International Operating Engineer - Fall 2015

Canadian News
Pipeline Training on the Upswing in Canada
Local 793 invites contractors and media to live demonstration
IUOE LOCAL 793 held a media event
at its training campus in Morrisburg,
Ont. on Sept. 29 to officially launch
a new pipeline training program.
Courses are being held at the Operating
Engineers Training Institute of Ontario
(OETIO).
Mike Gallagher, an IUOE Vice
President and business manager of
Local 793, said the union has made
a considerable investment in the
program and shown commitment to
the industry. “We are really showing a
commitment to our industry,” he said.
“I am very, very proud of what we’ve
done here.”
Gallagher said the project would
employ more than 3,000 Operating
Engineers across the country “so
it shows the value to the Canadian
economy that this job will bring.” He
noted that pipelines are the safest way
to move oil and it would be foolish
not to go ahead with it, as there are
refineries already built in the east that
could handle the oil.
He encouraged politicians of all
stripes to take a look at the economic
benefits that the pipeline would bring to
Canada. “It will bring good jobs across
the country. We all need to get behind
it and build it with Canadian workers.”
IUOE Canadian regional director
Lionel Railton said Local 793 and the
OETIO have shown their commitment
to the industry with their investment
in the training program. Pipelines
like Energy East are “nation-building
projects” and the Operating Engineers
are ready and willing to build them, so
“let’s get it done,” he said in his remarks.
John Soini, Energy East project
director at TransCanada Pipe Lines, said
that he was “extremely impressed” with
the OETIO and the training program.
He said the program and OETIO
campus will enable workers to get the
skills needed to meet the demand for
planned pipeline projects.
He also noted that TransCanada is
committed to using the skilled trades
and 76 per cent of pipeline work done
by the company across Canada has
been given to unionized companies. “I
am pleased that our company has a long
history of working with the building
trades,” he said.
Soini thanked the OETIO for
investing in the skills training of pipeline
workers. “Having Operating Engineers
involved in Energy East will make sure
this pipeline gets built right.”
[left] John Soini, Energy East project
director at TransCanada Pipe Lines,
with Local 793 business manager Mike
Gallagher at a media event to launch a
pipeline training program at the Operating
Engineers Training Institute of Ontario in
Morrisburg.
[below] Sidebooms in operation at the
pipeline training course at the Operating
Engineers Training Institute of Ontario in
Morrisburg.
[photos & article] Grant Cameron/Local
793
The local purchased two John Deere
850 side booms at a cost of $1.35 million
and two used D6 dozers for $373,000
to be used in the three-week pipeline
training courses. The union is also
putting $11 million into renovations
of the OETIO building. The OETIO
plans to hold eight courses a year in
Morrisburg.
The media event was held to
showcase the program and give
contractors an opportunity to view
field training in progress at the OETIO.
Contractors were shown a pipeline
training video and were taken on a tour
of the site.
In his remarks, Gallagher noted that
there will be a demand for more pipeline
operators if the Energy East project
gets the green light. The project would
transport about 1.1 million barrels of oil
per day from Alberta and Saskatchewan
to refineries and port terminals in
eastern Canada. The pipeline would
run 4,600 kilometres and pass through
Ontario.
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