465 layoffs amid pipeline uncertainty

Evraz North America sent about 465 layoff notices for employees at its Regina steel mill on Wednesday, raising the risk that hundreds could be out of work as of Dec. 17 and triggering heated debate in Saskatchewan's legislature.

The names on the notices partly overlap with 50 notices sent about two weeks ago. All told, the notices affect the large majority of the 500 or so workers in the mill's tubular products division, which is facing a steep drop in demand as the energy sector struggles and demand for pipelines drops.

The roughly 465 new notices say that the employees “will be laid off indefinitely effective end of shift December 17, 2020.” But Patrick Waldron, spokesman for Evraz North America, said that doesn't mean all of the employees will necessarily be off the job on that day.

“These staffing adjustments that began in November and are continuing in December are matching the size of our workforce with the demand for production of certain tubular products,” he said.

“In the spiral pipe divisions that means as large projects are completed and work runs out, the layoffs take place.”

He couldn't say how many employees will stay on in the tubular division over the coming months.

Waldron noted that other divisions of Evraz's Regina plant, including steelmaking, will keep turning out steel for coil, slab and other products, keeping other workers employed at the mill.

“Hundreds of people are continuing and will continue to go to work and produce steel,” said Waldron.

NDP Leader Ryan Meili called the news “devastating” during question period on Thursday. He accused Premier Scott Moe of failing to advocate for workers at Evraz.

He lamented that an upcoming pipeline for Saskenergy won't be built using Saskatchewan steel. Meili said Evraz workers have told him they're able to build it.

“We've got a premier that hasn't even lifted a finger for the projects that are right in front of us,” said Meili.

Moe called the layoffs “absolutely terrible,” especially so close to the holidays in the midst of a pandemic.

He said Saskatchewan's rapid response team will work closely to help the affected employees find supports.

But he pushed back against Meili, saying the pipe built at Evraz isn't compatible with the Saskenergy line the NDP referenced.

Moe connected the layoffs to broader pain in the energy industry.

He said his party has advocated for every pipeline project.

“This is a government that has always stood up for Saskatchewan workers — that includes the ones at Evraz steel,” said Moe

His minister of trade and export development, Jeremy Harrison, accused the NDP of standing in the way.

Harrison blamed difficulties in getting pipelines built on “significant political opposition” from the federal NDP. He quoted a statement from newly elected NDP MLA Meara Conway, who was highly critical of the Kinder Morgan pipeline in a 2018 Facebook post.

The statement became a frequent target for the Saskatchewan Party during the election campaign. Harrison noted that that pipeline would have used Evraz steel.

But Meili insisted that his entire caucus “fully supports oil and gas workers.”

We've got a premier that hasn't even lifted a finger for the projects that are right in front of us.