HALIFAX – A dip in the price of gas at the pumps may be good news for drivers, but the plunge in oil prices is becoming a nightmare for people whose jobs depend on the oil industry.
“I’d sooner pay the extra money to fill my tank with a job than have a cheaper tank without a job,” said Brad Smith, the executive director of the Mainland Nova Scotia Building and Construction Trades Council.
On Tuesday, Suncor Energy Inc. announced cuts in response to low oil price, including the loss of 1,000 jobs — most of which are contract positions.
READ MORE: Suncor cutting 1,000 jobs, taking $1B out of 2015 budget amid oil rout
For the many Maritimers who work in western Canada as contractors, it’s a sign of hard times to come.
“Everyone is kind of worried that no one is safe because primarily everyone I’m around are contractors,” said Holly Walters over the phone from Fort McMurray, Alta. “So everyone’s trying to find a plan B and hoping for the best.”
Walters lives in Halifax but has been commuting for work in Alberta’s oil sands for the past year as a quality control inspector.
Like so many of her co-workers, she is now planning for the worst.
“Instead of taking my next group of days off, I’ve asked to work through them just in case the job doesn’t go as long as it’s planned,” she said.
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The Mainland Nova Scotia Building and Construction Trades Council represents 11,000 workers, ranging from ironworkers to engineers. About 20 per cent of their membership are interprovincial commuters.
Smith says the uncertainty workers out west face will affect our region.
“It’s not like we can re-absorb these workers. They didn’t go out there because they like to travel, it’s because they needed work,” he said. “So in Nova Scotia…if they come home, we can’t simply absorb them into our local economy.”
He added that employees of spin-off industries will also be affected by the downturn and the effect will be seen in consumer confidence both out west and back home in the Maritimes.
The industry is known to fluctuate, however, and Smith says it’s still unclear what the real impact of this crude price drop.
“We know it’s going to have an impact we just don’t know how long and how deep.”
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