Sodexo hospitality workers at Cedar Valley Lodge in Kitimat voted 97 per cent in favour of strike action on Friday afternoon, Unite Here Local 40 said in a statement.
Cedar Valley Lodge is the only accommodation facility in Kitimat large enough to house workers for the LNG Canada project. Usually accommodating up to 5,000 camp workers, a strike at the worksite could cause significant disruption to pipeline work.
The union says its members are frustrated with little movement by management in bargaining to address cost of living concerns and that they are the lowest compensated workers at the LNG Canada construction site.
"Cedar Valley Lodge workers are being treated unfairly. We deserve fair pay for the work we do - not to be the lowest paid people at the LNG Canada camp. With families to support, we need to be able to keep up with our bills. We will not be disrespected anymore, and we are ready to strike if we do not receive a fair proposal," said Mike Lightheart, a first cook who has worked at Cedar Valley Lodge for three years.
BC Building Trades workers at the LNG Canada camp received a 12.5-per-cent wage increase in 2022, and by the end of October 2023 will receive an additional 10 per cent, and hospitality workers at Cedar Valley Lodge were not included in these increases, Unite Here says.
Some workers are making $5 per hour less than they earned in the same positions at the Kitimat Modernization Project eight years ago, according to the union.
The 450 workers - including housekeepers, kitchen staff, janitors, lounge servers, guest service agents, and maintenance - unionized with Unite Here Local 40 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers on April 12.
Mediation between the union and the employer begins today at the BC Labour Board.
