Press Release: Kitimat camp culinary staff ratify new collective agreement

Kitimat, BC – Camp culinary and housekeeping staff have unanimously ratified a new collective agreement with Compass Group ESS.  The workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, serve crews at Rio Tinto’s operation in Kitimat.

Kemano Staff House workers secured industry leading wages among other gains. Housekeeping attendants will earn nearly $30 per hour, and cooks will make nearly $35 per hour, with additional future increases.  They will also receive improvements in individual and family health care benefits and greater workload protections. The new agreement expires in 2027.

“Kemano workers, like other remote workers, work very hard on long rotations away from home. We are proud that together we continue to raise wages and working standards for camp workers in northern B.C. so they can support themselves and their families,” said Robert Demand, Secretary-Treasurer of UNITE HERE Local 40.

The union recently ratified new camp agreements for workers at Crossroads, Cedar Valley Lodge, and LNG janitors in Kitimat in the past month. UNITE HERE Local 40 represents over 600 camp workers in Kitimat.

Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785