Coal Miners Could Have Been Easily Trained in BC Instead of Importing Temporary Foreign Workers From China
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| Longwall coal mining in Australia - one of many countries using the technique. |
Tuesday October 30, 2012
By Bill Tieleman
"We are replacing people with 25 to 45 years
of experience with people that have zero days of experience."
- Jimmy Brock, U.S. coal mining firm CONSOL Energy
If
you don't think Chinese miners should be coming to British Columbia as temporary
foreign workers in new coal mines, get ready to be really angry.
That's
because the federal Conservative government will ratify a foreign investment
agreement this week, ensuring even more Chinese takeovers of
Canada’s natural resources -- and jobs.
And
if you doubt that China-owned coal companies had no choice but to import their
own workers to B.C. because no trained, experienced miners are available,
prepare to get downright furious.
The
reason is simple. Neither the coal companies nor the federal or B.C.
governments wanted to train Canadian workers -- even though it’s nowhere near
as hard as they claim.
"We
require temporary foreign workers because we are introducing a highly
mechanized form of longwall mining to the province. There's currently no active
long-wall mining going on in Canada or B.C.," says Jody Shimkus, vice-president of HD Mining
International, one of the companies involved in developing up to four coal
mines.
And
Shimkus would know. Less than one year ago she was assistant deputy minister
for B.C.'s mines ministry itself.
While
B.C. public service guidelines require senior government officials to wait one
year before accepting employment with companies they had "substantial
involvement" with, Shimkus said in a Friday interview that she did not
deal with HD Mining in her ADM position.
Shimkus
also said she was "unaware" of the government guidelines.
But
is longwall mining that rare and complicated? No. Is China the only source of
longwall miners? No. Just the cheapest.
US
training legions of longwall miners
In
fact, half of all U.S. coal mines use longwall methods, extracting 166 million
tons in 2009 that way.
The
largest U.S. underground coal producer -- Consul Energy -- constantly trains
miners in longwall techniques at a new $12 million centre in southwest
Pennsylvania because that's how it extracts 88 per cent of its coal.
West
Virginia and Pennsylvania also have a Mining Technology and
Training Center that provides new and inexperienced miner
training courses with 240 hours of classroom and hands-on training.
And
since just 2005, the Kentucky Coal Academy has trained 55,000 new and incumbent
miners.
The
reason for training so many miners is obvious. There is a great need and the
job pays well.
"We
hire 1,000 to 1,500 employees a year," says Jimmy Brock, CONSOL Energy's
chief operating officer for coal. "We will find miners because a mining
job is a good-paying job with great benefits."
“I
call it a single-household job. One parent can work while the other one takes
care of the family," Brock said.
Saying
no to good local jobs
In
fact, being a Pennsylvania coal miner pays very well, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, making
an average of $78,061 per year compared to an average private industry worker's
$46,664.
But
the Chinese coal miners coming to B.C. for "mine development" won't
be making anywhere near that much money, with HD Mining advertising
heavy duty equipment mechanic wages in the salary range of $25 to $32 an hour.
At 2,000 hours work per year that would be $50,000 to $64,000 for a skilled
trades job -- and that's not likely to be the lowest paid position if a mine
opens.
And
despite the international controversy importing Chinese workers has created,
Canadian Kailuan Dehua Mines -- a "co-partnership company" with HD
Mining -- still has ads posted on the Mining Association of B.C. website looking
for miners which state that: "Mandarin Chinese is definitely an
asset" in getting hired at one of its planned B.C. coal mines.
There's
no excuse for importing temporary foreign workers given that it has been well known since 2007 that Chinese coal companies were
planning on developing mines in northeast B.C.
And
in 2008 a provincial task force recommended creating a new underground
miner-training program to deal with an expected shortage.
But
unlike in the U.S., absolutely nothing was done in B.C. to meet that need.
Instead,
the governments of both B.C. and Canada and have abdicated their
responsibilities.
Now
the Conservative federal government is about to ratify the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement
(FIPA) with China that will make such travesties even more common.
And B.C. is reduced to
calling for Chinese take out to deliver miners.
.
