BREAKING: Hospitality Workers at Parsnip Lodge Serve Strike Notice

Threat of strike poses risk of disruption to Coastal GasLink pipeline project

 

British Columbia – Today, hospitality workers at Horizon North Parsnip Lodge near Prince George delivered 72-hour strike notice to management. The 150 workers at the Lodge – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – voted 95% in favour of strike action on September 9. Parsnip Lodge, which houses up to 1,200 Coastal GasLink pipeline workers, is expected to close permanently this year. As alternate mass accommodations for workers in the region are not available, a strike at the property would disrupt the pipeline project.

Parsnip Lodge hospitality workers are asking the employer, Horizon North, to respect their hard work by providing, among other requests, three months of severance pay per year of service. The Lodge opened and unionized with UNITE HERE Local 40 in 2020. Horizon North operates Parsnip Lodge on behalf of Coastal GasLink.

UNITE HERE Local 40 also represents camp hospitality workers at Cedar Valley Lodge and Crossroads Lodge in Kitimat. Earlier this year, workers at the two camp sites voted in favour of new collective agreements, averting strike actions. The new contacts included substantial pay increases and improved workload protections.

Mediation between the Union and the employer begins today.

 

Media contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com