Pre-payment at pumps to become mandatory under NDP legislation
Alberta’s labour minister introduced legislation Monday to require pre-payment for fuel in an effort to prevent violence against gas station workers.
The bill, which would amend the Occupational Health and Safety Code, makes pre-payment mandatory across Alberta effective next June 1, said Labour Minister Christina Gray.
Pay-at-the pump technology — which comes at a price tag of around $30,000 per pump for retailers — isn’t the only option, Gray said, adding that customers may be required to pay by cash or credit before fuelling vehicles.
Bill 19, dubbed the Act to Protect Gas and Convenience Store Workers, was the first piece of legislation introduced in the fall session, which started Monday and continues into December.
Two families who lost loved ones to gas-and-dash violence were present at the Alberta legislature
If alternate procedures can be developed that take worker safety into account, our director ... can work with a retailer on a solution that works for them.
Monday.
Earlier this month, Thorsby Fas Gas owner Ki Yun Jo, 54, was run over and killed while trying to stop a cube van from stealing nearly $200 in gas.
In 2015, Husky gas station worker Surinder Pal Singh, 61, died after sustaining head injuries during an altercation with a customer at an Edmonton location.
Husky Energy instituted a prepay policy at all of its Alberta gas stations in the wake of Singh’s death, said Lawrence Richler, a vice-president at Husky Energy Inc.
He added about 140 of 150 stations have pay-at-the-pump technology. “I don’t think this is a cost issue, this is a safety issue,” he told a Monday news conference.
Gray said the legislation will level the playing field among retailers.
“If alternate procedures can be developed that take worker safety into account, our director of (occupational health and safety) can work with a retailer on a solution that works for them,” she said, adding that this may be the case for a handful of locations where workers can’t access the pumps from inside the store.
United Conservative Party labour critic Prab Gill said the Opposition will be reviewing the bill.
“At this point, the legislation has just been tabled, more than two years after the commitment from the NDP government to do so,” he said in a statement.
The bill includes proposed violence-prevention plans such as requiring video monitoring, time-lock safes and personal emergency transmitters for employees working alone.