‘COMPLETE NIGHTMARE’
ALREADY MORE THAN A MONTH BEHIND SCHEDULE, CONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTHEAST RING ROAD NOW FACES ACCUSATIONS FROM ASPHALT HAULERS WORKING ON THE PROJECT WHO SAY THEY HAVEN’T BEEN PAID IN MONTHS AND CLAIM THEY WERE FIRED FOR DEMANDING PAYMENT
What they thought was an ideal job has turned sour for a group of asphalt haulers working on the southeast ring road who say they haven’t been paid in months and are owed thousands of dollars.
To make matters worse, some of the asphalt haulers claim they have been fired for inquiring about unpaid invoices. “The situation that we have been put into is a complete nightmare. How are we supposed to pay our bills?” said asphalt hauler Will Hollier. Hollier operates a tractor trailer end dump for his father-inlaw Steve Cross, owner of S. Cross Holdings. Cross said he is owed more than $90,000 for his company’s work on the project.
“I think about it all day long. When I get up in the morning that’s the first thing I think about — am I going to get paid today?” said Cross.
The fact that work is nearing completion on the southeast ring road, which was supposed to open on Oct. 1 but remains unopened, is especially worrisome, Cross said.
“The job is winding down, that’s why we’re the most concerned,” he said. “We have no recourse at all to go after our money.”
While Chinook Roads Partnership is ultimately responsible to the Alberta government for the $769-million project, the asphalt haulers are at the bottom of a long line of subcontractors and Cross said he’s unsure who is responsible for the delayed payment. Cross said the independent asphalt haulers are subcontracted to Holly’s Transport, who writes their cheques. He said Holly’s Transport supplies the trucks for Northwest Lands, who in turn works for Lafarge, who works for Chinook Infrastructures who is subcontracted to Chinook Roads Partnership.
Cross’s truck, which is operated by Hollier, has been working on the paving project since June 2012. While payment was initially on time (approximately 35 days after a month of work, as is standard in the industry) cheques were gradually distributed later and later, according to Cross.
Payment for his August and September invoices are overdue, said Cross. All told, he said he is owed $92,000 for ring road work done in August, September and October.
Cross said he isn’t alone and estimated nine independent owner/ operators who worked as asphalt haulers on the project are owed a total of more than $800,000.
Hollier said he and three other haulers staged a short strike Nov. 1 at an asphalt park in Shepard, refusing to work until they received an answer on when their invoices would be paid. Eventually, a Lafarge employee told the workers they would be paid the coming week and the men returned to work, according to Hollier. Two days later, all four workers were fired, by Holly’s Transport, via text message, Hollier said.
Hollier, who has a two-year-old daughter and another child on the way, said he’s now looking for work and has applied for EI.
Jim Bell, owner and operator of Jim Bell Trucking, said he was fired from the project in August and is still owed $33,000. Ken Letkeman said he was fired after staging a strike with Hollier and two others. Letkeman said he has been juggling the ring road project with other work and is owed more than $63,000 for the hours he worked on the ring road in August, September and October.
“I could understand it if it was just a private company who hired me in to haul and they were having financial difficulties ... but it’s a government job, that’s what bothers me,” Letkeman said. “It’s a government job, money should be flowing.”
In a business where steady work that’s close to home is rare, working on a two-year project for the government seemed like the ideal gig, said the asphalt haulers. Barry Stuber of Holly’s Transport confirmed trucks, including his own, have outstanding invoices and noted delayed payment is not unusual in the industry. Stuber said he’s been told unpaid invoices for work done up to the end of September will be paid this week.
When reached via telephone, Bill Vooys of Northwest Lands said he couldn’t comment on the situation.
Jennifer Lewis, director of communications with Lafarge, said the company has paid its bills.
“It’s a subcontract situation. Unfortunately, we don’t control writing the paycheques to the drivers, that’s part of what we subcontracted,” she said.
The province, meanwhile, said while projects are contracted out and it is not directly involved with those agreements, there is a specific dispute resolution process in the P3 contract for contractors who have issues or complaints.
Cross said he just wants his $92,000 so he can pay his employee and his bills.
“We don’t really care who’s at fault ... we just know that we can’t pay our bills because we’re not getting paid,” he said.