650 positions due to what it called “increasingly challenging business conditions.” The cuts came several months after the company announced it had purchased three U.S.-based utility companies in a US$14 billion cash-and-debt deal.

Enbridge says it is engaged in “productive discussions” with the union to resolve their concerns.